I ran across an interesting article today and as always, I have to share. When we all make our mental (or physical) lists of what we want on the Pre, we have certain must-haves… deal breakers, and unimportant nice-to-haves and we base those lists on what we already know and don’t know about the Palm Pre. Well, here’s a list (not complete by any means as it is missing, in my opinion, one of the big ones, Synergy) based solely on what we know for sure from the guys at ComputerWorld entitled,“5 Palm Pre features that will shake up the smartphone market.”
1) Wireless charger — The Pre is the first phone to work with a wireless charger, where charging takes place via magnetic induction. At just under $70, the charger is both convenient and affordable.
2) Fits like a glove — People who have been shown demo models of the Pre say it has smooth rounded edges and fits comfortably in the hand. This contrasts with the iPhone, which looks cool but has a clunkier feel. In terms of size, the Pre is smaller than an iPhone, but larger when opened.
3) Powerful and primed for multitasking — The Pre’s Web browser is speedy compared to the iPhone and BlackBerry browsers. It can also run multiple applications at once, and users can toggle between applications with the swipe of a finger across the screen.
4) It handles Flash — Palm plans to integrate Adobe Flash 9 into the Pre this year, which will further enhance its Web capabilities. Flash-enabled applications such as video players are not viewable on the iPhone — at least not yet.
5) A real camera! The Palm Pre’s camera captures impressive images, unlike the blurry pictures found on the iPhone and most other mobile phones. “Even in lighting that wasn’t super bright, colors came out rich,” Gizmodo reported.
[via ComputerWorld]
9 Comments, Comment or Ping
encosion
#4 is pretty much vaporware… Palm joined Adobe’s Open Screen Project back in Febuary. From the press release: “the Open Screen Project will help deliver Adobe Flash Player for smartphones on the new Palm webOS platform” …this doesn’t necessarily mean the Pre as webOS is an OS and intended for many handsets. The Pre is hopefully an intended target, but the timings may make it more plausible for a Pre 2.0 – read on: “Flash Player for smartphones is expected to be available to handset manufacturers at the end of 2009″
So it’s not likely that consumers will get their mitts on Flash this year… Perhaps only well into next year… By which time there will no doubt be some other darling out shining the Pre…
This is speculative. However, DON’T go buying the Pre thinking it supports Flash, ‘cos it doesn’t… It MAY someday provide it, but likely at the same time as a bunch of handsets from a bunch of other manufacturers…
May 25th, 2009
kindaskimpy
I agree with encosion. If THE ONLY reason you are buying a Pre is because of Adobe Flash then please… do not buy it. You might also want to look into why it’s so important to you and things like multi-tasking and Synergy aren’t.
May 25th, 2009
BaDZeD
I think what makes the Pre stand out is the form factor. It gives the phone a large screen and at the same time a keyboard that can be used one handedly. The gesture area is also a way for this phone to stand out as it makes the one handed use with the keyboard open a breeze.
May 25th, 2009
Dom
“Palm plans to integrate Adobe Flash 9″ – Flash 10 that is…
May 25th, 2009
Methias
What I don’t get is that Palm came out with the LifeDrive like 3 or 5 years ago and it had 4GB of storage that quickly ran out. Now they only include 8GB in the Pre and no way to expand . MicroSD would not take up any room in that bulky configuration. It seems that Pre 2.0 will hopefully have many needed improvements, including flash support.
May 26th, 2009
Methias
I would also agree with Encosion. #4 should not be listed as a reason as by the time the Pre gets Flash, you can bet other smart phones will too.
And again with the storage. Say I wanted to encode and watch a few movies on that screen (~300MB ea), carry a chunk of my music and download a bunch of apps that will hopefully be available and take numerous pics with the 3MP camera (or remotely upload my real cameras pics–the LifeDrive had a camera companion feature that was great). 8GB without the option to upgrade storage is starting to seem woefully inadequate unless the network is going to be fast enough that I could stream all that stuff which is unlikely.
And the last I want to request is presentation support. As I’m sure it will get or have some type of Docs To Go office suite support, there needs to be a way for teachers, businesses, etc to be able to present off this thing or to easily transfer to a ready computer.
May 26th, 2009
Andrew
I agree with Badzed. I don’t know what it is about the iPhone, but other than it’s bright colorful screen and fancy shiny chrome accents, it’s not attractive. It just seems too brick-like and bulky. When I first saw the Pre, my first impression was that this is really a very attractive, comfortable looking phone! It looks like it would slip comfortably into my pocket, unlike the iPhone.
And then I just can’t forget about the real keypad. I remember when I first saw the iPhone online, I wondered where the keypad was. Then when I realized it was a virtual keypad, I knew there was just no way I was going to be able to use an iPhone. Although it may seem so cool and high tech to type on a screen rather than a keypad, it’s simply not functional. I think this was a major mistake for Apple. I suspect they’re sticking with it out of pride. I guess it’s okay if you don’t do a lot of typing, but even then, I’d still rather be able to feel my keys. I can pretty much guarantee you that we’ll never see virtual keyboards for laptop or desktop computers, so why have them on a phone if you don’t have to?
I also think it’s interesting (and telling) to look at how far Microsoft has fallen behind in the mobile OS competition. It’s not like they haven’t been trying. But between Apple, RIMM, and Palm, Microsoft Mobile has been all but completely forgotten about. Microsoft had tunnel vision, trying to make their mobile OS too similar to the desktop OS. A phone is not a desktop or laptop computer and, although there is some overlap, they are used for two different purposes. At first, I didn’t think a Start button on my phone was necessary or even useful, but looking back, I now see how silly it really is. All it does is add extra clicks that nobody needs or wants. Yeah, kinda cool to have a phone with an OS that looks like my desktop… but again, totally not functional.
May 26th, 2009
Frank
I don’t get what is so exciting about the charger. So it has a magnet. So it has no electrical connection to the phone. Big deal. Can I send audio thru it to my stereo? Can I send video thru it to my TV to watch videos and photos? Can I send data thru it to my computer for syncing or backup? I still have to plug it into the wall (obviously) so how exactly is it “wireless”?
My Sonicare has done this for many years, and I didn’t jump up and down about it.
I can stick my iPhone in my dock or pull it out just as easily, and I get a data, audio, and video connection as well as charging.
The Pre is a huge jump forward from the iPhone, don’t get me wrong. But this feature is just a fluffy, expensive differentiator passing itself off as “hip”.
May 27th, 2009
Natalie Port
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May 10th, 2010
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