Palm Pre Continues to Generate Interest at CTIA Mobile

[dwright1974]

Well, the same British Advertising Standards Authority would also rap you on the knuckles for being misleading. You are creating the false impression that Apple intentionally tried to dupe its audience when in reality they just shortened the sequence of steps somehow. By not mentioning this fact, you are misleading the public.

Now without wishing to start a bun-fight, c'mon, get real!

The point of the post, (and my reply just after), was to highlight the fact that Apple do not film their ads in real time, they use a mock-upesque scenario to advertise their products, just like Palm are doing with the unreleased Pre. Granted, Palm's is more mock-up than Apple's however some people are speaking on here like they should be burned at the stake for using these practices.

At no point, in either our replies did we point THAT finger!!

Take a deep breath and carry on with your day.

- D


- D

 

[Padraig]

Well, the same British Advertising Standards Authority would also rap you on the knuckles for being misleading. You are creating the false impression that Apple intentionally tried to dupe its audience when in reality they just shortened the sequence of steps somehow. By not mentioning this fact, you are misleading the public.

How so?

 

[Digitalclips]

You want a bet???

You sound quite emotional about it.

Honestly, I don't care if apple wins or not. Yes I have an iphone but this pre does look interesting but I have no axe to grind.
But look at the facts and being objective, it does not look good for palm.

look at these I found from a few seconds googiling
palm hires ex apple designer puts iphone in its sights


Palm gets A N O T H E R E X A P P L E guy to run its developer community

Palm hires ex-Apple guy as manger of its Palm Pre developer community

I reallly didn't think Palm were this stupid to be making press releases out of this stuff too.

Insane, totally insane.

Palm will be history this time next year.

I doubt Apple let the best and brightest staff go either ...

 

[Digitalclips]

1) Apple has no patent on multi-touch or swiping. They didn't invent those.

2) Some states disallow contracts that prevent a person from working even at directly competing firms. Heck, Apple hired away a dozen Xerox employees to help create their first GUI.

3) Most important of all: there's no need for anything to be an "iPhone killer." Or RIM killer. The iPhone hasn't killed RIM or Microsoft, and never will. Nor will the others kill the iPhone.

There's plenty of market for all, and most makers are selling more and more devices every year... not less.

Just one small point, is it not the case that Xerox willingly turned over SmallTalk development to Apple as they lost interest in it? Somewhat of a difference surely when considering the legal implications of possible legal infringements.

 

[kdarling]

Just one small point, is it not the case that Xerox willingly turned over SmallTalk development to Apple as they lost interest in it? Somewhat of a difference surely when considering the legal implications of possible legal infringements.

Yes, PARC exchanged the information for Apple stock, I believe. That agreement wouldn't cover Apple luring away employees, of course. Apple offered more money and a chance to see their ideas put into mass-marketed devices.

Silicon Valley's very foundations are based on employees leaving a company and starting a new one, with ideas that the original company failed to take up on.

Pertinent example: Steve Jobs and NeXT. He stole some main Apple employees to help start the new company. Apple sued NeXT, but the lawsuit faded away partly because all it did was give media attention to NeXT. Imagine the free publicity if Apple sued Palm, claiming its best inventors and unused ideas were there.

 

[michael.lauden]

does this seem kind of... idk... lame to anyone else?

 

[apolloa]

You want a bet???

You sound quite emotional about it.

Honestly, I don't care if apple wins or not. Yes I have an iphone but this pre does look interesting but I have no axe to grind.
But look at the facts and being objective, it does not look good for palm.

look at these I found from a few seconds googiling
palm hires ex apple designer puts iphone in its sights


Palm gets A N O T H E R E X A P P L E guy to run its developer community

Palm hires ex-Apple guy as manger of its Palm Pre developer community

I reallly didn't think Palm were this stupid to be making press releases out of this stuff too.

Insane, totally insane.

Palm will be history this time next year.

I probably sound emotional because I'm sick of people who think Apple invented everything and is untuochable. I'm afraid not, as I already stated, Apple has breached several Palm patents but Palm don't care, yet they will if Apple try's to take them to court. And so what, company's poach ALL the time, it's Apple's tough luck if it can't keep it's employee's, not Palm's for asking them to leave, I mean the staff aren't Apple's property or patents! They are free to work for who ever the hell they want.

And you are so wrong, if YOU looked at the PROPER facts then you would see that Palm is gaining better stock value ever day, more and more and more people are interested every day in the Pre. I am not calling it an iPhone killer but several leading gadget publications are. Everyone is expecting a full on fight and for the Pre to do very well so to say that Palm will be dead next year is simply stating you haven't looked at the facts at all IMO.

 

[Hawkeye411]

It has a slide out physical keyboard.
I'm not sure if it also has a virtual one.

Ohhh .. I would prefer that over the keyboard on my iPhone. Typing would be a LOT faster.

Thanks!!

 

[ArtursBoy]

1) Apple has no patent on multi-touch or swiping. They didn't invent those.

