At a press announcement today at CES, Palm announced a brand spankin’ new handset: the Palm Pre. Running the much-gossiped new Palm WebOS (Not known as “Nova” afterall) and sporting a QWERTY slide-out keyboard below a 3.1″ touchscreen, this might just be enough to get Palm out of their slump.
Here’s what we know so far:
- Sprint-bound EVDO Rev A
- GPS
- 8 GB storage
- 802.11b/g WiFi
- Slideout QWERTY keyboard
- 3.1″ inch touchscreen, 320×480 display
- Accelerometer, Proximity, and Ambient light sensors
- 3.5mm jack
- Removable battery
- 4.8 ounces
- MicroUSB connector
- Mass storage support
At the bottom of the touchscreen is a designated “Gesture area”, where much of the navigation and app control is handled by simple finger flicks.
Word from the press room is that the new handset, and the new WebOS in general, looks like a winner. As Peter put it during the liveblog, “This is like watching a small, old, stinky dog beat a bigger dog. Finally, Palm, finally.”
Check out the liveblog for dozens more pics of the Pre in action (via PowerPoint).
Photo Gallery by Picturesurf
I read ‘EVDO Rev A’ and a tear formed in my eye.
Tears of joy? Me too. I’m glad it’ll be running on the biggest and fastest 3G network in the US.
are you the guy with the glasses from the Verizon Commercials or the lady in the hardhat standing behind him?
Oh wait, the Sprint guy in the dinner in black and white?
Any video of the interface in action?
In 5.5 months, or so (if all goes well), the Pre, a rather nice phone, will be available for a yet-to-be-determined price, via a phone carrier whose future itself is also a matter of debate. In 5.5 months, or so, Apple will probably have released at least 1 major refresh to a phone that has already achived formidable market penetration. And what of “the fat middle” that Pre was targeting? The under-served market between “personal” iPhone and “corporate” Blackberry? Is that where facebook comes in?
IMHO, this phone is not likely to see the light of day under Palm or Sprint as we currently know them.
IMHO, Pre is vaporware, designed to gain a higher return to Elevation Partners when they sell Palm.
While we’re at it…how long can Verizon maintain smartphone market share while repeatedly dropping so-called “iphone killers”, whose only commonality with the Apple device is form-factor?
You are harshing a lot of folks mellow with these statements.
Even if they are true.
Verizon? You must have been watching the BB keynote or on smething at the time. PALM is on SPRINT. Much better than the ATT only service you get with the iphone
Uh..except for those who have a Get out of jail free card.
Yes, Verizon. I followed the show. ATT has the iPhone. T-Mo has the G1. Now Sprint is slated to have the Pre. VZ has not had a compelling alternative to the iPhone. They tried passing off the ENV with touchscreen (Voyager) and Chocolate with touchscreen (Venus) and now the storm, but “meh”.
Pre might have been that compelling phone for VZ, had they been the carrier on the podium.
Verizon competes in the smartphone market through reliability, customer service, and *business discounts*.
It’s corporate-level mobile communication offerings are unmatched by any (domestic) phone company.
Can anyone think of any other consumer product situation where customers so badly want a product with a set of features but that product is only available along side such a mission-critical feature? I mean, it’s an iPHONE, and it functions terribly as a PHONE due to the network. I am completely frustrated by this situation and mesmerized by the fact that 2 years later, no one can get anywhere near close to the iphone feature that are so terrific. Storm, indeed!
I’m disappointed with the screen size. Wonder how well the browser works
If the browser isn’t at least as good as Safari on the iPhone, it won’t sell well. That’s the problem with every other “iPhone killer” - the browsers stink. SkyFire doesn’t even come close to the usability of Safari.
Big question: When will it launch in Europe?
Doesn’t look like there is Exchange Activesync…which makes it strictly a consumer toy. That’s a complete killer for most SMB’s. Apple realized that in adding Activesync to the 3G. Unfortunately, it’s another “almost good enough” smartphone. Have fun Palm marketing to teenage girls.
My old Treo 755p has Exchange Activesync, somehow I don’t think Palm’s dumb enough to leave out a previously available and still essential feature. Especially on a phone like this one, with so much riding on it.
