I made my own feature comparison of the iPhone and the Pre. I have to say, I LOVE the iPhone, but the Pre is looking pretty damn good...
Read on to find an in depth analysis.
Note: This is comparing the current iPhone, considering everything we know about the upcoming 3.0 update. It is widely anticipated that a new iPhone is coming out early June, so I tried not compare what could possibly be improved, like processor speed, camera, storage capacity etc.
Multi-Tasking: The biggest advantage the Palm Pre has over the iPhone. You can run multiple applications at once and seamlessly switch between them. The iPhone can only one run app at a time. One example of the Pre's multitasking capabilities would be when you get a phone call, it slides your current "card" or application down to the bottom, instead of just dumping it like the iPhone does.
One thing that iPhone has over the Palm Pre, is that when using 3G, you can be on the phone and search the web at the same time. The Pre does not allow this currently, which definitely sucks a little bit.
Syncing: Another shining area of the Pre. Palm calls their technology Synergy. Basically, it takes contact information from ALMOST everything your heart could desire (Facebook, Google, Outlook) and puts them all together as one. So when someone changes their phone number on their Facebook account, it changes in your phonebook. This basically completely eliminates the need to edit contact info and delete duplicates etc.
The other amazing thing about this is there's no more switching between iChat, Google Talk, Facebook chat or texting. There's just talking. Everything is all together. (italicized for awesomeness.)
What the iPhone does have is the ability to sync with iCal, which anyone who has a mac knows this is one of the best calendar apps out there. But, as long as you're running Leopard, iCal can sync with Google Calendars, essentially letting your Palm Pre sync with iCal. The fact that the Pre syncs entirely relying on the "cloud" is what makes it so fantastic. It's compatible with every OS, in a way.
Network: Sprint has a faster and larger 3G network than AT&T, but that's it. As far as cell service for calling, AT&T probably has the advantage.
Pricing of Phone/Plan: The Pre is $200 after a $100 rebate. The iPhone is $200 and you don't need to fill out a rebate form.
Sprint's plan is better, hands down. The iPhone's plan starts at $70/month for 450 minutes, unlimited data, and that's it.
For the same price, the Pre plan gives you all of this plus unlimited messaging; something AT&T charges $20 for. Plus you get some extra goodies like Sprint's Navigation and TV service. I've no idea how good these services are but they're worth noting.
Keyboard: This is really personal preference. The iPhone's virtual keyboard is the best there is, and anyone who argues that is either an idiot or has never used the iPhone. The Pre has a physical keyboard, which by the people who've used it, isn't the greatest keyboard. The keys are mushy and small, but nonetheless, it's a physical keyboard; and some people need this.
Notifications: I used to think the iPhone's notification system was the best a notification system could be. But the Pre does it better. Instead of making you dismiss a text message notification, it just scales your current app down slightly and puts the notification at the bottom, not unlike a weather warning on tv. Very smart.
Gestures/Multi-Touch: Both the iPhone and the Pre have fantastic gestures and support similar Multi-Touch capabilities (pinch to zoom etc), but again, the Pre takes it a little bit further. Instead of having to press back/forward buttons in the browser, you just swipe left/right, respectively, on the gesture area of the Pre. This is just one example. I should also note that the Pre's gesture area has white LEDs behind it that trail behind your gestures. Kind of like Quicksilver's Abracadabra for OS X. Very nice touch.
Form Factor/Style: The iPhone is thinner, but bigger. The Pre is smaller but chubbier. You decide what's better. The only thing I really like about the Pre is everything in the status bar (wireless reception, time, battery life) looks like it's not on the screen. Very cool design. At the same time, I think the iPhone looks a little more professional, while the Pre is chubby in a cutesy way.
App Store: At first, you'd think the iPhone is a sure winner for this. It has a very impressive app store and it's so easy to find an app you want an install it. Apple pioneered this; it's undeniable.
But the deal breaker is in the SDK. Don't get me wrong, XCode is a great tool that apple provides to all of its developers, but the iPhone uses Cocoa and C++, which are both great, but not as widely used as HTML, Javascript, and CSS, which is what the Pre uses.
Basically, the iPhone is winning currently, but the Pre has the potential to be just as big, if not bigger. And the only approval process for Pre apps is security and stability tests. We all know Apple's approval process is very strict and a little ridiculous at times.
I still think Apple is going to win this one, though. They were the first ones to do this, and I think people are going to stick with it.
Right now, it seems like the Pre is a better phone. Now, you could argue that the Pre stole a lot from the iPhone (which it did) and even OS X (which is absolutely did), but that's what happens, and if it means keeping Apple on their toes then I'm all for it. Apple have made the best computers and the best phone, with nothing coming even close to them for a long time. Now that their phone possibly has a worthy competitor, Apple has to step up their game. Before 3.0 was announced, the Pre had the clear advantage, but with 3.0, Apple added a lot of features that fill the gaps between the two devices, which is great! Now Apple can't get away with not giving us basic features like MMS and video recording just because the rest of the phone is light years ahead of all the competition.
But I also have to say that everything I've written about the Pre has not been tested in the wild. So we'll have to wait and see how it truly works once it's released (June 6th); not just in tech blog's youtube videos and Palm's walkthroughs. For instance, maybe the Pre's screen isn't totally scratch proof like the iPhone's screen is.
Official Pre Site: http://www.palm.com/us/products/phones/pre/
Cheesy/Informative Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD5b5Gh-Kt4
And Some Real Life Action: http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/palm-pre-everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know/
Read on to find an in depth analysis.
