Link of interest: the Palm Pre launches
Published by Steve Litchfield at 11:10 UTC, January 9th 2009
As you'll have seen from other Internet news sources, Palm have launched their long-awaited next generation platform and flagship, the 'Pre' [pronounced pree]. Having been propped up again and again by venture capital money, we've all been wondering what was there to keep the investors excited, and now we know. It's non-Symbian but very much of interest, see the details and comment below.
Palm’s new webOS is built on web technologies such as CSS, XHTML and JavaScript. The new platform was designed to allow a potentially vast ecosystem of partners, including developers, hardware suppliers and accessories manufacturers.
webOS introduces Palm Synergy, a key feature that "brings your information from all the places it resides into one logical view"
- Linked contacts - With Synergy, you have a single view that links your contacts from a variety of sources, so accessing them is easier than ever. For example, if you have the same contact listed in your Outlook, Google and Facebook accounts, Synergy recognizes that they’re the same person and links the information, presenting it to you as one listing. And if you update a contact on your webOS device, it also will be updated in your various accounts, whether on a personal computer or on the web.
- Layered calendars - Your calendars can be seen on their own or layered together in a single view, combining work, family, friends, sports teams, or other interests. You can toggle to look at one calendar at a time, or see them all at a glance.
- Combined messaging - Synergy lets you see all your conversations with the same person in a chat-style view, even if it started in IM and you want to reply with text messaging. You can also see who’s active in a buddy list right from contacts, and start a new conversation with just one touch.
The Palm Pre itself has "a smooth, rounded ergonomic design and a physical keyboard that slides out only when needed. Pre is engineered to feel natural in the hand and comfortably small in the pocket. When closed, the phone is ideal for phone calls, web browsing, music, photos and videos; when open, Pre is optimized for email and text messaging."
- High-speed connectivity (EVDO Rev. A or UMTS HSDPA)
- Wi-Fi
- Integrated GPS
- Large 3.1-inch touch screen with a 24-bit color 320×480 resolution HVGA display
- Gesture area, which enables simple, intuitive gestures for navigation
- Slide-out QWERTY keyboard
- Email, including Outlook EAS (for access to corporate Microsoft Exchange servers), as well as personal email support (POP3, IMAP)
- 3-megapixel camera with LED flash
- Standard 3.5mm headset jack
- Bluetooth
- Non-expandable 8GB of internal storage (~7.4GB user available)
- MicroUSB connector with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
- Proximity sensor, which automatically disables the touch screen and turns off the display whenever you put the phone up to your ear
- Light sensor, which dims the display if the ambient light is dark, such as at night or in a movie theater
- Accelerometer, which automatically orients web pages and photos to your perspective
- Ringer switch, which silences the device with one touch
- Removable, rechargeable battery
- Dimensions: 59.57mm (W) x 100.53mm (L, closed) x 16.95mm (D) [2.35 inches (W) x 3.96 inches (L, closed) x 0.67 inches (D)]
- Weight: 135 grams [4.76 ounces]
- Optional inductive charging solution for phones. Simply set Pre down on top of the elegantly designed Palm Touchstone(TM) charging dock without worrying about connection, orientation or fit. Pre is active while charging, so you can access the touch screen, watch movies or video, or use the speakerphone.
Palm Pre is scheduled to be available first in the United States exclusively from Sprint in the first half of 2009, and will be followed by a world-ready UMTS version for other regions. Sprint’s pricing for the phone has not yet been determined.
Categories: Links of Interest
Platforms: General
News Discussion
Unregistered
The pre has the OMAP3430 as its CPU with PowerVR SGX 530 embedded GPU as part of the SoC. This is the first non-Japanese mainstream implementation of OMAP3 in a handset. Nokia take note!
dougalzene
looks very nice but if you're going to implement a slide out keyboard why not do so in landscape?
Hooligooner
Is-a-nice!
Unregistered
Looks very nice. Let's hope their support is better than it has been in past; my wife's unlocked Centro (which is a very nice device BTW) still has the infamous "phone locks up when answering the phone" bug, which Palm seem unable or unwilling to do anything about...
mattrad
@dougalzene
Palm's CEO said they decided on vertical slider as they didn't see much difference in usage/speed compared to horizontal.
webOS looks like it implements some of the things on my wishlist - centralised contacts with presence, unified messaging (I don't care what medium the message is sent over) - wrapped up in a sexy UI.
Even though they are producing a GSM version, it probably won't be out in the UK for a while though :(
Palm's CEO said they decided on vertical slider as they didn't see much difference in usage/speed compared to horizontal.
webOS looks like it implements some of the things on my wishlist - centralised contacts with presence, unified messaging (I don't care what medium the message is sent over) - wrapped up in a sexy UI.
Even though they are producing a GSM version, it probably won't be out in the UK for a while though :(
Dynite
UI looks nice.
Can see the Android influcence on the top bar and the OSX dock influence at the bottom.
Or at least, that's what occured to me.
Can see the Android influcence on the top bar and the OSX dock influence at the bottom.
