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Palm: Pre, webOS & app discussion

Kid_Eternity

Kid_Eternity

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Seems to me we need a new thread for Palm's new era. Ars has this rather enthusiastic write up of the new Palm:

The entire UI is based on a "desktop + cards" paradigm, where "cards" replace "windows" or even "apps." You start with a display area that contains a blank desktop and an iPhone-style dock at the bottom. You can bring up a launcher card that slides up from the bottom of the screen and takes over, and from there you can bring up new cards: a web card containing a web page, a chat card with a conversation in it, an email card with your messages on it, etc. New cards slide up from the bottom, while the current card moves to the side, the result being that you can flip through a stream of cards from side-to-side, much like Apple's Coverflow.
This card paradigm is truly fascinating, and it appears to be a very effective way to do multitasking on a smartphone.

Beneath the display region is a touch-sensitive gesture region, where you can use gestures to control the device without interfering with whatever it is you're doing in the display area. (e.g., you can use a gesture in this area to scroll a web page without accidentally clicking a link, like I sometimes do on my iPhone).
Click to expand...
Treacentral's first impressions of the Palm Pre (not sure about that name, what's wrong with the Palm Exec or Palm Pro 2?):

[FONT=verdana, arial][FONT=verdana, arial]The hardware for the Palm Pre is simply fantastic. My first thought is that it had an 'egg' shape, which can really backfire on devices, but on the Pre comes out as elegant and organic. Palm's presentation of the Pre really emphasized the organic and natural feel of the Pre in subtle ways -- their stage was wood, the color scheme around the presentation positively forest-like.[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=verdana, arial][FONT=verdana, arial]
[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, arial][FONT=verdana, arial]The Pre itself has very natural lines and looks as though it feels absolutely fantastic in the hand. There are subtle touches throughout. One of the biggest ones is that the main portion of the screen has a significant and noticeable curve at the corners. The result is that the standard (and necessary) information like signal strength, carrier, time at the top and notifications at the bottom actually appear to be part of the hardware of the phone instead of interrupting your experience of whatever application you happen to be using. Palm really focused on how the Pre helps you focus on what you want without distraction and the Pre delivers. However you do need all that distracting information so it's there, just not in a way that constantly bothers you.[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=verdana, arial][FONT=verdana, arial]
[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, arial][FONT=verdana, arial]You may have noticed that I'm ostensibly in the "hardware" section of this impressions article but I've diverged into talking about software. That's key to the Pre's success -- the two are completely intertwined.[/FONT][/FONT]
Click to expand...
Some photos of the Pre:

pre-1.jpg


pre-2.jpg


1231450703.gif


So...what do people think of the new phone and the new OS? I'm not sure yet, still trying to get my head round whether this is an overcomplicated lot of spin or something genuinely new and possibly innovative..! :hmm:


(*ed: earlier thread here - http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=270940 )
 
It's definitely intriguing. And it beat my expectations, tbh. It'll be very interesting to see how it sells...
 
I am not sure.

I think there are a lot of Palm sites who really really want to see Palm live as a company and are irrationally boosting this after, oh, a couple of hours. There are lots of potentially good things here, but come on - the comments quoted above are fanboyism.
 
Just stating fact. Hmmm I quite like the clever way they've tried to straddle all the different contact accounts you can have...
 
Here's the basic specs:
  • High-speed wireless (EV-DO Rev. A or HSDPA, depending on version)
  • 802.11b / g WiFi
  • Integrated GPS
  • 3.1-inch 24-bit color 480 x 320 display
  • Dedicated gesture area below display
  • Slide-out portrait QWERTY keyboard
  • Exchange email support in addition to POP and IMAP
  • IM, MMS, and SMS messaging
  • High-performance browser
  • 3-megapixel camera with LED flash and "extended depth of field"
  • 3.5mm headphone jack
  • Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR with A2DP
  • 8GB of internal storage
  • USB mass storage mode
  • MicroUSB connectivity with USB 2.0
  • Proximity sensor for detecting when phone is near face
  • Light sensor to automatically dim display
  • Ringer mute switch
  • Removable rechargeable battery
  • 59.57 x 100.53 x 16.95mm closed
  • 4.76 ounces
Click to expand...
 
editor said:
It's way, way better than I ever expected, and if the videos (and user comments) on Engadget are anything to go by, this could be a real hit. The browser looks fantastic and the interface is silky smooth.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/08/palm-pre-in-depth-impressions-video-and-huge-hands-on-gallery/

Either way, it's great to see something genuinely new and fresh that seems to easily be on-par with its competitors.
Click to expand...

