Travel Technology - Palm pre

Looks pretty nifty. Scott?

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/08/live-from-palms-ces-press-conference/

I think this looks sweet. Can't wait for the full reviews to start to roll in when it finally gets released. Hopefully it will save Palm and Sprint.

Hopefully it will save Palm and Sprint.


Palm, maybe, assuming it's eventually going to AT&T and other carriers. Sprint, doubtful.

Has anyone seen if the Pre will support Exchange mail? I haven't been able to find that in any of the info.

Hopefully it will save Palm and Sprint.

I was excited about this until I read that Sprint will be the exclusive launch partner. That means no GSM. For the international traveller who wants to carry one phone, it's a non-starter. :td:

Nonetheless, I love my Treo and hope that Palm follows soon with a GSM version.

I was excited about this until I read that Sprint will be the exclusive launch partner. That means no GSM. For the international traveller who wants to carry one phone, it's a non-starter. :td:

Nonetheless, I love my Treo and hope that Palm follows soon with a GSM version.
They've already said a UTMS 3G version is in the works. ^

They've already said a UTMS 3G version is in the works. ^

Yes, but not for sale in the US, only "overseas"

Good for palm and sprint both :)

Sprint is a great network and Palm is always quite stable but had fallen so far behind.

Palm, maybe, assuming it's eventually going to AT&T and other carriers. Sprint, doubtful.

Has anyone seen if the Pre will support Exchange mail? I haven't been able to find that in any of the info.

Yes, full exchange support w/ Microsoft direct push. Its in a footnote somewhere about how to use one of the features you must have an exchange account set up.

Looks great. Palm has been sitting idle for far too long. I love my Palm Centro and look forward to this new device.

Is there any clear word on whether old Palm applications will still work?

If they do, then this phone is a no-brainer for me (I've been using Palm phones since they first came out). If they aren't, then I'm not sure whether I want this one or the iPhone.

I'm pretty sure a PalmOS emulater has been in the new OS plan since the beginning. If not, I'm sure it will take about three milliseconds for one to be developed.

That would be awesome. One of the big reasons I haven't jumped on the iPhone bandwagon is my reluctance to give up Palm apps I've used for years that have no iPhone versions, like Pocket Quicken.

Today Palm sent me an e-mail, subject: "It's here. The all-new Palm® Pre™ phone."

I open the e-mail and it tells me to click on the "Discover" button which takes me to a page (http://www.palm.com/us/products/phones/pre/index.html?sssdmh=dm13.189857) that asks me for my e-mail address.

Idiots!

I want to like Palm, I really do, after using several of their PDAs and a Treo 650 and 680. The 650 was pretty revolutionary and I felt some loyalty to the brand. But then, somewhere along the way, they stopped innovating.

The Pre shows a lot of thought in the interface. But why can't Palm push the envelope on the hardware? Looks to me like it's got very limited internal memory, a so-so camera (3 mp is no big deal these days), and the screen isn't VGA. Maybe I could get over that if they truly have some killer apps.

The charger that doesn't need a cable sounds pretty cool. But read the fine print, it takes four hours to charge the device!

This just brings back memories of Palm being late to the dance in putting wi-fi and GPS on their phones. And, IMO, they'll need to make the Pre available very quickly on more than just Sprint if this phone is going to save them.

Meanwhile, I'm happy with my HTC Fuze.

Yes, but not for sale in the US, only "overseas"

They've already said a UTMS 3G version is in the works. ^

I wouldn't worry about this... there will be companies offering solution to unlock GSM version so you can use it in USA.

I think this looks pretty sweet, I might give up the TP for it, but it HAS to run slingplayer mobile!

Today Palm sent me an e-mail, subject: "It's here. The all-new Palm® Pre™ phone."

I open the e-mail and it tells me to click on the "Discover" button which takes me to a page (http://www.palm.com/us/products/phones/pre/index.html?sssdmh=dm13.189857) that asks me for my e-mail address.

Idiots!


???? That is just the top of the page - scroll down and you will see all the information about the Pre. No need to enter your email address.

???? That is just the top of the page - scroll down and you will see all the information about the Pre. No need to enter your email address.

Perhaps the page has changed since I posted the link.

So the Pre is coming out at the end of next week. Anyone going to be in line?

I think this is the phone I would upgrade to if I was in my upgrade window right now. Though, alas, I will have to wait until the holiday season. Rumor however is that it may be on ATT and Verizon by then.

They announced today that it supports syncing with iTunes ^^(at least until Apple fixes that ;)). All around though this is really shaping into the phone the iPhone had the potential to be though never actually matured into. I am excited to see the competition.

I'd like to if my company would certify it quickly. I finally was forced to move off my PalmOS device and onto a WinMo device (Touch Pro). I'm ready to throw it out the window about 5 times a day.

If Palm can keep its business usability from the PalmOS, and support ActiveSync so my IT team will allow it, I'll be in line to try it out. Otherwise, I may finally succumb to the BB.

It just doesn't do anything for me. Seriously - another damn mobile OS? Why couldn't Palm just take Android and build upon that :(

Having another os in the market is only going to make things more complicated for people.

Also, the hardware just does not seem that impressive.

Rumor however is that it may be on ATT and Verizon by then.

Verizon I could see, they being another CDMA carrier in the usa, but not sure if ATT would get it that soon, palm said a GSM version was a year out.

Verizon I could see, they being another CDMA carrier in the usa, but not sure if ATT would get it that soon, palm said a GSM version was a year out.Strange, I would have expected the Pre to be a worldphone, not a practically US-only device, once available outside Sprint.

