The Sprint/Palm Pre Webinar is starting in 20 minutes. We were able to dig up all of the slides from the presentation while we were waiting – and as far as we can tell, there isn’t much new stuff to be seen. We’ll keep dig through the slides – let us know if you spot anything exciting.
[PSGallery=19gaanm2ef]
Live Blog:
- They’ve gone ahead and made it clear, right off the bat, that there will be no new pricing or availability information today.
- David Owens, Director of Consumer Acquisition at Sprint, and Matt Crowley, Product Line Manager at Palm, are on stage.
- David Owens is just talking about the strengths of Sprint’s 3G network. You’re not missing much.
- Owens continues on about perks of Sprint – now talking about their $99 Simply Everything plan
- Owens on Sprint’s Genius-bar-ish Ready Now : “Most of the population, they need assistance to really learn how to use a device”
- 10 minutes in, they’ve moved to talk about the Palm Pre. Matt Crowley is discussing the awards the Pre has won already.
- If you’ve been keeping up with Pre news, you can likely tune out of this live blog without missing much. It seems to be a recap.
- Crowley is demonstrating Synergy, Palm’s system for bringing information (Contacts, related calendars, message notifications, email alerts, etc) from around the device to one place. It’s our favorite part of the Pre, but we’ve seen it plenty of times now.
- Crowley is raving about the ergonomics of the phone, and the way it curves to your hand.
- Demonstrating Universal Search, which lets you search within the device and across the web right from the home screen. Again – another favorite, but we’ve seen it all before. 20 minutes in, and the Webinar is thus far a recap for the folks who didn’t make it out to CES or MWC. Good idea if they were broadcasting to the public, but I’m pretty sure most of the folks watching the webinar have seen this all before.
- Crowley is showing Touchstone, the Pre’s magnetic charging surface.
- Q&A portion is beginning; Owns reminded the audience that there is no pricing or availability update
- First Q: Will all of the Sprint services be available on Pre? A: Some of them. NFL app, Nascar app, Navigation – aaand the video just went down for us. Sorry folks, technical difficulties.
- Next Q: Will the center button light up as shown at CES? A: Yes. There are 3 LEDS. Used for Gesture feedback – just reassurance that its working.
- Q: Is Pre still on target for first half of 2009? A: (Annoyed) Yes
- Is there a limit to the number of cards open? Yes – no specific number yet, but it’s based on how many things you have open. (Wow, good question)
- Q: Will Palm continue to develop WinMo devices? A: Yes. We’ll continue to make Windows Mobile products. [Now talking about the Treo Pro]
- Q: Will there be an App Store? A: Yes. There will be over-the-air applications. We’ll talk about that later
- Q: Why no memory expansion slot? A: Design. It couldn’t be this thin or have the curvature we wanted if we added a microSD slot. We’d have to compromise on the design. 8 GB is a lot – not enough for everyone, but sufficient for most.
- Q: Is there a regular plug if you don’t want to use Touchstone? A: Yes. MicroUSB.
- Q: Will there be games available? A: In the 1.0 version, the games will be simple. Sodoku named as an example
- Q: Will there be other development options – HTML, Javascript, CSS, etc? A: We’re really focusing on bringing the web to the device. We’ve focused on developers who already have this knowledge.
- Q: Are there plans to license webOS? A: No plans for it yet.
- Q: Why the name Pre? A: The idea is that it anticipates your needs – not as in “Here’s what you want to do”, but “Here’s what the options are”. [Funny - I've been told they picked the name because they liked it and thought of the reasoning later.]
- Q: Can you provide additional info about the Ready Now program and how it works with the Pre? [Come on, guys - they've been doing this for months.] A: It’s like a personal trainer. People will be excited about the device – immediately that day, you can go through the ReadyNow service. We’ll give you a card with checkboxes, you tell us what you want to learn about. No cost service. We’ll work with you until you’re comfortable that all your questions have been answered.
- Final Q: More details on which plan is necessary for Pre? A: 450 minutes/Data, 900 minutes/Data, or Simply Everything. They start as low as $69.99, up to Simply Everything. Plus business plans. There are a host of plans available. You don’t have to get the Simply Everything plan. You can choose your minutes – but we want customers to have an unlimited data plan, because we want people to have a worry free experience.
- All over, folks. “We hope you walk away with the answer to ‘Why the Sprint/Palm partnership’?”. They’re wrapping up. “Stay tuned – you’ll see more things as we get closer to launch”
- Slide now reads “The webinar is now over. Thank you for joining us.”, backed by the cheesiest jazz in all the lands.
Recap: 20 minutes of stuff everyone watching (it was a press-only event) had seen before, with a few gems in the Q&A: It’s still on target for 1st half of 2009, Palm will continue making WinMo devices, they have no plans to license webOS, and you won’t need the Simply Everything plan with the Pre.
That is not the last slide. You guys posted these out of sequence. That’s the slide before they show the first Pre photos…
You’re right, fixed.
This device has been on the black market in India for about 6 weeks. This is true for 90 percent of “new” products introduced into the US market. Btw, big money American movies also get sold on DVD a couple of days after they hit the theatres in America. I purchased and watched a DVD of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” on 27 Dec 2008– 2 days after it hit American cinemas.
Stop with your bullsh-t posting!!!
Any other crimes you’d like to admit to while you’re here?
@Chris
The only other crime I can think of here is the crime of naivity. It is or ought to be a crime to be so naive that you lose your competitive edge and thus fail to feed your family. Your naivity is so profound it borders on being criminal.
