The Pre has been out for 2 weeks as of this writing. I have had one comment so far about a major short-coming of the Pre and that is the lack of a hard wire connection to your pc. I do not own one yet as I have 18 months left on my current contract and I am waiting for my carrier (Verizon) to make it available to it’s customers. That said, I want to know what your experience has been, good or bad.
The new interface is designed for social networking purposes. With instant connectivity to the social sites and the ability to carry on multiple conversations at once. Is this something that appeals to you? As I understand it the web interface is “always on” How is that aspect affecting you. Does the unit keep it’s charge when it is constantly connecting to the net to update information? How is the Sprint deal are there extra connectivity charges involved with Messaging or SMS? How is the service? Have you had any issues that required tech support? From Palm? From Sprint.
Regarding legacy applications. Did you have any previous palm applications that you used on other hand held devices that you have you been able to port over to your new phone? Are you able to sync your calendar and outlook applications? Do you use any windows applications that now work in the Palm Pre? Are there new third party applications that you have found to be useful and if so would you share them?
This site is getting about thirty visitors a day and I am sure that many come to find out more information before they make a purchase. I have used what small sources of information I could find with a lot of the info coming from sites interested in promoting the Pre. The Best source right now would be the current new users of the product, so if that is you please comment. I will post all valid comments good or bad. (Druggie spammers and Linky lookers Forget it!)
When I found myself at the beginning of May trying to come up with more information on the Palm Pre and finding the same old tired articles, with new twists. I figured that they would take the entire “first half” of the year before they got it done. Indeed that is exactly what happened. As of the 6th of June the Palm will be available from Sprint. But, you already knew that I am sure and have come here looking for some other information to aid in your decision to actually make a purchase.
Here are a couple of things that I have been able to ferret out. Essentially if you are a palm aficionado, you already know that the system of being able to operate on exactly what you want is the way you like to do business. Let me explain. My current phone is a Motorola “Moto Q 9c” this system uses “Windows Mobile 6″. Typical of windows mobile 6 is clunky difficult to navigate and generally time wasting. The “intuitive” feature is very frustrating, this feature bases it’s offering of programs on the frequency of usage so if I use the camera today it is the #1 Icon that I see when I open my programs. As the days go by, if I don’t use that program for a couple of weeks or months, the Icon will literally disappear from the programs area and I then need to search 3 more pages of icons, to find the icon and reactivate it. The scroll feature is equally frustrating in that to get to a certain link on a web page you must scroll down through the entire page from top to bottom and then back up to the link that interests you. If you passed a link on the way down that caught your eye and now want to go back you sit there and push the “up” button until that link is finally highlighted and then you can operate on it!
The palm system has always had a stylus that enabled you to go anywhere on the screen and operate on that portion of the screen. In the Palm Pre the stylus has been replaced by your thumb and fingers. (Years ago I got an add-on app called “Fat Finger” that used to do the same in my 515) Now you are able to open your favorite applications and keep them open in the background, available at the flick of your thumb, move up or down through your lists or pages and select the item you want… all with the motion of your thumb and fingers. You can use your thumb and index finger to expand and contract views, zoom in and out, and generally operate on everything you wish with a few new movements. The features you use the most are waiting in the background ready any time you need them. The Palm SDK has been available to developers for nearly 3 and a half months and there is talk that several legacy applications from previous versions of palm will be available.
The announcement today from Palm (May 28) is that they have indeed listened to a few of the suggestions made by the general public on the Facebook forums and elsewhere. Media Sync will be included to enable downloading your favorite itunes or pictures from your PC via USB (Wasn’t there at CES) the camera is now a 3 mega pixel (2.2 at CES). Twitter search has been integrated into their general search offerings and much much more. Here is the direct link to their announcement today.
Now as we know for the first six months the Palm Pre is going to be exclusive with Sprint. The announcement above indicates that the phone will be available for $199 with a 2 year contract. (I signed on with Verizon 6 months ago Ouch!) For those who have a challenge with Sprint, if you are willing to wait another 6 months the phone will be available from Verizon and perhaps others according to PC Magazine at this link. Happy shopping and if you are among the “Gotta have mine now crowd” I would appreciate any feedback you wish to give after you have had a chance to play with your new toy!
I mentioned last week that the opening page for the palm site had switched from the “Pre” to the “Treo Pro”. I see now that Palm has announced that it is releasing the Treo Pro on the 15th of March. This will be the last Palm product to use the old operating system that has been the palm trademark OS from the beginning. The interesting thing is the use of Windows Mobile 6.1, as a system basis. Palm claims “providing the user with more mobile power” to which I would add “and the same clunky drawbacks typical of Microsoft that leave you scratching your head wondering why did they do that”? For companies and individuals who have Palm OS applications that are proprietary to old OS this is your last chance to get a model that will run those applications.
