47 Comments For This Post

1. Paul Says:
   January 9th, 2009 at 3:22 am

   You write “Only through third-party apps” for IM, but have left a number of others as “no”, which are available in third party apps: Voive dialing, voice recording, MMS, to-do list. Video has also been done, but only through a jailbroken app AFAIK, so it’s probably not applicable.

   The Pre looks like like the first decent competitor for the iPhone, whichhas gone beyond just copying. Who would have guess Palm had it in them?

2. Jeff Says:
   January 9th, 2009 at 3:49 am

   Too bad it’s only available for Sprint customers. After that company shafted me, there’s no way I’d go back.

3. Sharon Says:
   January 9th, 2009 at 5:12 am

   Lack of a real keyboard was a deal-breaker for me for the iPhone. I’ve got a Palm Centro now (for what was then 1/4 the price of the iPhone and a less expensive monthly plan) and am happy with it. When my contract’s up this year, I’m very likely to take a look at the Pre.

4. dave ingram Says:
   January 9th, 2009 at 5:37 am

   Only CDMA? Locked to Sprint? Jeez, thats the worst thing. What about all those Palm customers in teh rest of the world (esp. Europe) who dont use CDMA and who want it on their choice of network. Damned shame. Cant beleive it. Hurry up and get that UNLOCKED SIM version out. PLEASE PALM.

5. Peter Says:
   January 9th, 2009 at 5:52 am

   The Palm also has a micro-sd slot.

   Have you confirmed Palm only supports those /TWO/ email standards?

6. Peter Says:
   January 9th, 2009 at 5:52 am

   Also, there is a GSM version of the palm

7. shaded Says:
   January 9th, 2009 at 6:55 am

   I love this new os. Was wondering why they did not adopt android, but now i know they must have looked and android and laughed while they were working on this.

   I too loathe sprint but I believe this is a good move for palm. With sprint they wont have to compete with the storm, G1 or iPhone. And sprint is gonna market the hell outa this thing! They’re good at that.

   Hopefully once it properly marketed and there are enough user reviews and comments, palm will release a new device for gsm, with an updated version of the os, and maybe even more features.

8. Jan Sandred Says:
   January 9th, 2009 at 7:09 am

   Only CDMA? A cost decision, most likely. But that rules out all of the world, except the US.

9. AdamC Says:
   January 9th, 2009 at 7:29 am

   Goodluck Palm, the only way it can win in this difficult market is to be heavily subsidized by Sprint to the tune of being free.

10. Jack Says:
    January 9th, 2009 at 7:33 am

    The style points still go to the iPhone. The physical keyboard looks like it will be hard to use, with flush to the surface keys rather than bumped up keys like the old Treo. Also, does anyone notice that they officially killing the Treo line with this phone? I guess its a good thing, since that thing is so long in the tooth, the tooth probably fell out.

    The wireless syncing is a big issue for me now. I’m sick and tired of having to sync my phone. I need my contact list available to me anywhere, not just on one computer.

    But right now, all this really does is make me wait for the next gen iPhone. If they upgrade the camera (at least 4 MP), add video to it, add cut and paste, then the iPhone is unbeatable. The Google Phone still needs a lot of work, from the way things sound. But the next gen is also around the corner (especially the one from Samsung for Sprint).

11. mark Says:
    January 9th, 2009 at 7:39 am

    Thanks for the comparison; definitely still a lot of unknowns about the Pre, though it’s clearly a competitor.

    But really only three things, hardware-wise, that it has “over” the iPhone 3G – better camera, physical keyboard, removable battery. The price paid for those features is a form factor that’s over twice as thick and weighs almost 20% more. The other features can be provided by software, and it’s quite likely another iPhone software rev will be out by the time the Pre actually ships. And if Palm doesn’t ship until late June, it’s possible that another iPhone hardware model will have been announced (though one can be sure the next iPhone still won’t have a physical keyboard or removable battery!)

