Palm smartphone pops up in WiFi certification database: is this Verizon's Pre?
By Darren Murph 
posted December 29th 2009 5:33AM
posted December 29th 2009 5:33AM
Look, let's not beat around the bushes -- Verizon Wireless will one day stock Palm's Pre. It's a rather well documented fact, and at this point the only real question is "when?" Judging by a mysterious Wi-Fi Certificate that just popped up, we're beginning to think that the waiting period is nearly up, and with CES 2010 happening in a week, there's hardly a better time for us to really start believing. If you'll recall, Sprint's Pre snagged a Wi-Fi Certificate number of P100EWW, and just this summer we spotted a few leaked Palm devices within VZW documents with "P101" and "P121" monikers; lo and behold, the certificate for this elusive dual-mode (WiFi and cellular) smartphone boasts a P101EWW label. We aren't trying to read too deeply between the lines or anything, but if this isn't a Pre destined for Big Red, we're eager to know what kind of new mobile Palm has lined up for its presser at CES.[Thanks, Rehman]
Not to be a jerk, but what exactly is mysterious about the product being labeled as "Pre" ?
Nothing! But it makes for a good headline. But also, most people were surprised that the Pixi was reviewed before the Pre by the FCC. So to us it was a mystery that the Pixi showed up before the Palm Pre for Verizon's network. So it is nice to see the Pre appearing more formally in an official database.
EWW?
Hope Palm don't make the same mistake they made last time at CES2009, by announcing the Pre 6 months early. All the hype surrounding the Pre died out because people got so tired of waiting for the Pre to get released. Not to mention the fact that it gave apple enough time to make changes to iPhone and erase some of the advantages the the Pre had over it.
That's the difference between Apple and Palm when it comes to making the most of hype and marketing. Apple announce a product and it's available within a week (a month at the most) sometimes even on the same day it's announced. Palm on the other hand, announce a product and it takes up to 6 months before consumers can get their hands on it. Consumers can be very fickle, by the time their product has arrived, people have already moved on to the next big thing. Let's hope this time will be different.
@Dragonfly
Apple released the iPhone within a month of announcing it? Nope. So in fact they did exactly what Palm did.
Announced: January 9th
Released: June 27th
A bit more than a month no?
@SNESimon True, but when was the last time Apple followed that pattern? And at that time Apple could afford to take that long, there was nothing like the iPhone at that point. Today's a whole different matter, Palm have competition in abundance.
@Dragonfly
Good point about the Apple not having anything like the iPhone to kill the anticipation, and I agree. I was just pointing out the fact that Apple did do the same thing. But I do like how Apple does announce and then ship its products almost instantly.
So we agree to agree. :)
@Dragonfly I can see what you are saying, but think of it this way.
The Palm Pre and WebOS were OBVIOUSLY not ready for prime time when they announced it. However Palm's stock was at a hair under $2. If they did not announce their future plans at CES they would not be here right now.
They did what the company had to do. Whether that "killed the hype" i don't know about that. It had just as much hype as any other smartphone that is not the iPhone.
Is anyone really excited that the Pre is coming to Verizon anymore? I know I was excited MONTHS ago, before Verizon got the Droid. And who knows what other better devices (HD2 *crosses fingers*) will land on Big Red. Don't get me wrong I still like the Pre but I'm not drooling over it anymore.
@SNESimon I completely agree. January of last year I couldn't wait, but now I could care less. I'm sold on Android, and come January, I'll either be getting the Droid or the Bravo / Passion / Dragon / Incredible / etc. instead.
@SNESimon - I was just thinking the same thing. Palm needs to come up with something completely new, not rehash last years' device yet again.
An thin all-touchscreen device with a big display and lots of internal memory would be nice for example (like a high-end Pixi where the screen takes up all the keyboard area as well)...
Not everybody is interested in the DROID.
A lot of people are excited about WebOS and the user experience that Palm's innovative user interface gives them. The Palm Pixi is an exciting phone for people that like the small form factor and families that have kids, or women who want their phone to look elegant. Also the fact that Verizon has added WiFi to the Pixi is a great thing.
