Second "Meet Pre" video retains calming effects, shows off third party apps

If that first Meet Pre video wasn't soothing enough, Palm's released the second episode of its chill-inducing series, "This Weekend," showing off third party like Fandango and Pandora, as well as offering a sharper look at messaging and how SMS and internet clients like Google Talk / AIM are placed into one cohesive chat log with each contact. As with last time, integration is the key point to take from here, and of course being able to play Pandora in the background while browsing other apps has gotta be one of the most enjoyable features, especially for anyone who's been struggling with the iPhone's lack of multitasking. Sure, the video's great, but whether or not it'll function that well in practice is still up in the air. Hit up the read link to see it for yourself.

[Tanker-X @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:23AM]

SEEEEEXXXXYYYY....Uhgggg. (Drool)

[Setnev @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:39AM]

Too bad that Sexy phone is only being released for Sprint. I would love to get my hands on that for T-Mobile, if only tmo would get over their anti-Palm kick.

[Samboini @ Apr 2nd 2009 2:25AM]

I hope the Pre doesn't term into a Storm. That would be very :(

[AmazingAaron @ Apr 2nd 2009 9:54AM]

These videos are so LAME! They make me want an iPhone 3.0!

[JamesR @ Apr 2nd 2009 10:35AM]

AmazingAaron.....not so amazing actually.

[OneLove @ Apr 2nd 2009 10:52AM]

Pre is ugly. Get off the happy hype train. HTC touch pro2 FTW!!

[*Just some girl @ Apr 2nd 2009 12:29PM]

Whoa..... bunch of haters in here.

I love my iphone but since when did a little competition hurt anyone

[Ruben @ Apr 2nd 2009 9:49PM]

@One Love:

Ha. You serious?

A higher resolution screen on a piece of shit Qualcomm chip that already struggles to push out 640x480 on the existing Touch Pro (even with a custom ROM)?

No headphone jack?

Any device coming out with the Qualcomm chip instantly gets a strong feeling of doubt from me. And I have had quite a bit of experience with the 528MHz chip that the TP2 is getting, and it definetly is a piece of garbage.

HTC dissapointed like no other at their latest releases. They failed to show off a Tegra device, used a chip that everyone hates and has been the anchor of HTC devices lately, and are still making the same stupid mistake of not giving you a headphone jack. Fuck em.

[frank grimes @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:26AM]

The more I see of these video the more I smile. Both the iphone and the Pre seem like they have a lot of new capability left in them.

Here's to hoping that the nudge match between the iphone and the pre will be a long and feature-filled one.

:e-beer;

[ashan @ Apr 2nd 2009 5:30AM]

Cheers to that

[Xiao Yu Jiang @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:14PM]

"nudge match"??

I hope it turns into a cage battle to the death! RAWWRRR. lol.

Anyway, the Pre looks pretty sick. I'll have to see what phone to get when my contract expires in 9 months or so.

[AlDeezy @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:27AM]

What a "cute" video....;-0

[OneLove @ Apr 2nd 2009 10:55AM]

Pre was made for girls and girly men. :)

[*Just some girl @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:59PM]

so i am guessing you will be getting a pre?

[AlDeezy @ Apr 3rd 2009 12:26AM]

@*Just some girl, yes indeed I am going to get one, when they release one that will work with att 3g. I dont hate sprint but a $200 cancellation fee for att would be better used to buy a gsm-based pre.

[*Just some girl @ Apr 6th 2009 7:19PM]

that was actually directed at Onelove ;)

[you @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:34AM]

ok seriously, anyone wanna buy a used IPhone 3g?

i know im not the only one thinking this.

[Setnev @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:39AM]

Better be "Pre"pared to switch to Sprint.

[Cash @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:56AM]

I'd be thinking the same thing, but Sprint doesn't offer service in Alaska :-(
I'd switch just to be able to run Pandora in the background while I do other things. Having all my messages in one place is just icing on the cake.
Hey Apple *tap* *tap* You paying attention over there?

[you @ Apr 2nd 2009 2:03AM]

i am Pre-pared. my IPhone drops calls, sends them to voicemail and other weirdness.

it is an amazing entertainment device. lousy phone.

[oghowie @ Apr 2nd 2009 2:16AM]

You update your phone yet? It helped a lot with my dropped calls and edge/3G issues.

My sister in law visited the other day and she was still running 2.0. I guess not everyone updates their phones?

[ashan @ Apr 2nd 2009 5:29AM]

@cash,

Pandora is great, but you do realize that the iPhone has a built in iPod, right? You can sync your favorite music to it, and play it without having to stream from the net and eat up your battery.

