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Palm Pre review
The Palm Pre. It's not just a phone, it's a myth, an idea, possibly a legacy... and a really, really long time coming. It's almost impossible to believe, but the crew at Engadget has been talking about a Linux-based Palm phone since way back in 2004. Through the now-distant years that followed, we were speculating, pontificating, and wishfully-thinking about a new device from a company that we'd come to expect innovation from. But we waited. And waited. And waited. We waited so long, in fact, that we actually penned a lengthy open letter to Palm, pleading for the company to get back on its game. Only when the picture looked really, truly bleak for the folks in Sunnyvale (you know, like $2 a share bleak) did we actually see a spark of hope -- two sparks, in fact -- called the Pre and webOS. Yes, this is epic stuff. The Pre (and its accompanying operating system) could likely decide the fate of the company largely credited with ushering in the age of the do-everything phone. Since Palm's announcement at CES this year, news surrounding the Pre has been a veritable whirlwind of activity: rumors, half-truths, hate, love, fear-mongering, fanboyism, rampant gadget-lust... and even a little late night celebrity for the pint-sized phone. Finally the time has come to put rubber to road and get into the guts of this thing once and for all. Can the Pre and webOS live up to the hype -- the kind of hype we haven't seen since the launch of the original iPhone -- or do they snap under the pressure? Read on for the full review. Part 1: Hardware, webOS / user interface Part 2: Synergy, phone, media, applications Part 3: Data speeds, backup, battery, Bluetooth, pricing, wrap-up
BlackBerry Curve 8520 gets pre-reviewed
We've been dying to know more about that crazy BlackBerry Curve 8520 with the optical trackball in place of the usual spinner, and the crew over at CrackBerry's finally posted their pre-release review. Overall, it seems like a nice enough phone, and the optical trackball apparently works well, which is a nice surprise given our experience with them. On the downside, it's not nearly as nice as the Curve 8900, and while the overall design has been updated, components like the screen, battery, and camera are carryovers from the Curve 8300 -- a particular shame considering the raves RIM's been getting for its amazing screens lately. Of course, we can't complain too much considering this thing is EDGE-only and potentially destined to be a pay-as-you-go phone, but it sure does look nice, and we're interested in seeing how this design philosophy translates into higher-end sets... like, say, the Storm 2. Check the full review at the read link.