Incedentally, I love my 755p, and I think I just found it’s replacement. This looks great.
Sure it does. Read up.
http://www.palm.com/us/products/phones/pre/index.html
The initial excitement of this has worn off for me.
First, I was struck by the fact that Facebook didn’t demo an application. That in and of itself isn’t bad but during the keynote the point was made how FAST it was to develop for the WebOS. If it were so fast and easy they would have shown something.
Second, I was struck that Pandora was used as an example for the above “3 day development” — yet they have no application.
Palm is a couple years late with this and I came away with a nagging feeling that they’re still struggling to get it going.
multifinger gestures? at all?
yep! there’s a hands-on video over at engadget, and Peter mentions multi-touch capability in the liveblog
Any guess on how long until people start referring to this as the “Palm Pray” — the one device in 2009 that might have the power to simultaneously make — or break — two companies financial future…..
Nice - “Pray”
I was thinking that it’s the Pre-marital if Palm is to be bought, and the Pre-liquidation if not.
Still, Palm has made a career out of pulling champion rabbits from smelly old hats. Even the original Pilot was a desperate third plan from a sinking company, and the Treo represented a Hail Mary Heimlich maneuver after they’d choked on re-integrating Handspring.
What a smug and lazy bunch of genius bastards - may they pull their nuts out of the fire one more time. And then again…
hahaha, that’s great
Their SDK isn’t out yet, but they claim development in Javascript, CSS, and HTML.
That’s great, except most smartphone developers (like me), are used to Java (Blackberry & Android), C# (WM), Objective-C (iPhone). Javascript? Not so much.
I can’t imagine any heavy duty corporate apps making it over, but it does look like a UI others could borrow a few ideas from…..
I really can’t believe they’re launching this on Sprint.. who honestly has Sprint?
Me. I’m the one who’s still on Sprint. I have a killer deal on my unlimited data/text/pics shared plan with my wife. $100/mo
Me too! 100 bucks unlimited plan! not bad at all!
Not sure what the Sprint bashing is all about. I’ve has Sprint for years and love it, no issues at all.
You’re suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. Just keep thinking of England.
i wish i still had sprint coverage. i drop more calls on att/iphone in a day than i did over 4 years with sprint/treos.
me too.. the $50 (taxes included) for 750 min, unl data and txts is what keeps me for now. but i’m about to go to an iPhone.
Virtually ever Treo has been available on Sprint first so it should come as no surprise that the Pre will follow the same rollout pattern.
On the Pre page on the Palm website it says that it supports Exchange ActiveSync. There’s probably more info on the site, but it’s not working well at the moment.
As a long time PalmOS developer, I’m concerned about the development tools.
‘Virtually ever Treo…’?
You mean *every*, right? I’d write this off as a typo, but I’ve seen/heard many people substitute ‘ever’ for ‘every’ and I can’t stand it anymore!! It just ain’t right!! (okay, I feel better now)
…besides that, I enjoyed your post ver much!
-dog
who’s on sprint? me for one.
picture up on sprint.
http://now.sprint.com/pre/?id9=vanity:pre
I’m also on Sprint, because that’s where the largest employer in San Francisco city has its employees. I get great service and reception. No complaints. I can’t wait for this to come out. My BB will “accidentally” drop in the toilet j/k.
Who is the largest employer in San Francisco?
/me (a SF resident) wonders if it’s the local government, shudders
Metallica.
No Multi Touch, of course..
Single Touch is soooo last millennium…
It does have multitouch gestures (in the video on engadget they demonstrate pinching out to zoom into the web browser)
I’m so dissapointed that after waiting years for Palm to offer an updated version of it’s Garnet OS with wi-fi, GPS and true finger scrolling navigation, that the new Palm webOS is not available on the AT&T cellular network. I hope they have plans to offer with AT&T wireless soon.
I too am on ATT and am also disappointed that it will not be on a GSM in the very near future. Perhaps this exclusion is part of the Apple iPhone Exclusive contract.
Not having GSM also means that the Tre will not be released to the rest of the world for sometime. I would have thought that PALM/Elevation would want to reach the largest markets for this device.
Palm is still around?
Deadpool.
This is the nearest I’ve seen to a phone I would possibly buy to replace my iPhone if it ever died.