“Our agents rely heavily on their phones since they’re a truly mobile workforce, and Treo Pro is really convenient for checking business email, connecting to fast Wi-Fi and running our custom TurboApps application. With TurboApps, agents can submit insurance applications, get quotes and complete the application process — all from their Treo Pro. The Palm innovations added to the Windows platform make accessing the most used functions even easier, so staying productive and efficient is a breeze.”
The new Pre is apparently not ready for “prime time” and the Palm company is looking for ways to generate operating cash until the Pre is ready for release. They are however continuing to build the “Buzz” for the new release. This week they managed to get on the “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” show. They are actively posting on “Facebook“, and “Twitter” as Colleen Bullington discussed how the company is seeking promotional opportunities, where ever they can find them, including renting time on a “Times Square” video billboard. For the european market a deal has in the making for the GSM version of the phone. One source says “VodaPhone” and another says Movistar” will be carrying the Pre.
On the carrier scene Sprint held a webcast on Thursday 03/12/09, to tout the “Palm Pre” saying that it would continue to carry thefull line of palm products as well as the Pre. As with all the PR blasts, nothing so far on a release date.
Pre seems very promising. Its got a good OMAP under the hood, and so far terrific looking OS with seamless integration with most of the web and desktop applications out there. On the other hand, Opera Mobile 9.5 with flash stomps all …Read more…
Palm is trying to get its Palm OS application developers to work on webOS applications, Lett said. That’s a smart move, and one that will boost Palm’s chances, IDC’s Llamas said. “Mobile apps are no longer just one of those things that .
Palm acknowledged this again, saying that games for the Pre will initially be relatively simple, web-centric ones, such as Sudoku. But Matt Crowley, Product Line Manager at Palm, said something that could raise hopes that this situation .
Since we don’t know the exact release date of the Palm Pre, and most of the technical feature articles have now been published it is interesting to watch the rumor mills and other commentary getting bandied about on the net. Last week Andrew Nusca from ZDNet had an article speculating on Palm betting the farm on their Pre when they are in financial straights (as if every other manufacturer in this economy wasn’t). Anyway he complained that they should have released the Pre shortly after the show at CES. I don’t necessarily agree with him but he makes an interesting point. The longer it takes to get the pre to market the longer it will take for them to make a return on their investment and the wait is hurting sales of their current products.
What do to with the terms PreVert and PreJect? I think:
PreVert: A CrackBerry user who has a secret lust for a Palm Pre
PreJect: An iPhone user only rejects the Pre because of his rampant Apple fanboyism.
You might want to head over and leave a comment or vote for your favorite.
Today if you check out the Palm.com opening page they are pushing the "palm pro" the windows mobile 6.1 version of their mobile offerings. The Pre has disappeared from the front pages of their site as well as the top pages of their blog, replaced by the "Treo Pro."
The facebook conversation continues this week with Collen Bullington, a Palm advertising exec answering questions about the promotional end of the campaign. For all the questions she refuses to be drawn in and reveal a release date.
And then we have those who go overboard and make the prediction on pure speculation:
[RETRACTED]Palm Pre: hits stores March 15th By Tom Hanna, Site Founder
Sprint CEO Reiterates Planned Palm Pre Release Date First Half (by June) 2009 Although hopeful rumours that the next generation Palm Pre smartphone might be released as early as April.
For the moment, the actual release date of Palm Pre is not known, but the smartphone is said to be outed in the US first, via Sprint (the carrier apparently has exclusivity on the handset)
So a month after its introduction, how much do we know about the Palm Pre? Last month Palm took the Computer Electronics Show in Las Vegas by storm. The audiences and experts were wowed by the elegant new technology they had seen. Now a month later we are in speculation mode. What will the final product look like when it finally hits the market? Palm sent two of its development team members Adam Kaufman and Matt Crowley to join a discussion on facebook.com and the commentary has been very informative and lively. The current form of the Palm Pre will not essentially change from what was shown at CES. There will probably not be a provision for adding an extra SD card and increasing the memory and backup abilities of the unit.
Initially it will be released to Sprint exclusively, so those with other carriers are left out in the cold, at least initially. World wide there is still a mystery as to what form the “unlocked” or GSM version will have but there were certainly some concerns expressed that several users might be left out in the cold. A locked phone will require that users stick with only authorized carriers and until this is sorted out there are liable to be many unhappy campers out there who are dyed in the wool palm enthusiasts contracted with a non-palm carrier.
