The OS is great. There’s no ifs ands or buts; it’s really refreshing to see something that’s brand new with a UI unlike anything else out there. The only problem with this is, Palm’s never been a hardware company that anyone’s really cared about. They have been the furthest thing from innovative since circa-2003 — their hardware has always been second rate at best and it doesn’t seem to be changing now. Couple that with the nation’s underdog carrier at a $299 price-point (before rebate), and we’re not sure how many people are going to be lined up overnight, yet we’re pretty confident once people are able to play a real unit themselves, there will be more than a lot of happy Palm Pre customers.
Written a week early before release... looks like we'll need to wait and see for other publications to confirm or disprove BGR's opinions.
Well, it looks detailed enough to me... let's just see if developers step up and provide enough software for this unit. At least older Palm OS programs should work on this device.
It's a little strong saying they aren't a hardware company anyone really cared about, when in fact the Palm Pilot users up to the PalmV were all pretty devoted users until the Dragonball processor held them back from MP3 and video playback (Kinoma player sucked and the SonyClie used a player chip not the Proc).
I still use a Palm 3C based phone (Kyocera 7135) and I still love it as the best phone design, it just sucks power/performance wise and without the dedicated MP3 chip wouldn't be able to do MP3s either despite being the first customizable MP3 ringtone smartphone.
There's alot of people who still think of their old Palm and Handspring devices fondly, and just like the dying Apple Fans prior to the i-comeback, many people are hoping for a Palm revival, if only to spur everyone further forward past the now stagnant iPhone (which only had a major feature boost in firmware 3.0 once the PRE features were revealed).
I hope for the best, but I expect something similar to the HTC Magic / BB Storm / HTC Touch Pro 2 / iPhone3G (last year's). Evolutionary and worthy of a following and praise, but now as Revolutionary as people had hoped (the true Jebus phone [which even the iPhone wasn't]).
Message edited by TheGreatGrapeApe on 06-03-2009 at 05:40:22 AM
------------------------------You need a license to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp (or internet account) - REDGREEN. GA to SK HD Freedom: 45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
Reply to TheGreatGrapeApe
Indeed TheGreatGrapeApe. I myself have "fond memories" of my translucent Visor Deluxe, and how I learned to do Graffiti fast enough to write notes in class. And I also remember drooling over the Clie NZ series.
Even if the Pre isn't as revolutionary as Palm needs it to be to honestly stay in the game, I might get myself one. And that's even though I'm currently a loyal Nokia user.
Ultimately -- carriers and developers notwithstanding -- what Palm has done is not only a major feat for a company of its size (and its dire position), and we think it's an important step in the evolution of mobile computing. Just like the iPhone's notches up the ladder, and the G1's contributions, the Pre moves the game forward in a very real way. We know this won't be the last of the webOS devices, and we know that as Palm improves its products, so will Apple, RIM, Microsoft, Google, and the rest of the smartphone gang. Unfortunately for them, their work just got a little bit tougher.