I loved that charger without wires, deck of card applications which can be flicked through, beautifully smooth touch screen gestures, and smooth integration between all the applications.
With these, a refreshing id, and a more convinient size, finally here is a product to cross the iPhone bar.
Who likes Palm? Who is on Sprint? Me!
I have used a Palm Treo on Sprint for years, and I don’t see any reasons why I should switch. I sometimes use a Windows-based Treo on AT&T for work, and this just doesn’t work for me.
The AT&T network is simply awful. And expensive. And not reliable. And slow.
Each time I land back at SFO and turn both my mobiles on, I am always on Sprint within seconds, even before the pilot has turned the seat belt signal off. However, I usually get my luggage before AT&T finds its own network! Simply awful, considering it’s in a major airport, in the heart of Silicon Valley.
This is why I have been on Sprint for 11 years non-stop, despite all the temptations to switch to other networks to get cooler devices.
In my mind, the most important factor in a mobile is the network. Then the OS. Then the hardware.
The Palm Pre on Sprint? A triple winner!
I was on Sprint/palm treo (1st Palm OS - then Windows Mobile 5 ) for years and had an awful experience on Sprint. I switched to iPhone/ATT and now iPhone 3G and absolutely love it.. The best mobile technology I’ve ever had. The ATT 3G network is great in most areas I travel. Even had good service in Israel.
“This is like watching a small, old, stinky dog beat a bigger dog. Finally, Palm, finally.”
Which may be fun to watch but do you want to take home that scrappy dog after the fight?
I love Sprint. I think they have among the most competitive plans.
It’s too early to tell anything about this device — I could swear I’d read that it’s not certified by the FCC yet?
There’s a lot of things to judge this by — battery life being one — that are impossible to see in a tightly controlled demo.
If there’s any takeaway from today’s event it’s that all the other OS’s best keep innovating because there do appear to be competitors still working hard to develop the next big thing..
This looks like a great phone.
I’m a Sprint customer of 8 years and here is why:
1) Sprint has a fast, reliable 3G network. In a recent independent study conducted by Gizmodo, Sprint beat Verizon and AT&T download speeds.
http://gizmodo.com/5111989/the-definitive-coast+to+coast-3g-data-test
2) Sprint has improved its customer service. There is no argument that Sprint has struggled with its customer service in the past, however there have been big strides lately. Sprint’s efforts are paying off. According to a recent study conducted by Pali Capital Inc., Sprint was able to answer 89% of its calls within 30 seconds. Whereas Verizon did so 68% of the time, and AT&T 43% of the time.
http://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/stories/2008/12/15/daily40.html
3) Sprint WILL get innovative products in 2009. Sprint is the first mobile operator and a founding member of Android. Sprint will get the next Android device Q2 of 2009. Couple this with the Palm Pre, the Instinct, and Nextel Direct Connect phones, Sprint will have a compelling lineup of phones for both consumers and corporate users.
http://androidcommunity.com/samsung-android-smartphone-coming-q2-2009-to-sprint-t-mobile-20081219/
4) Sprint has some of the cheapest Call/Data plans around. Their Simply Everything Plans are unmatched by any other mobile carrier, and customers can save anywhere from $240-$1000 annually on comparable rate and service plans by Verizon and AT&T.
http://newsreleases.sprint.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=127149&p=irol-newsArticle_print&ID=1228741&highlight=
5) Sprint is the first mobile operator to develop a 4G network. They have backing from big tech heavyweights such as Intel, Google, Comcast, and Timewarner.
6) Why do so many people want to see Sprint fail? Isn’t competition good for the marketplace? Imagine the day when there’s only one or two cell phone companies…. oh wait, we are already moving in that direction! How does this benefit the consumer?
The problem with Apple iphone they made a deal with one single carrier ”that sucked”. The phone mostly sold itself so lets hope that palm will not be unwilling for broader deals.
Will this be available only for Sprint users or all other uses as well like t-Mobile, at&t, Verizon…???
For some of you who are still wondering of multi-touch: They showed a bunch of muti touch and cool gestures on the phone. The muti touch and gestures looked even easier and powerful than that in iPhone!
it looks like an iphone squished by a heavy object