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Palm Pre versus the iPhone? What the...

N

nutsnbolts

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 11, 2008
312
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Ok, maybe I missed the boat but what's so great about the Palm Pre that is actually gaining some traction against the iPhone? I know that there has been "other" phones to have tried and rivaled the iPhone but now I'm hearing Palm Pre here and Palm Pre there, etc.

Can someone just give a high level of specifically what's so great about the Palm Pre?
 
Because it looks like a well thought out device and was Palm's last golden egg before having to probably close its doors. I don't expect the device to be accepted here that much, it'll just become another iPod vs. Zune type battle (both of which are great devices).
 
nutsnbolts said:
Can someone just give a high level of specifically what's so great about the Palm Pre?
Click to expand...

It's not out yet. Seriously, that's it.

Don't you remember the hype about Android? It was huge too until people were able to buy it.

Don't get me wrong, Android is very nice, and a good iPhone alternative. But it's not an iPhone killer, which is what everyone was saying before it came out. EVERY phone has pluses and negatives. Until people own them, you only hear about the pluses but not the negatives.

Once the Pre is out in the wild it will sink down from "the perfect phone" to simply "another good option."
 
I think the Android OS is a promising platform, it just needs some better hardware to go with it - the G1 was disappointing.
 
Roessnakhan said:
I think the Android OS is a promising platform, it just needs some better hardware to go with it - the G1 was disappointing.
Click to expand...

That's my point. There's always SOMETHING holding a device back from being perfect. But until people own it, we aren't hearing those things about the Pre yet. Thus, all the wonderful coverage.
 
Could it be that Palm chose a couple of Folks from Apple to build the new OS?

I think it shows promise, but Palm is up against the ropes. If they don't release something that will blow the doors off of Android and compete with the iPhone, they might as well pack their bags. Hopefully Nokia or Samsung will buy them and take over the OS. Apple performs better under pressure.

I have to say that Apple has a 2 year head start on everyone though. Let's see if they can maintain that lead...
 
I suppose first you have to ask, what's so great about the iPhone?

I think the overall answer is that the iPhone is a smartphone that's easy and fun to use. As I keep saying, it's the smartphone for people who didn't know they needed one. (The rest of us had smartphones for years, but they weren't necessarily fun to use.)

Right now, there's a marketing void for people who like having a keyboard that doesn't cover the screen (especially having a vertical slider, which from personal experience with the Samsung i730, is just sweet), who perhaps liked Palm products, who perhaps are really not into letting Apple control everything, but who want an alternative that's fun and which should even be easy for beginners to program simple apps for.

The Pre fits the bill. Especially once it hits other carriers, something the iPhone can't do for a longer while in the US, at least.

Where the Pre falls down, is with more intense apps like Slingplayer, games, and so forth. However, millions bought the iPhone before it had third party apps at all, so the Pre doesn't really suffer from that standpoint... yet.

More to the consumer point: I think even my technophobe wife could handle using the Pre, with its well thought out method of using multiple apps, and handling alerts. And the Touchstone inductive charger is nice icing. Easy to use, easy to charge.
 
I just like how Apple put my phone and iPod into one device in one of the best possible ways. :rolleyes:
 
I have to admit, the android is a wonderful device.. Well, let me rephrase that, the Phone (device) i think is ergonomically and brutally ugly. The OS that supports it on the other hand is ingenious.

Relatively same concept as the iPhone but open source just makes it better.

At some point, we'll move away from the "just a phone" concept and have full on capabilities of a mini computer.

Post topic wise...

What does the Palm Pre have that the iPhone doesn't? Aside from the slide out keyboard (which is so old-school). :p
 
it doesn't have to be an iphone killer, but it will probably take a few people from the iphone market.

It will keep apple in check, so they do not charge 1000+ for the iphone...reduces the monopolization of the smartphone world...the g1, pre, storm, etc. competition is good.
 
kdarling said:
I suppose first you have to ask, what's so great about the iPhone?

I think the overall answer is that the iPhone is a smartphone that's easy and fun to use. As I keep saying, it's the smartphone for people who didn't know they needed one. (The rest of us had smartphones for years, but they weren't necessarily fun to use.)

Right now, there's a marketing void for people who like having a keyboard that doesn't cover the screen (especially having a vertical slider, which from personal experience with the Samsung i730, is just sweet), who perhaps liked Palm products, who perhaps are really not into letting Apple control everything, but who want an alternative that's fun and which should even be easy for beginners to program simple apps for.

The Pre fits the bill.

Where the Pre falls down, is with more intense apps like Slingplayer, games, and so forth. However, millions bought the iPhone before it had third party apps at all, so the Pre doesn't really suffer from that standpoint... yet.
Click to expand...

This is a good point. For those out there who came from a Windows Mobile Device, I have had these technologies for years. Tethering, Sling, 3g, damn, I remember when 3g first came out, I was already using it to watch Sling on it and when the iPhone 3g came out everyone is like ooooh, 3g, faster connection, I'm like huh? I have been using it for about a year already (then again spotty locations but that's besides the point).

To my point, windows mobile bridge the gap from hardware to software but it was a crap OS. WM 5.0, 5.1, 6.1, whatever, it's still microsoft, still requires reboot to free up memory and whatever, simply put, it wasn't fun to use.

When it worked, it worked but half the time, pulling my hair out because something went wrong.

Anyway, the iPhone for me, in it's simplest form, bridge the gap from a phone to a very stable OS that had the possibility to do a billion things....all in the name of STABILITY. Everything else is whip cream and cherry on top (although we may encounter a few crap cherries).
 