Or at least, that's what occured to me.
neilhoskins
Multiple calendar layers sounds excellent. I really think that weak built-in PIM apps are going to lose Symbian market share.
NickAnstee
After the Palm LifeDrive I vowed never to get another Palm again, it crashed everytime you actually wanted to do anything with it other than switch it on, actually it even crashed just switching it on sometimes. The worst part of it though was that the device was useless until you got back to your PC and restored the backup which took ages. Then you had the mess of some file types you had to convert on a PC first and some you could open directly etc etc.
I am sure the new platform is entirely different though?
I am sure the new platform is entirely different though?
Unregistered
I am a Nokia fanboy and very happy with my E71 but the new Palm OS touch UI rocks - all the good stuff from the iPhone plus real multi-tasking.
There are some vids of it in action over MobileBurn.
There are some vids of it in action over MobileBurn.
snoyt
Finally some holistic approach to agenda, contacts and messaging... I can only hope that Nokia takes that approach too for the N97.
Tzer2
The new interface looks very nice, and the more competition in the smartphone world the better.
It reminded me of the buttons that used to be below the screen on classic Palm devices (and most other PDAs of the 1990s). Maybe OSX borrowed the look from Palm, and now Palm is taking it back? :-)
Quote:
| and the OSX dock influence at the bottom. |
Unregistered
I suspect Psion were in there first with the old series 3 and it's app bar buttons below the screen? =)
jah
Palm seems to have re-invented itself. The Zen of Palm lives again!
We should not under estimate the significance of the Pre. Unlike Apple, Palm will have multiple devices to sell. I think the iPhone and the G1 look very unsexy now when compared to the Pre. If we get Office and Exhchange email sync then the Pre will be the first device to cover all the needs from entertainment to business (it has A2DP and a battery you can replace unlike the iPhone).
We should not under estimate the significance of the Pre. Unlike Apple, Palm will have multiple devices to sell. I think the iPhone and the G1 look very unsexy now when compared to the Pre. If we get Office and Exhchange email sync then the Pre will be the first device to cover all the needs from entertainment to business (it has A2DP and a battery you can replace unlike the iPhone).
Unregistered
Well, one area where both the iPhone and the Google Android G1 fail miserably at is in battery life.
If the Pre gets the same - or worse - battery life then it might as well be DOA.
If the Pre gets the same - or worse - battery life then it might as well be DOA.
nbulp
It's gonna be hard for them to attract developers, though. There are too many competing platforms and it may (ironically enough) end up being bad for the end-user...
Unregistered
Nokia's market share will shrink even lower in the future...
Other manufacturers are already developing superior devices and software. What I don't understand, why does it take a super giant Nokia years upon years to bring something new to the market while a struggling company like Palm can make a new and innovative OS.
It will probably take Nokia 2 to 3 years to release OMAP 3 series on smartphones. Funny this CPU is not even mentioned by AAS in the PalmPre spec. Tech geeks deliberately missing out this detail? Nokia / Symbian bias?
Seems like my money is going elsewhere again.
Other manufacturers are already developing superior devices and software. What I don't understand, why does it take a super giant Nokia years upon years to bring something new to the market while a struggling company like Palm can make a new and innovative OS.
It will probably take Nokia 2 to 3 years to release OMAP 3 series on smartphones. Funny this CPU is not even mentioned by AAS in the PalmPre spec. Tech geeks deliberately missing out this detail? Nokia / Symbian bias?
Seems like my money is going elsewhere again.
Unregistered
Doesn't sound all that innovative to me. What does the new OS do that Symbian doesn't for instance?
Also your point about OMAP3 is irrelevant (and inaccurate in my opinion). What is it that Nokia's current phones cannot do that more CPU power would then allow for?
We've already got 3D graphics with and without hardware acceleration and video playback.
Also your point about OMAP3 is irrelevant (and inaccurate in my opinion). What is it that Nokia's current phones cannot do that more CPU power would then allow for?
We've already got 3D graphics with and without hardware acceleration and video playback.
Unregistered
Just watch the demo starting 18 minutes into the Palm press conference.
The phone is designed to multitask with the best notifications system ever seen.
The apps themselves multitask. Can the symbian email program have multiple windows where one is listing the inbox, another reading an email and then another window reply a completely different email? Can symbian show multiple windows of different sms conversations?
The Pre completely integrate messages/contacts/calendering from multiple accounts and show as one. Does S60 do that?
Palm got the touch ui with the seperate gesture area and multiple cards concept dead on.
The phone is designed to multitask with the best notifications system ever seen.
The apps themselves multitask. Can the symbian email program have multiple windows where one is listing the inbox, another reading an email and then another window reply a completely different email? Can symbian show multiple windows of different sms conversations?
The Pre completely integrate messages/contacts/calendering from multiple accounts and show as one. Does S60 do that?
Palm got the touch ui with the seperate gesture area and multiple cards concept dead on.
langdona
Looks good! Lets just see if the reality is as good as the promise.