I'm tempted to agree, being reading all kinds of stuff about it, quite like the integrated contacts/calendar/email thing they got going on. This is open but coherent (as opposed to wildly open Android and wildly closed Apple generalisations I know but it's a point none the less).

Palm may be onto something with their 'fat middle' strategy...
 
This looks like they have pulled a diamond out of the hat when everyone was expecting a toy rabbit.

So much so that I think its even eclipsing Android and there are suggestions that its even better than the iPhone, which rocks my world. My 1st impressions is that its a very desirable bit of kit indeed. I like the idea of multiple website convergence. It looks lovely. The only sand in the Vaseline that I can see are that there is no 3d graphics acceleration on the phone, so no nice games.

It would have been nice it they had taken Apples lead on press conferences. When Apple release or talk about something its usually available the next day. I really liked that about them, it satisfies the kid consumer in me. I just don't think that Palm could get away with waiting any longer.

Just had a quick look at that Video of the Phone in operation, there was a slight lag on the touch scrolling, but its not the finished product so I would expect that to dissapear.

It super snappy. Like the card style interface for applications. Like the speed of scrolling a web page, on the iPhone there is a significant moment when it renders the newly uncovered area. This is in the main, down to the lowly clocked ARM11 Apple use, lower speed than even the iTouch. The Pre has one of those new super low power but super powerful TI OMAP CPU's, blimey does that power show. Zings along.

As I said initially, this is a new market segment. These devices are starting to come of age because current technology is them possible, this is a real player in that market.
 
FridgeMagnet said:
I think there are a lot of Palm sites who really really want to see Palm live as a company and are irrationally boosting this after, oh, a couple of hours. There are lots of potentially good things here, but come on - the comments quoted above are fanboyism.
Click to expand...
Arstechnica has never been what I'd call a Palm fanboy site, and the guy reviewing it (their deputy editor) is an iPhone user:
As a dedicated iPhone user, I experienced something very strange and quite unexpected while watching Palm demo the new OS: my iPhone suddenly felt old and played out. It's like Palm started with the iPhone, copied all the best ideas, and then made the whole package better.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...-new-handset-pre-operating-system-at-ces.html
Click to expand...
 
Any news or hint on how the storage may work? Is it just solid state or will there be a micro sd card for memory expansion?
 
Sunray said:
It would have been nice it they had taken Apples lead on press conferences. When Apple release or talk about something its usually available the next day. I really liked that about them, it satisfies the kid consumer in me.
Click to expand...

The first version of the iPhone was announced six months before anyone could buy it.
 
I never thought that Palm would get me excited again, or even get close to the iPhone, but early reviews suggest that it's got some mighty impressive tricks up its sleeve. It's faster than Safari and there's cut and paste too!
The UI is incredibly well thought out and smooth. Animations going in and out of apps, and all of the menus and switching are done with a grace and simplicity that we rarely see on any device. The UI outclasses most of its competition on a number of levels, and actually may be quite a bit more revolutionary than the iPhone. Multitasking works like a charm, and reps say you can push it quite hard before you'll need to close applications. One of the most fascinating components of the UI is that when you're zoomed out to cards, the data is still active in the previews.

There are all sorts of little perks to the OS that make things easy and convenient. For instance, when viewing an email you can click on the sender and view their contact card, which is populated with traditional info like phone and email, but also includes statuses for different services like GoogleTalk and Facebook -- another tap and you're chatting with them.