12. brian Says:
    January 9th, 2009 at 8:07 am

    Nice list of features, which shows the Pre might compare favorably with the iPhone. But long lists of feature comparisons are sort of useless. Much better to wait and see how the Pre and iPhone compare from the user experience standpoint.

13. Bignumone Says:
    January 9th, 2009 at 8:39 am

    I find it truly exciting when other vendors make a product that competes well with Apple’s products. That FORCES Apple to do better!

    Isn’t America GREAT?!?

14. Harry McCracken Says:
    January 9th, 2009 at 8:54 am

    Thanks for all the info and thoughts, everyone!

    –Harry

15. Matt Sharpe Says:
    January 9th, 2009 at 9:19 am

    The amusing thing about this list is that if you scroll down and answer the questions for a modern Windows Mobile device like the HTC Touch Pro, the specs out-do even the iPhone 🙂

16. Jim Goodlett Says:
    January 9th, 2009 at 9:38 am

    This article is missing quite a bit o info that shows other deltas between the two devices – ie., native Exchange EAS, easier dev enviro, info/data mashup, etc…that said, think the PALM PRE’s competitor is more the HTC TOUCHpro device than the iPhone, as the HTC is built for biz focus and stupid easy to use interface.

    check the following from my twitter.com/goodlett feed for more info on PALM PRE: http://twurl.nl/t3d5h4

    Lastly, though this looks to be quite the roboust device and smartly built info/data mashup oriented OS, to see greater success, it’ll need a virtual keyboard in landscape mode, fast accessibility to the settings functions, and a deep well of developers making both hearty biz apps and cool buzz.

17. James Katt Says:
    January 9th, 2009 at 9:45 am

    The Palm Pre is still NOT an iPhone.

    It doesn’t have the iTunes music store nor App store.

    It claims to have multitouch such as the pinching movement to zoom. But Apple Legal would sure like to hear about it.

    CDMA severely limits it to U.S. use – and it is limited to Sprint also. And a few complain about the iPhone being limited to AT&T in the U.S.

    You can’t please everyone.

18. David McElroy Says:
    January 9th, 2009 at 9:53 am

    You’re showing a bias when you say that the Pre has a “real keyboard.” The iPhone has a REAL keyboard. Otherwise, the typing I do on mine would be imaginary. It’s just not a PHYSICAL keyboard. I don’t have any idea whether that physical keyboard is better than the iPhone’s virtual keyboard, but they’re equally “real.” (At least you didn’t use the phrase “QWERTY keyboard” as the point of differentiation. So many writers don’t seem to understand that QWERTY refers to the keyboard layout rather than whether the keys are physical or virtual.)

19. Trevor Says:
    January 9th, 2009 at 10:07 am

    The comparison list seems to imply that the iPhone does not support POP3 mail, which is incorrect. Both POP and IMAP mail are fully supported on the iPhone.

    Trevor

20. lrd Says:
    January 9th, 2009 at 10:25 am

    For the whom bells toll? For Palm.
    Comparing a product that has sold over 13 million units with one that
    has sold zero. Where’s the logic?

21. Viviana Wong Says:
    January 9th, 2009 at 11:12 am

    You put down physical keyboard as an advantage and I tend to think of it as being so much less revolutionary than the iPhone virtual keyboard that is very flexible and even has Chinese characters recognition input capability which works very well. Both traditional and simplified Chinese is supported. In addition all the special characters found in the European alphabet are easily available at the finger tip. The iPhone virtual keyboard in this sense trumps any physical keyboard. Apple can continue to introduce refinement and addition to this keyboard with just a software update. No such advantage is available to the physical keyboard, worst the possibility of loosing keys and mechanical failure is inherent in such a model.