Unregistered
Compared to what's on the market now, Symbian looks incredibly dated. Nokias hardware looks best in my eyes but their OS is so dull.
I don't care about Pre though. I don't use Gmail and Facebook and don't like it's hardware. I'm in the market for an E51 successor. Hope they haven't scrapped that Stella from their roadmap.
I don't care about Pre though. I don't use Gmail and Facebook and don't like it's hardware. I'm in the market for an E51 successor. Hope they haven't scrapped that Stella from their roadmap.
Tzer2
Quote:
| Nokia's market share will shrink even lower in the future... |
Nokia are at something like 35-40% of global phone sales, and they've more or less kept within that market share for the past five years. Their nearest rivals have always been on 10 - 20% at most (Apple is on something like 2%).
Quote:
| Other manufacturers are already developing superior devices and software. |
Quote:
| Compared to what's on the market now, Symbian looks incredibly dated |
Quote:
| Funny this CPU is not even mentioned by AAS in the PalmPre spec. Tech geeks deliberately missing out this detail? Nokia / Symbian bias? |
I have never EVER seen a Palm or Windows Mobile or iPhone site accused of bias because they fail to cover Symbian devices.
If AAS was somehow anti-Palm we wouldn't be covering the Pre at all, but we are covering it, and saying it looks quite nice. I think that makes AAS much less biased than your average smartphone site.
But that's not good enough for you, you think because we didn't talk about its processor too we must be being bribed by some anti-Palm conspiracy.
What IS it with all these accusations lately that AAS is getting paid by Nokia? What would you like us to do to prove we're an independent site?
AAS has nothing against Palm (or any other OS), in fact AAS used to run a sister site called All About Palm before the platform went into hibernation. And as I keep reminding people, the journalists on AAS also write about other platforms for sites that are about other platforms.
The reason AAS covers Symbian so much is because... shock horror... this site is called All About Symbian.
hargs48
Tzer2 I think all the "fans" that doubt AAS integrity need an "audit" report to prove that there is no biasness...:con?
Dynite
Quote:
| The apps themselves multitask. |
I believe you are refering more to tasks and data being more seemlessly integrated, which is something entirely different.
Quote:
| Can the symbian email program have multiple windows where one is listing the inbox, another reading an email and then another window reply a completely different email? Can symbian show multiple windows of different sms conversations? |
Quote:
| The Pre completely integrate messages/contacts/calendering from multiple accounts and show as one. Does S60 do that? |
Raven
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Unregistered
Can the symbian email program have multiple windows where one is listing the inbox, another reading an email and then another window reply a completely different email? Can symbian show multiple windows of different sms conversations?
|
Quote:
| Well, one area where both the iPhone and the Google Android G1 fail miserably at is in battery life. |
Tzer2
Dynite is right, the Symbian OS itself does allow those things, it's just the built-in Messaging application on Nokia phones is rather old-fashioned. There's nothing to stop companies writing properly integrated messaging and mail apps on Symbian.
That's why a lot of people have turned to third party S60 mail applications such as ProfiMail, though Nokia is now catching up with its own updated apps that are designed to replace Messaging.
The original reason why Messaging didn't do multiple windows etc was probably the physically small screens that S60 devices had, as they were more phones than PDAs. However the new bigger screen touch-based S60 devices should offer a lot more design options for SMS and mail clients.
They would just claim the auditors were being bribed by Nokia... :-)
It's the same sort of paranoid witch-hunt logic that Senator McCarthy used to use: assume everyone is against you, and when they deny it you must assume they're lying.
Seriously, anyone who thinks we're some kind of extension of Nokia's marketing department needs to read AAS's reviews more closely. Every single one of them highlights the failings of devices as much as their successes (and absolutely every device from every manufacturer does have notable drawbacks).
Pretty much all these new gen devices have massive playback times, the 5800 is rated at 37 hours (I think) and even the cheapo 5320 has 24 hours so at a couple of hours music a day you'd be listening for weeks (though the charge would probably leak out anyway if you wait that long). Apparently the dedicated audio hardware in newer phones helps to reduce the power drain of music player software.
That's why a lot of people have turned to third party S60 mail applications such as ProfiMail, though Nokia is now catching up with its own updated apps that are designed to replace Messaging.
The original reason why Messaging didn't do multiple windows etc was probably the physically small screens that S60 devices had, as they were more phones than PDAs. However the new bigger screen touch-based S60 devices should offer a lot more design options for SMS and mail clients.
Quote:
| Tzer2 I think all the "fans" that doubt AAS integrity need an "audit" report to prove that there is no biasness... |
It's the same sort of paranoid witch-hunt logic that Senator McCarthy used to use: assume everyone is against you, and when they deny it you must assume they're lying.
Seriously, anyone who thinks we're some kind of extension of Nokia's marketing department needs to read AAS's reviews more closely. Every single one of them highlights the failings of devices as much as their successes (and absolutely every device from every manufacturer does have notable drawbacks).
Quote:
| For instance, music playback will last forever... |