I don't know... the slide out keyboard is great. I had a phone from LG with it and I mean it was nice, but I like the on screen keyboard better. I don't mind it taking up the screen. I like one solid piece of device.
 
kdarling said:
Where the Pre falls down, is with more intense apps like Slingplayer, games, and so forth. However, millions bought the iPhone before it had third party apps at all, so the Pre doesn't really suffer from that standpoint... yet..
Click to expand...

Of course it does, it began suffering the moment they wrote it off in the design phase. They simply cast out a multi million dollar angle.

"I'm sure the Pre has a market. It's got to. Its kinda like an iPhone AND a Blackberry."

-directly from the Palm planning board.
 
kage207 said:
I don't know... the slide out keyboard is great. I had a phone from LG with it and I mean it was nice, but I like the on screen keyboard better. I don't mind it taking up the screen. I like one solid piece of device.
Click to expand...

That's understandable. In that case, you're probably not a Pre buyer. Other people like being able to type accurately without looking, or just like the feel of physical keys.

I think the Pre's big breakthrough will be if/when it also shows up on Verizon and ATT, like the HTC Touch Pro did, and many Blackberries do.

I truly believe that in future histories, Apple's decision to put greed & control over availability will go down as a longterm mistake. It's given other phone makers a lot of time and space in which to build competition. The other companies are selling millions of devices to people who would otherwise have gotten an iPhone.
 
kdarling said:
I truly believe that in future histories, Apple's decision to put greed & control over availability will go down as a longterm mistake. It's given other phone makers a lot of time and space in which to build competition. The other companies are selling millions of devices to people who would otherwise have gotten an iPhone.
Click to expand...

I agree. I really wanted an iPhone, but would have had to pay hundreds more (I'm on a student budget) to go with AT&T when it was just more simple & easy to go with that Great Whore, Verizon.
 
Roessnakhan said:
I think the Android OS is a promising platform, it just needs some better hardware to go with it - the G1 was disappointing.
Click to expand...

Totally. I'm still on t-mobile until the next iPhone comes around. I was really considering Android + G1 until I saw the G1.

Seriously, what was up with that phone?
 
kdarling said:
That's understandable. In that case, you're probably not a Pre buyer. Other people like being able to type accurately without looking, or just like the feel of physical keys.

I think the Pre's big breakthrough will be if/when it also shows up on Verizon and ATT, like the HTC Touch Pro did, and many Blackberries do.

I truly believe that in future histories, Apple's decision to put greed & control over availability will go down as a longterm mistake. It's given other phone makers a lot of time and space in which to build competition. The other companies are selling millions of devices to people who would otherwise have gotten an iPhone.
Click to expand...

"other companies" didn't host 800 million after-sales app store downloads in the first half a year for once device.
 
My interest in the Palm Pre was the use of the Cortex-A8 Processor. Now mind you right now the iPhone is way under clocked (for good reason) but even then I would imagine that the next iPhone may have to use a newer processor technology but if they want to achieve more speed to run multiple apps they are going to have to increase the battery life with it. Wonder if they can make use of some of the new battery technology found in the newest line of MacBook Pro's.

Palm is welcome to try to compete in the market, it would be sad to see them go.
 
By the time it's for sale, there should be a new iPhone on the market.

Failures of Palm. Would they stop s*cking all of a sudden?
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q1.07/E1DD097F-EE28-4FBA-A1F2-D831512E423F.html
Note that they have been planning their own phone os for over 5 years.

Myth: iPhone Buyers will Flock to Android. Did not happen.
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/10/03/myth-7-iphone-buyers-will-flock-to-android/

There were some outrageous claims by Palm principal investor that are retracted by Palm.
The less technically savvy people might believed it. That might be where the "buzz" came from.
http://www.appleinsider.com/article...les_to_withdraw_inflated_palm_pre_claims.html


Small White Car said:
It's not out yet. Seriously, that's it.

Don't you remember the hype about Android? It was huge too until people were able to buy it.

Don't get me wrong, Android is very nice, and a good iPhone alternative. But it's not an iPhone killer, which is what everyone was saying before it came out. EVERY phone has pluses and negatives. Until people own them, you only hear about the pluses but not the negatives.

Once the Pre is out in the wild it will sink down from "the perfect phone" to simply "another <removed for truth> option."
Click to expand...

Exactly. There is no "traction". It's NOT for sale yet.
Fixed a minor thing for you.
 
fleshman03 said:
Totally. I'm still on t-mobile until the next iPhone comes around. I was really considering Android + G1 until I saw the G1.

Seriously, what was up with that phone?
Click to expand...

Maybe the G2 will be an improvement. I've tried an app on the G1 that has a touchscreen keyboard and it works surprisingly well, if not better than the physical keyboard. But that's a hardware issue, the keys on the G1 are way too small. But since this is about the Pre, I'd say the keyboard on the Pre looks sizable enough to type effectively on.
 
Consultant said:
Exactly. There is no "traction". It's NOT for sale yet.
Fixed a minor thing for you.
Click to expand...

I said "good."

That's 4 or 5 on a scale out of 10. I think we can safely say that the Pre will be at least a 4 out of 10.

You honestly think that that's still unknowable at this point? What carrier would agree to sell a phone that doesn't even rate 4/10?
 
I can type without looking at my iPhone. Can't you? :p

Anyways, I don't know why companies are making the phones exclusive, I understand that the cell phone companies are paying off companies such as Apple. My thing is, can't you make more money by allowing more access to more customers? The thing is... (real quick, yes I know the iPhone has sold a lot of phones and has taken more than 2% of the phone market and that's the leading phone now actually), the cell phone companies don't want to allow that. I mean what if Verizon can give me a cheaper and better plan with the iPhone? ATT would be screwed... which I think is good... to keep cell phone companies honest.

Will we see the Pre carrying over to other companies? Yes. iPhone? MAYBE. Hopefully...
 
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