This is to say that Americans are so naive… getting so excited about something that has been around for 6 weeks. This also goes for other markets such as fashion. By the time Americans catch on to a new trend, Indians will have already been wearing it for a year.
So…
The meal is ready…almost…it smells good….and it looks good….and they just showed us the empty boxes of all the ingredients they put into it….explained how nutricious it will be….
But no sample taste, no idea when it will be served.
You have to give it to the TELCO guys….they are a stubborn group….keep the same crap time after time….without realizing this kind of marketing crap just doesn’t cut it.
The freakin’ phone better be good…..because everyone involved is doing a preety good job sinking it…..
It does look more ergonomic with its curved shape (will it fit better in pockets?). It also looks much more rugged. Is it?
I can’t wait to get my hands on MINE!
Unless they open it up to a better carrier than Sprint I have zero interest. Sprint not only has the least reliable network, but their customer service is a nightmare.
I’m so tired of the Sprint bashing…I’ve been through hell with them for the past 8 years, customer service wise. That’s a problem, but largely one from the past. If you don’t mind calling back when you get a customer service person that’s not helpful, then there’s simply no issue. I get right through to customer service and my issues are resolved. I rarely need to call these days, unless I’m in need of the latest phone. For anyone to fault their network though, its ridiculous. I live in LA but travel all over the country. I have great coverage, amazing data coverage (for years now). I’m with coworkers who have ATT and laugh as they drop calls constantly. I’m with coworkers that have Verizon, who have much better luck. I don’t drop calls anywhere in Southern California. I started my career at Bell Atlantic Mobile in 1992 so I have a long view of phone service. Who cares about the phone you have if the network sucks (ATT + iPhone). I get unlimited everything for myself and my wife for under $230 a month. Everything.
This is clearly a rant but I find people like Mark Carras ridiculuos when they make unqualified and untrue statements. People should stop commenting when they haven’t a clue what they’re talking about.
Just because you had a rare good experience with Sprint doesn’t make them good. It is obvious that it is more than customer service making them bleed their subs. Despite the claims in the deck above, they are still not the most innovative network out there only recently beginning the migration to 3G and doing a terrible job at running Sprint-Nextel competing technologies side by side. Furthermore their 2G reliability is garbage and dropping back to 2G the handoff is less than pleasurable (makes the 3G to Edge handoff by ATT look good). Customer service MAY be improving but the legacy of terrible customer care combined with spotty improvements at best with store staff (though the call center’s kind of are better) there’s still a lot to be done. And, then there is the devices, apart from this little number, you can’t honestly say that their selection is either comprehensive or compelling. Even t-Mobile has a better selection these days. Finally, both in terms of available add on services (which they lack comparred to competitors) and overall cost (you really think 230 for two lines of unlimited everything is good?!?!) they are struggling to stay ahead of the curve. Take into account years of mis-management post-merger, a failed WiMax move, and one of the highest class action law suit rates of any telcom, of course they are going to get bashed, praising them would be like thanking madoff for taking my money
are you serious? i have been with sprint for 7 years now and couldnt be happier… i travel all around the united states(union boilermaker) and get excellent coverage as well as data… for those who bash sprint.. move on… go to the other guys and buy thier shitty phones… and pay extra for services that you could have with sprints unlimited plan… the C.S. is getting better and they almost always resolve the prob with one call..i like the fact that i can have the best coverage with the best phones.. the other places have 1 or 2 phones that “may” (and i use that term loosley) be cool… i can do more with my spring devices than any other carrier can do with thiers… and not have to worry about my phone bricking or being damaged… so to all those who bash sprint… try someone else then see how good you had it.. or just stfu… its simple..
What a waste of everyone’s time! Come on, Palm and Sprint — don’t you know you only have a news conference if you have NEWS?
That said, I’m still very excited about the Pre. Just don’t understand the point of annoying users and the press by wasting their time.
Will this work on the SERO plan I wonder? It’s the only phone that I would consider besides a blackberry.
What about tethering?
Nothing like hoping you’ll find out when you can get a new phone, only to have it waved in front of your face a bit and then taken away.
We need a date. Seriously.
Damn 2 year iPhone contract!!! Now I want a Pre.
Yeahh, Long Live SERO Plan!!! I would get iPhone if Sprint will require expensive plans like iPhone. But now I have to wait for Pre
On my quick initial look I had a thought it was the HTC Dream powered by google’s Android that is finally being sold here down under in Australia by Optus network exclusively (if you needed more info let pls me know). The device renders pages perfectly. I would love to test this Palm Pre as well. Thank you…
It will be a nice competition vs Iphone
Any idea about European launch & release ?
I didn’t extend my blackbery contract just so I can pick this phone up when it expires. Honestly, I’m hoping other carrier options are out there by the time that occurs though, never been a sprint fan. Too many people I know complain about Sprint for it to be coincidence (at least in my area). I’m still using This digital security site though to make sure the Pre will be business secure etc.
Just trying to get some clarification here for the plan requirement information. Its now clear that a simply everything plan is not required but does this mean an everything data or everything data family plan is required since they will require an unlimited data plan? What about people who are on grandfathered plans that already include unlimited data? Will these people be able to activate the Palm Pre on these older plans with data already included or will Sprint require all Palm Pre customers to move to the simply everything, everything data, or everything data family plans. To me, it kind of sounds like they are going to give this phone the same plan requirements as the Instinct phone. The plans on the Instinct phone also start at $69.99/month for a single line. What does the “There are a host of plans available” comment mean? If sprint is going to “Instinct” this phone then I am going to have to pass on this awesome device. Bummer!!!