And the Palm Pre for me is the power user's phone. With the recent release of webOS 1.3.5, the phone is much faster and the battery lasts much longer.
@SNESimon If Palm doesn't release a spankin' new device, it's going to be really hard to give the Pre and/or Pixi any of my attention when all these beastly Android devices are on the way.
I think another factor is that there's a huge Android Community of developers rooting and creating ROMs for devices and that's what I'm most excited for. I think Palm having webOS stuck to one carrier for so long really hurt them :/
P-EWW! LOLZ, that should be its final name if they don't fundamentally improve the Pre design. What a piece of miniaturized Fisher-Price crap.
My prediction is vzw will be getting the pre and pixie. But palm will anounce the Pre 2 totally redisigned or probably put a landscape keyboard. Reason why they will give about 6 months of exclusivity to sprint for the pre 2 again is because they have always had a good relationship with sprint and sprint had their back when palm was dying and att and vzw turned their back on them.
This can't be right. Verizon hasn't even torn out the Wi-Fi radio yet. Verizon's Pre must be a while away.
@dez
lol!
I predict you will see the Palm Pre on Verizon's network in January.
@dez
My Verizon smartphone has WiFi (HTC Ozone). Big Red has gotten much better in terms of keeping Bluetooth and WiFi un-locked-down in recent years, IMO.
I like WebOS but I don't really like the form factor of the Pre. I love the form of the Pixi, but I hate the slow processor.
Palm really needs a third WebOS device to come out. Verizon deserves better. Sprint can be delegated to a testing ground for WebOS but Verizon is the big boy of the cellular world and requires a mature WebOS device.
Also, if Palm wants to keep from going bankrupt, they'd better stop releasing their hardware exclusively to Sprint. Sprint's subscriber base just isn't good enough to carry Palm all by themselves.
@Elranzer
The newest 1.3.5 update includes addressing the sluggishness of the Pixi, so you might want to give it a try.
Palm just released webOS 1.3.5 and my Palm Pre is at least 3 times faster (this is subjective). I tested the battery life and it lasts for about 8 hours of heavy usage. So making phone calls primarily should last about 2 days between charge.
Read information on the new update:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/28/sprint-now-pushing-webos-1-3-5-to-the-pre/
Actually, what most people like about the Palm Pre is the form factor - the sliding keyboard, the size, and the slight curved shape. But I understand that some people have a different preference. So hopefully Palm will release a product that meets your needs.
Even the folks in cities like Chicago, with good Sprint coverage, are waiting for "the network" to get the Pre... I know a family member/Palm loyalist who still uses a Treo 700p who has been waiting for a Verizon Pre. He and all his family members are on VZW due to the VZW mobile-to-mobile calling, as he convinced them to switch eons ago to save on cellphone bills.
As soon as this legendary family cheapskate heard that the Pre was initially a Sprint exclusive, he was madder than when Toyota upsized the current RAV4 to, in his words, "not fit in Chicago traffic and parking" (and doubled RAV4 sales as a result). Never mind that Sprint has better-value plans and good coverage in Chicago, too. For him, Any Mobile, Anytime is not the same as VZW's mobile-to-mobile, as "the meter would then run on my relatives with VZW if I switched to Sprint", and he wants his relatives to get the cheapest plan possible.
Until a Verizon Pre/Pixi comes out, he's keeping his Treo.
I've had a couple of iphones now (original and 3GS), and I like the Palm Pre a lot from playing with friends. The reality is that I text all the time including unsafely while driving. If the Pre was on AT&T, I would buy it for the keyboard for texting, multitouch browser and multitasking. I might have access to lots of apps, but I mostly just use skeeball other than the stock stuff... although I own lots of other apps, but never use them...
Apple might wish that the dev's stay only developing iPhone apps, but somebody will make a multidev environment, or an Xcode plugin or whatever that allows somebody to develop an app that basically works for iphone, webos, and android. Then they tweak it a bit to get it working for the particular device... I mean, if your goal is to make money as a mobile device dev, wouldn't you want to release it on multiple platforms? kind of obvious that is going to happen...
perhaps a wifi enabled pixi?