The browser is based on WebKit, though it's actually faster at rendering, displaying and scrolling through pages than any of its competitors, including Mobile Safari. If you're on a web page you can flip the display around and it will automatically reorient.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/08/...ns-video-and-huge-hands-on-gallery/2#comments
Click to expand...
Oh, and there's a GSM 3G version coming up ;)

palm-ev-3g.jpg


http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/08/there-will-be-a-umts-palm-pre/

I've never seen such widespread enthusiasm for any Palm product, ever.
 
From the Guardian:
Palm's press conference at CES today achieved what most of us would have considered impossible a year ago: it created more interest than Apple's Macworld keynote. Hot topic of conversation on the interweb tubes right now is the Palm Pre smartphone, and its new webOS operating system.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/jan/08/palm-pre-ces
Click to expand...
And PC Pro:
Palm today announced what promises to be the product that finally matches and even betters the Apple iPhone, and certainly looks to be the most important product announced at this year's Consumer Electronics Show.

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/244962/palm-announces-killer-phone.html
Click to expand...

Gizmodo preview:
Palm Pre Preview: Simply Amazing
Hey, I just had some time to play with the Palm Pre, maybe the most important handset to be announced in two years, and here's what it was like to use it.

...Positively frothing review follows: http://i.gizmodo.com/5126702/palm-pre-preview-simply-amazing
Click to expand...
 
I await price and availability of the 3G version.

How much do people think? I wonder if they will be carrier only or generally available contract free for reasonable money. I reckon 299 is probably going to be the contract free one. More and its starting to get expensive. 349? 399? Hmmmm...
 
Thats the only problem I can see. Thats the US model. 3G is in the works but no timings and pricing.

No point winning everyone over with the phone if you can't buy it for ages.
 
Palm has traditionally been hugely more popular in the States than Europe, so it's not surprising that they're going for the home market, but we'd best get this phone soon seeing as I'm now so stoked up over it!

I'll hassle their PR dept tomorrow.
 
It's a whole load smaller than an iPhone - and there's a full QWERTY keyboard onboard (plus removable battery, MMS, 3MP cam with flash etc)!

pre-deet-1234.jpg
 
Anything said about Exchange mail functionality?

If it can do that, then it is certainly on the "potentials" list for my next phone purchase!

Looks really promising - well done Palm.

:cool:
 
Sunray said:
How much do people think? I wonder if they will be carrier only or generally available contract free for reasonable money. I reckon 299 is probably going to be the contract free one. More and its starting to get expensive. 349? 399? Hmmmm...
Click to expand...

I think that will make a huge difference to how popular it gets.

Looks nice, good to see another player.
 
Had a chance to watch the UI demos over breakfast. I'm very impressed. Everything looks slick, powerful and simple. Like Sunray says, this is the first thing I've seen that out-apples the iphone (sorry android, you're just too inconsistent)
 
Crispy said:
Had a chance to watch the UI demos over breakfast. I'm very impressed. Everything looks slick, powerful and simple. Like Sunray says, this is the first thing I've seen that out-apples the iphone (sorry android, you're just too inconsistent)
Click to expand...
It's really very impressive. Amazing that they kept it all under wraps before the launch too seeing how advanced the phone and OS is.
 
It looks very nice indeed.

Reality checks:
  • No removable storage (which some people held against the iPhone)
  • No front-facing camera ( ;) )
  • Inductive charging (Wikipedia says "Inductive charging generally charges too slowly and generates too much heat for most portable electronics")
  • You have to take the charger or spare batteries with you everywhere because you can't charge via USB (AFAIK)
  • Battery life? And what would that be with 3G?
  • No release date, and Palm have already slipped this thing multiple times. I wouldn't expect a 3G version in the UK much before September.
  • Price?

Anyone tried wiping a hard drive with their inductive charger yet? :D
 
Indeed. Shame there's no backwards compatability, but trad palm apps would stand out a mile in that UI :)

Also, not so enthused about the 'all in the cloud' sync model :(

LL: USB charging is a yes, AFAIK

Extending the touch sensor all the way off the screen is a atroke (haha!) of genius, IMO. When there's nothing for your finger to hide, you don't have to lift it off in the middle of contrlling something.
 
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