22. jbelkin Says:
    January 9th, 2009 at 11:36 am

    This is actually perfect for Apple – a worthy competitor that messes ONLY with its competitors. Like ipod or itunes competition, let 5 companies fight out of the remaining 20-30% of the market while Apple takes the bulk share (in the case, the high margin smartphone market) … bottom line, to consumers (only realgrowth market) the iphone already holds the title of “best smartphone.” It was first to market with a WORKING touchscreen & web browser … along with some other geewhiz technology like pinch zoom, etc, etc … so anyone else who comes along is a second hand copy … unless it’s 10 times better than an iphone – it’s second rate and while there will be fans (and haters of Apple) who will buy it – and unlike other markets, the cell phone market has a potential selling audience of 2 billion so you can have 6% of the smartphone market and still make money … RIMm will continue to fade to be merely a player in the consumer smartphone market … Apple probabably on’t attain 70% of the share but 55% is reasonable with RIM, Palm, Nokia, Moto, Google, etc … each taking between 7-15% share … JUST like with the ipod or itunes market.

23. Anonymous Says:
    January 9th, 2009 at 1:04 pm

    Its debuting on Sprint it will not be locked in indefinitely. Ed hinted many times during keynote & in interviews that it will start on Sprint.
    A little birdy told me there are other carriers already lined up.

24. Realitista Says:
    January 9th, 2009 at 2:57 pm

    I believe they said in the CES presentation that the pre would include turn by turn navigation as standard.

25. tamira Says:
    January 9th, 2009 at 3:00 pm

    will palm pre have visual voice mail iphone does i love it

26. Pj221 Says:
    January 9th, 2009 at 3:31 pm

    It seems a little early to be comparing since it seems like there is not as much info bout the palm

27. Satya Says:
    January 9th, 2009 at 7:14 pm

    According to Apple’s site, the iPhone 3G weighs 4.7 oz (133 grams).

    The Pre will support turn-by-turn GPS navigation, provided through TeleNav.

28. CampusGuruz Says:
    January 9th, 2009 at 9:13 pm

    Looks awesome…

29. Ferengi55 Says:
    January 9th, 2009 at 9:31 pm

    The weight information for the iPhone is wrong. It should be 4.7 ounces.

30. Faehan Says:
    January 10th, 2009 at 8:18 am

    I’ve done a comparison on how Palm Pre Stands to Nokia N97 at
    http://senseapplied.com/index.php/palm-pre-vs-nokia-n97/

31. dindin Says:
    January 10th, 2009 at 1:21 pm

    you forgot gesture bar at input;
    telenav is coming;
    multitasking;
    no obstrusive notifications and dashboard;

32. Matt Says:
    January 10th, 2009 at 2:33 pm

    After checkin out the ces video, I have to say, the pre’s interface (synergy, card like switching) blows away the iphone’s UI. Having said that, Apple would have reshape their os navigation UI while the pre is yet to be released. As seen in the past, palm would eventually release a gsm version as well as a legally unlocked version which could be purchased online enabling worldwide exposure without the hassle of online activation etc. Oh and the best part is even I could develop pre apps using just photoshop and dreamweaver. Only time will tell but for now, I shall faithfuly stick to my virtual keyboard powered visual delight.

33. Bob Says:
    January 10th, 2009 at 5:24 pm

    Those who are comparing only hardware specs, and basic software features are completely missing the point. The software of the Pre blows the iPhone away. The level of integration of apps, integration of the phone with the cloud, and it’s multi-tasking (Only apple could take a multitasking Unix based OS and turn it into a single tasking OS and get away with it) make the iPhone seem so last generation. Apple has so much buzz and market share that I wouldn’t even dream of saying this phone will overtake the iPhone, but it’s capabilities are at least a generation beyond what Apple has done.

    And while it doesn’t have the iTunes store, it does have the Amazon music store, which has no DRM and (at least for now) doesn’t charge a premium for the music you really want to buy. (Yes, I know Apple is going to remove DRM from much of its product, but Amazon did that a long time ago.)

34. Harry McCracken Says:
    January 10th, 2009 at 7:50 pm

    Bob: Agree totally that the Pre is about software, not hardware. Actually, almost every interesting phone is interesting because of software and services.

