Palm is giving a keynote about its new device and operating system at CES today. Gizmodo’s live coverage has plenty of photos and descriptions of the “Palm Pre.” Here’s the new device in a nutshell:
Palm Pre "will help you live your life more effectively." The design looks like an oblong rounded rectangle.
It has EVDO rev.A, WiFi, bluetooth, a gesture area on the screen for navigation and use, a removable battery, micro USB, USB mass storage support, a 3.5mm Headphone Jack.
11:21 AM: The new UI is called Web OS, and it’s designed to be so simple, you only need to focus on the information and content you want, not the OS itself.
I would just like to congratulate Palm for choosing a name for its new device that will Google-match to every single “Palm Pre-Owned” or “Palm Pre-Announces” post on the Internet.
Today was my day to get a new phone. I love my iPhone, but while it is an excellent music player, streaming media player, movie player, game player, etc. it really isn’t a great phone. Reception is only so-so, sound quality on calls isn’t great and it is not very comfortable to hold for any period of time. Also, it’s on-screen keyboard is really a pain and I find that I am delaying answering emails until I get home to use my computer. Finally, I want something with excellent battery life and a removable battery. So I have decided to use it as an high-powered iPod Touch and get a new phone for everyday use. I delayed my decision until today because I wanted to see what Palm came up with before I jumped.
Well, I just ordered a Nokia e71.
The Pre looks nice, but there are some things about it that put me off completely. First, it is CDMA. What use is that unless you never want to leave the States? I’m sorry, but Sprint is a company that is in trouble right now, and CDMA is a dying platform. There was no mention of a GSM version, and I’m certainly not going to wait around until the Sprint exclusive is over, on the off chance that there will be an unlocked GSM version.
Second, there was no mention of any compatibility with any of the older Palm applications. With the rise of the iPhone, I think that is where the smart developers will put their time and effort, and if I can’t use any of my Palm applications I don’t want to take the risk that there will be a robust suite of Pre applications sometime in the unknown future.
The Pre, itself, looks nice, but there is certainly nothing revolutionary about the hardware. I had hoped that Palm would innovate again – but they just refined.
The OS is another in the already fragmented world of OSes already out there now – iPhone, Windows Mobile, Symbian, Android. Do we really need another one? I would have been tempted if Palm had collaborated with Android, but for a small, struggling company to think it can make an OS mark when competing against the likes of Nokia and Apple, is hubris, at best. If they had collaborated with Android they could have leveraged off of all the work done by others. To go it alone as a niche player is pretty risky.
Finally, there is the delay in introduction. We don’t know when it will actually be available and we have even less of an idea of when a GSM version will come out – if ever. I wish Palm well and hope that the Pre is a great success, but it seems to me that it will wind up as just another niche player. I hope the niche is big enough to keep Palm alive.
Well said, Paul.
‘Palm Pre’ as you say great name. These people at the top do NOT use the Web like we do, in the same way that Record Company execs do not pay for CDs, nor Film execs pay to go to the cimema or buy DVDs. They are completely out of touch with the real world. But there’s a chill wind blowing down their corridors & they better wake up. This reccession is looking to be long and hard & a lot of THEM are going to be out of jobs as well as us…
i also like how “Pre” is pronounced (i assume) like “pray” — because that’s what all the palm execs are doing… praying this takes off.
It had better be pronounced like “pray.” Otherwise, I’m going to have a hard time suppressing a giggle whenever I hear someone ask, “When will the Palm Pre come out?”