Two weeks ago Palm announced a developers SDK which I commented on here, and in the ensuing two week there has been a lot of activity as developers learn what they need to know about the system so that they can begin writing programs for the new operating system. The new Web OS will indeed make a break from the past palm operating systems. Meaning the legacy applications you have known and loved through all your iterations of palm products until now is probably gone. But I would be willing to bet that there are a lot of developers who are at this present time re-writing at least some of those favorites for the new Web OS. Will the palm desktop survive? At present this is another one of the unknowns.
The “Touchstone” created quite a stir at CES, the charging device that looks like a sloped hockey puck. It charges the phone through magnetic induction and eliminates the need for wires… at least into the phone itself. The list of accessories is growing and Adam Kaufman assures us that it will continue to grow.
If you have an hour here is the O’reilly webcast with the latest developments from the palm developer network.
Mon Feb 23rd 2009; Palm Pre gestures video demo in slooooow-motion. Sun Feb 22nd 2009; Sprint to delay release until next fall!!! Sun Feb 22nd 2009; webOS (skin) for Treo or Centro - Tea.
We were treated to a very detailed look at the new operating system powering Palm’s new smart phone at the recent Mobile World Congress. Plus more technology news in Crave, the gadget blog .
Following on Palm (NSDQ: PALM)’s WebOS MOJO SDK development book announcement, it seems Palm has finally gone super official with their Palm Pre-powering MOJO.
This is the title of the first chapter of a book released on the Palm Developer Network. The whole chapter is 9 pages long so settle in with a cup of coffee for an excellent education…
"Architecturally, Palm webOS is an embedded Linux operating system that hosts a custom User Interface (UI) System Manager built on standard browser technology. The System Manager provides a full range of system user interface features including: navigation, application launching and lifecycle management, event management and notifications, system status, local and web searches, and rendering application HTML/CSS/JavaScript code."
GO Here for the full read, it is well worth your time.
The Palm Pre is the latest model from a long line of successful personal digital assistants (PDA’s). Beginning with the first model the Palm Pilot, which was developed to replace pen and paper and provide a place to store names, addresses and appointments to the full fleged micro computer and phone we have today. As the palm pilot increased in popularity numerous third party applications became available. The new palm pre has been developed using javascript and html programming and future third party for the Pre are already being announced.
Software Palm Pda/ Treo
If you are looking to buy software for the Palm PDA or Treo then you may be surprised by how many options are available. However, making sure you get the best deal has become increasingly difficult; especially when there are so many options to choose from. If you are unsure of exactly what you need, then a great idea is to firstly read reviews and find out what other people are buying and what kind of experience they have.
One great way to do this is to search blogs and review websites for information on the latest Palm PDA and Treo software. Find out what people are buying, how they are finding the software works, and where they are buying it from. With so much software available, it can be hard to keep track of the latest releases and to know when a specific release has become outdated. There is new music software, DVD software, educational software and games released all the time, so finding a good source of regular information can be very beneficial for those that want to take advantage of the options that are available in the marketplace.
Once you have decided on a specific palm treo software product or pda software product, it is now time to find the best prices and most reliable provider. One great to do this is to go to a shopping comparison website. Not only will this give you an opportunity to come across a wide array of providers in one place, but you will also get an idea of the prices that they offer. From there you should also segment the retailers who offer the shipping options and payment options that you are looking for.
After you have created a short-list of potential suppliers, you should then try and find out if any of them are offering special deals that you can take advantage of. Go through every retailer and look on their website to see if they have any discounts available. If they do not, then you should consider visiting a coupon website and look to see if you can pick up any deals form the merchants that you have short listed. You could also try typing a search into Google such as retailer name + promo code. From there you should be able to work out what the price will be once you discount any coupon codes that are available. Now you will be able to find the cheapest retailer and give them your business! However keep in mind that price should not be the only factor when shopping for software products online. You should also find out about their return policy in the case that you do not receive the product that you were expecting.
When buying software for the Palm Treo and Palm PDA you have to pay particular attention to ensuring that it is compatible with your particular model. That is why a generous return policy can be advantageous. In the case that you cannot get this, be sure to be rigorous in your research in order to ensure that you do not end up out of pocket.
Wolfgang Schmuck, a proficient writer, writes articles for appcraft.org. The author writes articles about computer software, palm software and palm software are accessible on the internet.
CompanionLink Software has announced plans to release desktop synchronization software for devices running the new webOS, including the upcoming Palm Pre.
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