Might be, but it would have to be a GSM AND CDMA radio phone to be so, and then are pretty rare. Verizon DOES have a few. There ARE rumours of a GSM palm pre, no official specs yet though. Would be more likely four band GSM and HSDPA

Strange, I would have expected the Pre to be a worldphone, not a practically US-only device, once available outside Sprint.

Yes - but as usual, Palm is one generation behind the rest of the world.

The upcoming HTC Touch Pro 2 on Sprint/Verizon will be dualmost CDMA/GSM, the Blackberry Storm is dual mode, but once again - Palm misses out on a great opportunity.

Though, alas, I will have to wait until the holiday season. Rumor however is that it may be on ATT and Verizon by then.

That (available on T and V in 6 mos) was the most interesting 'announcement' to come out yesterday. It generated a lot of buzz, one notable point being why did Sprint let this happen/only get the exclusive carrier for 6 months? The thinking goes like this 1-They weren't in a position to negoiate any thing better, and 2-It's an attempt by V and T's of preempting people from switching to Sprint.

The other point around this generating a lot of keystrokes is there are more WebOS devices in the Palm pipeline, and if you wait 6 mos., there may be a 2.0 version available. Summary discussion here (http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/05/29/sprint-responds-to-verizon-ceos-comments-concerning-palm-pre/).

If a 2.0 version comes out with 4G/WiMax, this would the "it" device.

Well Sprint came out today confirming exclusivity on the Pre though 2009. This pretty much solidifies the claims yesterday by some of the other carriers that they will have the handset in about six months, though will miss the holiday sales. Unlike some other posters, I am just excited for the WebOS in general. I don't blame them for creating their own OS and it looks like it is quite thought out and complete. I hope Apple doesn't cripple the iTunes syncing though I am sure that is inevitable as they see it not so much as boosting ITMS sales though as hampering iPod/iPhone sales. Oh well can't blame them too much.

The OS looks great. The one review I've seen thus far (BoyGeniusReport) basically slams the keyboard though, and complains that it just feels a little "cheaper" than they would expect.

A Palm Pre with a SIM slot and Vodafone SIM was already spotted at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona a couple months ago. No HSDPA/GSM announcement made though so who knows if/when a European carrier will get it. (Exclusivity rights generally haven't ever applied world-wide.)

I'm a BB Storm guy, and glued to Verizon due to corporate discounts. So I'll wait until 2010 and pick from among alleged WebOS, Android and BB global phones available to me then.

Has anoyne got one? and what are your impressions after using it?

I went to look at one and found it much smaller then I thought it would have been. I don't think the ads did a good job at all showing how compact it really was. Not sure my fingers would like the keyboard. Can't say anything else about it, as it was a non working model, other then the are selling like hotcakes.

I don't like the battery life claims, most reviews are saying you are lucky to get one full day out of a charge. It does use a standard battery from another palm device, so you can stock up on batteries if you need to.....

The people at the sprint store I visited said over 90% of the sales have been to current Sprint Customers. I think that's their plan, hold on to as many customers as they can by hooking them to a two year agreement. They probably think six months is enough to do that.

If you are a Sprint customer and plan on remaining one it makes sense to consider it if you are in the market to change. If you are not currently a sprint customer, I don't believe (and don't think Sprint believes) it's enough to make you commit to them for two years.

I'm waiting for a touch pro 2, and hoping to keep the 25$ SERO account as oppossed to trippling the monthly and getting the pre. I played around with one last week, it didn't overwhelm me in the 10 minutes I had it in my hand.

It DID get quite a bit warm though.

Has anoyne got one? and what are your impressions after using it?

I've been a Sprint customer for 7 years. The phone is great, however, the battery life is very short. I do not get a full day charge on it. I read on several blogs that to extend the battery life you've to shut off/turn off everything, GPS, WIFI, bluetooth. This is where im a bit pissed. This is supposed to be a smartphone, yet to use its smartphone application you will drain the battery, if you don't use it, it can almost last a full day. Seems to me a lot of $ to be spent on a phone that can only be used as a PHONE per se, otherwise you drain the battery life. There is a new battery that is supposed to increase capacity, currently the battery is a 1150. new one is 1350 and cost $50.00. I still think that Palm could have done a better job at this. Main example I can give you is yesterday, I spent 45 minutes driving to the city using Sprint PRE navigation, once finished, my battery life was at 46%, and that was all I did, just use navigation for 45minutes. If you want to have this phone, you must have 3 ac cord, one for home, office and the car, and also one of those battery charger for when you are on the go. I keep hearing rumors that sprint will do an update to remedy the situation, as numerous people have complained on this. I myself will wait until 30days to see, if nothing, then I will return the phone and wait for a 2 or 3 generation phone that might be better.

I'm not surprised about the GPS power consumption. Any GPS device, on-board a phone or not, is going to be a battery hog.

yes, this is one reason why I think that while GPS on the device is GREAT and HANDY, that stand alone PND devices will continue to see strong sales, and maybe even a new form factor will emerge. using GPS on a cell phone is the MOST demading thing one can use, even more than data tethering.

I went to look at one and found it much smaller then I thought it would have been. I don't think the ads did a good job at all showing how compact it really was. Not sure my fingers would like the keyboard.

Perhaps that's why the ads don't want to convey it as such.

GPS will drain any smartphone very quickly, even the nuclear powered Nokia E71.

.... Main example I can give you is yesterday, I spent 45 minutes driving to the city using Sprint PRE navigation, once finished, my battery life was at 46%, and that was all I did, just use navigation for 45minutes. . .
I read months ago that the GPS app in this may do Text To Speech, ie., speak the street/road/route names and numbers. Is that true?