2) Some states disallow contracts that prevent a person from working even at directly competing firms. Heck, Apple hired away a dozen Xerox employees to help create their first GUI.

3) Most important of all: there's no need for anything to be an "iPhone killer." Or RIM killer. The iPhone hasn't killed RIM or Microsoft, and never will. Nor will the others kill the iPhone.

There's plenty of market for all, and most makers are selling more and more devices every year... not less.

Is this being ignored?

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-...+AND+multitouch&RS=multi-touch+AND+multitouch

http://www.macworld.com/article/138465/2009/01/multitouch_patent.html

Apple certainly does not have ALL patents on multitouch, but they certainly have some, and Apple as well as others believe these patents are being infringed. The patent focuses on how multitouch is implemented, how it works from a technical prespective, not on the idea of multitouch itself (Ex. Microsoft's Surface executes multitouch in a very different way than the iPhone does, yet the general idea of multitouch is still the same).

They may be proven to be wrong, but they are within their right to go forward with something like this. Now you, as well as others, may or may not agree that these patents are being infringed, but to imply that they should not try to defend something which they believe is theirs, and apparently have worked to protect it (hence the patent) is a mistake.

 

[ArtursBoy]

does this seem kind of... idk... lame to anyone else?

I find this very interesting.

 

[jayducharme]

does this seem kind of... idk... lame to anyone else?

What amazed me about the Pre ad was how bland the interface looks (sort of like the narrator's voice). It was almost entirely made up of text surrounded by gray blobs. I don't understand the "swoosh" of icons that appears; they look odd and not very "tappable." And the way things minimize doesn't seem to give any idea of where the apps go, nor what background tasks are running.

I agree with earlier posts stating that many different smart phone models can co-exist. For Sprint users, many will probably be happy with the Pre. But I really don't see how different it is from many of the other iPhone wannabes that are currently on the market, other than its carrier.

 

[trellus]

I am getting a Pre...

...but, it is not an iPhone killer, not because it's not a great phone that will be very competitive with the iPhone (as I think it will be), but because there is not an iPhone killer, period: the iPhone is here to stay. It has a huge following, it's uber-hip and cool and, heck, I'd have one, if I didn't have to sell my soul to AT&T (sorry, I don't do unlocked slow-moving iPhone on inferior networks ) and I wasn't married to a physical keyboard, which I am.

PC World had an article up proclaiming that the Palm Pre will be an iPhone killer and I wish they'd quit making ridiculous statements. On the other hand, I do think it's not hyperbole to say that this is the best new entry into the smartphone market, and as long as the company itself (Palm) can stay afloat, has the best shot of actually sticking around and being a player, unlike the many other so-called iPhone killers which have met with very modest success or none at all.

 

[trellus]

Whatchu calling "bland?"

What amazed me about the Pre ad was how bland the interface looks (sort of like the narrator's voice). It was almost entirely made up of text surrounded by gray blobs.

One person's "bland" is another persons's "clean and uncluttered" (think, Google). I don't dislike the iPhone's interface which I think is pretty hot, but what I have seen from the Pre, I *really* like. I've been waiting for a decent smartphone to replace my aging Treo 755p, and the Pre is it. I particularly like the unobtrusive notifications the Pre has, as it addresses a major annoyance I have about my current Treo and the iPhone as well.

 

[kdarling]

Is this being ignored? (links deleted)

You're a bit out of touch. No pun intended.

The "multitouch patent" that ignorant reporters jumped on, was simply about a particular way of determining scrolling direction. To be specific, it's a way of deciding that you want to scroll in just one direction instead of sliding all around the window. Pretty much only used in Safari.

The later touch patent involves detecting force, and is not an issue.

Apple certainly does not have ALL patents on multitouch, but they certainly have some, and Apple as well as others believe these patents are being infringed.

They don't have any that matter in this case.

Apple has never said they thought they were being infringed. Nor has Palm. Bloggers who live off reader counts made up the whole fake brouhaha.

 

[ArtursBoy]

You're a bit out of touch. No pun intended.

Haha none taken, and thanks for the extra info.

 

[QCassidy352]

In my opinion:

The Pre has 2 major advantage over the iphone:
- Multitasking

There are two major areas in which reasonable people could disagree over wether the Pre or the iphone is superior:
- Carrier (I'll take AT&T over Sprint any day, but I know some will disagree)
- Keyboard (again, I prefer virtual to physical, and I say that as the owner of both an iphone and a bb curve, but I know some disagree)

The iphone has 3 major advantages over the pre:
- one-touch sync with all of the information on my computer
- the app store
- capacity (up to 16 GB, as opposed to 8 on the Pre, and probably up to 32 in a couple of months)

For me, the app store is the trump card here. I'm not leaving the iphone unless and until someone else has an app store that gives me even close to the quality, quantity, and ease of use that I get with the iphone.

Probably half of what I use my iphone for comes from 3rd party apps. Any phone that can't give me equivalent apps to duplicate that functionality doesn't interest me.