Note: This is comparing the current iPhone, considering everything we know about the upcoming 3.0 update. It is widely anticipated that a new iPhone is coming out early June, so I tried not compare what could possibly be improved, like processor speed, camera, storage capacity etc.
Multi-Tasking: The biggest advantage the Palm Pre has over the iPhone. You can run multiple applications at once and seamlessly switch between them. The iPhone can only one run app at a time. One example of the Pre's multitasking capabilities would be when you get a phone call, it slides your current "card" or application down to the bottom, instead of just dumping it like the iPhone does.
One thing that iPhone has over the Palm Pre, is that when using 3G, you can be on the phone and search the web at the same time. The Pre does not allow this currently, which definitely sucks a little bit.
Syncing: Another shining area of the Pre. Palm calls their technology Synergy. Basically, it takes contact information from ALMOST everything your heart could desire (Facebook, Google, Outlook) and puts them all together as one. So when someone changes their phone number on their Facebook account, it changes in your phonebook. This basically completely eliminates the need to edit contact info and delete duplicates etc.
The other amazing thing about this is there's no more switching between iChat, Google Talk, Facebook chat or texting. There's just talking. Everything is all together. (italicized for awesomeness.)
What the iPhone does have is the ability to sync with iCal, which anyone who has a mac knows this is one of the best calendar apps out there. But, as long as you're running Leopard, iCal can sync with Google Calendars, essentially letting your Palm Pre sync with iCal. The fact that the Pre syncs entirely relying on the "cloud" is what makes it so fantastic. It's compatible with every OS, in a way.
Network: Sprint has a faster and larger 3G network than AT&T, but that's it. As far as cell service for calling, AT&T probably has the advantage.
Pricing of Phone/Plan: The Pre is $200 after a $100 rebate. The iPhone is $200 and you don't need to fill out a rebate form.
Sprint's plan is better, hands down. The iPhone's plan starts at $70/month for 450 minutes, unlimited data, and that's it.
For the same price, the Pre plan gives you all of this plus unlimited messaging; something AT&T charges $20 for. Plus you get some extra goodies like Sprint's Navigation and TV service. I've no idea how good these services are but they're worth noting.
Keyboard: This is really personal preference. The iPhone's virtual keyboard is the best there is, and anyone who argues that is either an idiot or has never used the iPhone. The Pre has a physical keyboard, which by the people who've used it, isn't the greatest keyboard. The keys are mushy and small, but nonetheless, it's a physical keyboard; and some people need this.
Notifications: I used to think the iPhone's notification system was the best a notification system could be. But the Pre does it better. Instead of making you dismiss a text message notification, it just scales your current app down slightly and puts the notification at the bottom, not unlike a weather warning on tv. Very smart.
Gestures/Multi-Touch: Both the iPhone and the Pre have fantastic gestures and support similar Multi-Touch capabilities (pinch to zoom etc), but again, the Pre takes it a little bit further. Instead of having to press back/forward buttons in the browser, you just swipe left/right, respectively, on the gesture area of the Pre. This is just one example. I should also note that the Pre's gesture area has white LEDs behind it that trail behind your gestures. Kind of like Quicksilver's Abracadabra for OS X. Very nice touch.
Form Factor/Style: The iPhone is thinner, but bigger. The Pre is smaller but chubbier. You decide what's better. The only thing I really like about the Pre is everything in the status bar (wireless reception, time, battery life) looks like it's not on the screen. Very cool design. At the same time, I think the iPhone looks a little more professional, while the Pre is chubby in a cutesy way.
App Store: At first, you'd think the iPhone is a sure winner for this. It has a very impressive app store and it's so easy to find an app you want an install it. Apple pioneered this; it's undeniable.
But the deal breaker is in the SDK. Don't get me wrong, XCode is a great tool that apple provides to all of its developers, but the iPhone uses Cocoa and C++, which are both great, but not as widely used as HTML, Javascript, and CSS, which is what the Pre uses.
Basically, the iPhone is winning currently, but the Pre has the potential to be just as big, if not bigger. And the only approval process for Pre apps is security and stability tests. We all know Apple's approval process is very strict and a little ridiculous at times.
I still think Apple is going to win this one, though. They were the first ones to do this, and I think people are going to stick with it.
Right now, it seems like the Pre is a better phone. Now, you could argue that the Pre stole a lot from the iPhone (which it did) and even OS X (which is absolutely did), but that's what happens, and if it means keeping Apple on their toes then I'm all for it. Apple have made the best computers and the best phone, with nothing coming even close to them for a long time. Now that their phone possibly has a worthy competitor, Apple has to step up their game. Before 3.0 was announced, the Pre had the clear advantage, but with 3.0, Apple added a lot of features that fill the gaps between the two devices, which is great! Now Apple can't get away with not giving us basic features like MMS and video recording just because the rest of the phone is light years ahead of all the competition.
But I also have to say that everything I've written about the Pre has not been tested in the wild. So we'll have to wait and see how it truly works once it's released (June 6th); not just in tech blog's youtube videos and Palm's walkthroughs. For instance, maybe the Pre's screen isn't totally scratch proof like the iPhone's screen is.
Official Pre Site: http://www.palm.com/us/products/phones/pre/
Cheesy/Informative Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD5b5Gh-Kt4
And Some Real Life Action: http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/palm-pre-everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know/
link please!