[Cash @ Apr 2nd 2009 5:55AM]

@ashan

I know preferring limitless music selection and variety over whatever I can fit into 7 some odd gigs of space is probably a completely foreign concept to Apple, but that's just how I roll. I do things my own way, which is why I mod my own tech and build my own pc's instead of just being spoonfed whatever Jobs thinks is good enough for me.

As for battery life, there's thing called a car charger... works awesome. And if that fails, I built myself a MintyBoost for those times when neither a household nor auto outlet are handy. Google it sometime... great little invention.

[M. @ Apr 2nd 2009 7:39AM]

for me over here in Europe it will depend on 3 things.

1. will it launch before the iPhone?
2. Vodafone or T-Mobile? Vodafone: Hell Yeah, I'm going Pre. T-Mobile: I'm going iPhone.
3. is the iPhone 3.0 version available in 32 gb model? I have a lot of content I want to carry along with me, 8 gb won't cut it.

the first 2 factors will make it a go or a no-go.
3rd one can still be substituted for an iPod Touch 32gb.

can't wait for the summer!

[poke @ Apr 2nd 2009 8:24AM]

@M

Looks more and more likely to be O2 that gets the pre - which doesn't really make sense to me as they have the iPhone. Guess Telefonica does it again.

[M. @ Apr 2nd 2009 9:29AM]

@Poke

I was talking about the Dutch Telecom market (live in the Netherlands), it's either Vodafone (there was a rumor they are in talks with Palm) or T-Mobile over here that'll get the Pre. T-Mobile's coverage is average, Vodafone's is unmatched.

[Kemwer @ Apr 2nd 2009 10:24AM]

@cash: Those are exactly the reasons why I'm very happy with my 160Gb iPod, and would never switch (as a media player) to a iPhone unless it had 64Gb or more. And why the "only 8Gb" of the Pre don't bother me the least. I won't quit using the iPod until I can fit all my music on the phone, even if I have to curse everytime I need to use iTunes on my PC; that software is just so slooooow on Windows.

I just want the damn thing to be released already. I was eyeballing the G1 for a while since I use so many of Google services. I would like to have a phone integrated with Google's ecosystem, so the iPhone and Apple's online ecosystem (MobileMe) was never a a good option.

So now I'm waiting for the Pre to be released to see if it really hold up to its promisses. But so far, it looks like a much better device for me.

[haX0r @ Apr 2nd 2009 11:09AM]

The Pre is going to rock the socks off a lot of other phone. In it's own way, the Pre has made serious progress with the OS and how a cell phone 'should' be used.

[Tohe @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:35AM]

Something tells me we are very close to seeing Pre hit the shelves. I sure hope so.

[krische @ Apr 2nd 2009 11:18AM]

I would agree. If they are focusing on showing off 3rd party apps now, I would think they are done of 95% done with their 1st party responsibilities.

[Anomoly @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:40AM]

very nice... even though they have yet to set dates and prices... and showed two 3rd party apps... they are really keeping this thing on lock down.

[ironman @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:40AM]

Beautiful

[jnz @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:43AM]

Does anybody else notice that in the "Good Morning"-video the voice IS THE SAME has the dude from the "AppleStore" showing of the MacBook Air...

[ddub @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:44AM]

Stunning looking phone. Apple better come with something special cause this is clearly my next phone.

[ashan @ Apr 2nd 2009 5:26AM]

Thats sounds kinda narcissistic. If Apple fails to keep their most valuable customer (you), they'll probably implode.

[Michael Scrip @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:52AM]

I guess we'll see how well the Palm Pre handles multiple applications in relation to battery life... but at least you can change the battery!

It basically does the same things as the iPhone... Fandango, chat, email, Pandora... it just does them all at once!

That video has the same feel as this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPUfktj8UU4

[Stubb @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:59AM]

With all that threesome innuendo, it's more like this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBjES3cP6WE

[you @ Apr 2nd 2009 2:17AM]

or this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk5UbEQ_PL8&NR=1

IPhone=seafood restaurant
Pre=squid

[jesseswang @ Apr 2nd 2009 2:51AM]

I was also wondering about the battery life with all these background apps. I hope we get more info about that soon...

[ashan @ Apr 2nd 2009 5:02AM]

I don't see how it does everything at once. Unless you can show and interact with more than one "card" at the same time, there is very little difference to the end user. iPhone apps load and quit very quickly by design, apps save their state when you quit, and application data stays in ram as long as its available, so switching back and forth between apps in the iPhone is extremely similar in practice.