 

[apolloa]

In my opinion:

The Pre has 2 major advantage over the iphone:
- Multitasking

There are two major areas in which reasonable people could disagree over wether the Pre or the iphone is superior:
- Carrier (I'll take AT&T over Sprint any day, but I know some will disagree)
- Keyboard (again, I prefer virtual to physical, and I say that as the owner of both an iphone and a bb curve, but I know some disagree)

The iphone has 3 major advantages over the pre:
- one-touch sync with all of the information on my computer
- the app store
- capacity (up to 16 GB, as opposed to 8 on the Pre, and probably up to 32 in a couple of months)

For me, the app store is the trump card here. I'm not leaving the iphone unless and until someone else has an app store that gives me even close to the quality, quantity, and ease of use that I get with the iphone.

Probably half of what I use my iphone for comes from 3rd party apps. Any phone that can't give me equivalent apps to duplicate that functionality doesn't interest me.

Ah, now, the memory point I wanted to pick up on. Do you think that as it has 8GB installed, it will actually undercut the iPhones price? 8GB i smore then enough for me as I have an iPod for music thanks, but I think it will allow Palm to price it lower?

 

[RaZaK]

Battery Life???

Considering that battery life seems to be one of Apple's biggest arguments against bg processes in favor of Push Notify, I'd be most interested to see how the battery life of the Pre holds up with apps open in the background?

The battery life of the G1 appears to be atrocious with the bg processes. My friend downloaded a task killer to make sure all programs are closed on the Android phone to conserve the battery power.

 

[kdarling]

Ah, now, the memory point I wanted to pick up on.

And me. Palm should've included a MicroSD slot. It makes it very easy to upgrade, especially with prices falling like they are. Would've been a good selling point.

Both Palm and Apple have taken the easy way out. (It's a lot easier to make a mobile OS robust if you don't have to deal with cards being swapped. )

Considering that battery life seems to be one of Apple's biggest arguments against bg processes in favor of Push Notify, I'd be most interested to see how the battery life of the Pre holds up with apps open in the background?

One beauty of the Pre's UI, is that it's utterly simple to see which visual apps are running. Need more speed? Flip to Pandora and flick it out of existence. Anyone can do that.

Don't forget that Apple has background processes as well. iPod, SMS/MMS, email, phone are examples. Yet they cleverly ignore those when they bring up the battery scarecrow. Someone playing music in the iPod app in the background is using up battery, and yet Apple doesn't argue against that.

 

[wolfbane]

Honestly, I laugh when people think that other smart phones will shake iPhone success. No matter what kind of capabilities a competing product has, it will not affect the common consumers mindset on what phone to purchase. The success of the iPhone was due to it utilizing the family of features that were out there in an easy to use interface before anyone else. Most importantly though, it holds the apple name and the 'prestige' the comes with it. I bet more than half iPhones users only care about this. Us geeks are the outliers, constantly looking for new features etc.

Thank you for reading my rant

I agree! In addition, the thing that most people seem to be missing is that the Pre runs web apps which, if you remember, was exactly what Apple did with the iPhone...and people hated them! The depth of apps which are written in CSS/JS/HTML just can't compare to a true native application.

The upgrade paths that I predict are:

100% Treo > Pre (Evolutionary upgrade)
100% Palm Pilot > Pre (Evolutionary upgrade)
10% Win Mob. > Pre (Shiny factor)
10% Android > Pre (Tired of Beta software)

 

[libertyforall]

So what is "Pre" supposed to mean or stand for anyhow?

 

[QCassidy352]

Ah, now, the memory point I wanted to pick up on. Do you think that as it has 8GB installed, it will actually undercut the iPhones price? 8GB i smore then enough for me as I have an iPod for music thanks, but I think it will allow Palm to price it lower?

Nobody knows yet. One rumor said $299 for the Pre, and IMO that would kill them. An iphone that's been out for 9 months sells for the same price with twice the capacity. Just imagine if the Pre is $299 and Apple goes to 16/32 at $200/$300 a couple of months later.

 

[brsboarder]

who cares, until either the pre or the iphone jump onto verizon, the battle won't be over. First one to do that, will gain a huge market

 

[Trajectory]

This is not an iPhone killer, it's an iPhone knockoff. And it will be seen as such because Palm mostly copied Apple and did little innovating here.

Also, it's missing one important feature it can never match: iTunes/iPod.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

Its sad because the fan boys who cry for Apple to do better or do more don't realize there own ignorance is why Apple could take a piece of dog crap and put an Apple logo on it. The fan boys will defend its perfection until there death bed.

The Palm Pre is a great product however it will be marketed for people who have business needs, not a bunch of kids who want to play Super Monkey Ball and check there Myspace. The Pre will do that but it will also most likely sync 100% with Exchange and provide other business necessities the iPhone cannot.

Also, all the people saying sue Palm, I hate to tell you most of the iPhone was patented by Palm before Apple even released Intel processors.