    That said, I did put together the specs comparison of the two platforms because…well, people will always be curious about specs. But there’s no question that getting to play with a Pre will be a thousand times more interesting than listing its speeds and feeds.

    –Harry

35. Al Says:
    January 11th, 2009 at 1:56 pm

    Multi-tasking is an enormous battery drainer and the source of most of the reboots needed in multi-tasking smart phones.

    Apple traded multi-tasking for battery life and stability.

    A good trade, I think.

    Longer battery life and stability is revolutionary when it comes to smart phones.

36. ipodforumcom Says:
    January 11th, 2009 at 2:02 pm

    The Pre’s Web OS UI and and UX really looks great. After watching (and using) for 20 minutes, It rarely looked (or felt) unresponsive, choppy, or laggy and it’s clear a lot of thought was put into the design, especially with regard to how the phone would be used with fingers, as opposed to a stylus or d-pad
    Discuss a little more at http://www.PalmPreForum.org

37. anonymous23452 Says:
    January 13th, 2009 at 10:38 pm

    Does the pre support a micro-SD card for external storage? Does it support Microsoft Office suite of word, excel, and powerpoint? Does it record video? Those are some big questions I have. If the answer is yes, then I don’t see why it won’t be the next great smartphone. Everything else that I’ve seen and read about it look great!

38. J Says:
    January 18th, 2009 at 8:12 pm

    Here’s the big question, will it only come under the “Everything” plan? Any inside info? My whole family wants this phone but we have a family plan and will never change it over simply to get a phone…

39. Angel Peguero Says:
    February 11th, 2009 at 10:43 pm

    I will wait for the next iPhone in June so the palm it’s going to shine for two month wow and then apple will come back with it’s 3rd iPhone so this one would be the pro iPhone 1. AT&T better than sprint 2.AT&T 3g the fastest 3itunes most use 4 bigger screen 5 design best design 6 apple brand 7 apps store has milliones of those jaja 8 jailbreak so this will kill the pre I will have the pre in my iPhone 9 suit palm apple would do it 10 sells over milliones of iPhones sold what can palm say sorry don’t abuse I just was trying to be cool and don’t forget I copy u jaja so iPhone is no copy maybe yes but it would be hard to beat it trust me iam not a apple fan but numbers talk and carriers so it’s not only the phone remember that

40. Palm Pre Phone Fan Says:
    February 17th, 2009 at 8:38 pm

    I sure hope that they allow all of the old Palm OS apps to work in the new OS. It would really help them catch up to the iPod. That is the only drawback that I can see so far with the Pre, it just does not yet have the cool software for it via 3rd party apps. I imagine that they will quickly have many apps as they have a decent developer base.

41. Juan Says:
    May 7th, 2009 at 9:59 am

    If it could only be bought and used in different networks or make it work under different carrier … any hack? Anyone?

42. Michael Says:
    May 17th, 2009 at 6:39 pm

    Will it have a file browser that will allow real saving and sending of attachments? I first loved my iPhone but soon became frustrated by Apples control freak mentality so now I just like it and can guarantee I will be rid of it within months. The pre looks like it will be my next phone.

43. Chris Says:
    May 19th, 2009 at 8:52 am

    After AT&T shafted me I’ll never go to them no matter how good the phone is. It looks like the Pre is as good, or better, than the iPhone anyway. I’m staying with Sprint (over 5 years now)!

44. Wasim Says:
    May 27th, 2009 at 6:04 pm

    This needs to be updated. The iphone will have cut copy and paste,
    Iphone is the best, it will never be killed, The only phone that could beat it is a newer iphone

45. Chase Adams Says:
    June 8th, 2009 at 12:21 pm

    The tables have officially turned. WWCD has just proved that the iPhone didn’t have to have a lot of upgrades to still be king of the pre.

46. Master Splinter Says:
    June 9th, 2009 at 6:47 am

    the palm pre will be available for any of sprint’s plans. Your phone capabilities may be inhibited by some of the lower price plans though.

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