[dan @ Apr 2nd 2009 5:43AM]

You can definitely show more than one card at a time, and the stuff on them updates in real time. I think it might help that they are HTML/CSS/Javascript, since it's basically more like having multiple tabs in a browser rather than having multiple executables running - shared overhead.

[poke @ Apr 2nd 2009 8:30AM]

@ashan

The iPhone doesn't work well for IM apps, non ipod/itunes apps, streaming apps. These apps need to run in the background if you quickly want to check somethings else on you phone and have them still running.

There is a distinction and no as similar as you describe.

[Kemwer @ Apr 2nd 2009 10:48AM]

@ashan: can you start loading a web page and switch to another app while it finishes loading on the iPhone? Or, as it's shown on the video, load a non-native music app (like Pandora or Last.FM) and listen to music while working on another app?

That is what real multi-tasking brings to you. Since the native music app can work on the background, you can already see why multi-tasking is beneficial. The power on webOS is to unlock this power for all developers, instead of treating them like children who can't play without breaking their toys, as Apple does.

[oliver hart @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:52AM]

there should be 2 versions, that one we'll call the female version, and a more guy oriented one where a dude with a jersey accent is like "yo, you wanna do dis, bada bing hit that, catch a flick, call a broad, or 2, bam, you got it, oh yeah-big jimmy's in town, yo you want i should meet you at that place at noon?''

or something to that effect. i have a horrible jersey writing accent

[Stubb @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:56AM]

Thank god you put that last line in, I thought I was just crap at reading Jersey accent

[Stubb @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:55AM]

Hah Allison doesn't need help with the job hunt. She just wants a piece of Brad meat.

[Me4u2 @ Apr 2nd 2009 2:03AM]

Come on people the pre isn't a worthy iphone replacement, it doesn't bring anything new to the table, it can't record videos, the camera isn't autofocus, u can't use the keyboard in landscape mode and that limits the browsing experience, there is no touch keyboard that means you have to rotate the phone, then slide out before you get access to the small buttoned keyboard, it isn't a multimedia phone, it has a smaller screen and a lower resolution, i doubt if video playback is possible, its memory is mediocre, i mean 8gb with no expansion slot, the webOS isn't cut out for the type of apps we are used to e.g 3d gaming, full multimedia apps ... except of course you want games like, crappy board games or card games and no release date or price, who knows may be its gonna be released next year. Those are just a few features the pre lacks.

So at the end its a cool phone, but it aint replacing my iphone, a worthy replacement for me is the Nokia N97, its got all the features and more, i mean more, its got OVI, Ngage, Nokia gave us a release date to be precise June and it isn't on crappy sprint plus am itching to try out the new services Nokia keeps anouncing every now and then. Just keep your options open and don't read engadget for gadget reviews. Cheerz

[TavisJohn @ Apr 2nd 2009 2:13AM]

http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/01/pandora-amazon-other-third-party-apps-demoed-on-palm-pre/

Look Sprint TV works just fine on it.
As for 8 gig... It is decent unless you plan on using it to store vids, or loads of music.
Smaller screen, and lower resolution is only an issue of the image quality is crappy.
You have no idea what kind of apps that WEB OS can handle. It is NOT OUT YET.

As for this device not bringing anything new to the table... How about MULTI TASKING! Play music and switch about to any other app. (Streaming music included)

There will also be a 3rd party app that will allow you to use all the existing PalmOS apps out there.

AND Palm is working to have FLASH SUPPORT!

So before you try to say that this phone will suck, when it is NOT EVEN OUT YET...


Well all that tells me is that you are GOD OF THE APPLE FAN BOYS!

[Mauss @ Apr 2nd 2009 2:17AM]

@Me4u2..... two words for you background apps! and i GLAD it doesn't have a crappy virtual landscape keyboard..wake up!

[Setnev @ Apr 2nd 2009 2:19AM]

You know why people like the Pre over the iPhone, cause all the iPhone was was hype and gave something for the Apple fanboys to brag about. Yeah, at the time the iPhone was innovative and different from every other phone out there. Yeah, it revolutionized the way that most companies made their phones and paved the way for a lot more touch screen phones. But after all the popularity, Apple got greedy. They didnt give the customers what they wanted in their updates, they lacked a solid SDK with API's that the devs wanted, they sold out to an exclusivity deal, when originally it was supposed to be marketed to all carriers, to a carrier that was and still is struggling to keep subscribers. The Pre will pave the way for people who are looking for the best of both worlds.