wow, very very nice.. I really like it... and it's still months away from launching, giving Palm time to polish things up
I hope it ruffles a LOT of feathers at Apple and that it sells indeed like hotcakes
That way it'll kick Apple a bit in the butt to get a move on and stop condescending and treating it's users like a bunch of retards with their damn half ass iPhone OS
I'm glad to see companies other Apple finally making products that don't suck.
However, it does suck that it took Apple to get these companies to get their collective heads out of their asses, thinking that we were all fat and happy as we tried to find the menu command for turning off the blinking light buried in a Symbian OS.
There was a glow on the face of every Palm employee we saw today, and deservedly so: the new Palm Pre is a hail mary product. It's probably going to save the company.
And it is, in many ways, better than the iPhone.
Brownlee and I got a little guided tour of a Pre by a beaming executive this evening. (We filmed it; Xeni, Derek, and Wes from the Boing Boing video team are working on it as I write.) But I'm so excited about the product that I wanted to share my enthusiasm before I forgot all the details about why I am so into it in the first place.
• It feels small and pleasant in the hand. Much smaller than the iPhone, but inexplicably the screen seems big enough. Part of that is the lovely interface that Palm has created that echos a little bit of the old Palm OS in font choice and such, but feels wholly new.
It's a little bit longer than a Treo when the keyboard is extended, but the curving bit makes it seem a nice size.
• It runs Linux. SQLlite is the built-in database. Developers will have to use "web technologies" to make most of the apps, but it sounds like there may still be ways to use closer-to-the-metal languages.
• The animations and interface are gorgeous. They are in many ways busier than the iPhone's animations, and clearly largely cribbed from the bouncy, lively way the iPhone OS moves around, but they look really nice when switching from app to app.
• It has the coolest menu bar I've ever seen. The touchpad actually extends about half an inch below the screen, and to bring up the ever-present menu bar, you push up from below to smoosh it onto the screen, where it rests under your thumb like a Gummi worm. It looks really great and really useful. It is the first clear "impress your friends" feature.
• Integration with Facebook and Gmail looks top notch. Here's the part that got me: if you choose to, you can make your contacts list pull live from Facebook, including their selected profile picture, which means every time your friends call you their image will be their latest Facebook profile picture. Not a huge deal, of course, but a wonderful touch.
• There will be an official app store, but you can still load other apps. Probably. Palm isn't quite sure how syncing with a PC will work, but it sounds like you'll be able to load apps from a variety of sources as well as buying them over-the-air from the Palm application store.
• It's got multitouch, Apple patents be damned. We asked if they were afraid of Apple's claimed protectionist patents for multitouch. They would only respond with a confident smile.
What a pleasing thing it is to see a company that had been all but counted out of the smartphone game come storming back into what I suspect will be the lead.
Update: Oh, one more thing: It has system-wide cut-and-paste.
Palm, Inc. used this year's Consumer Electronics Show to unveil its iPhone challenger, the Palm Pre, which will run a brand-new operating system called Palm webOS.
Sorry this looks like a cheap imitation iPhone. Desparation leads them to slap together some kinda OS. Desparation leads them to make the device operate in a cheap imitation way that becomes very obvious soon as u use it.
The chintzy tiny physical keyboard is soooo out of date.
Everything about this thing makes the iPhone look like the superb design flourish that it is.
? It feels small and pleasant in the hand. Much smaller than the iPhone, but inexplicably the screen seems big enough. Part of that is the lovely interface that Palm has created that echos a little bit of the old Palm OS in font choice and such, but feels wholly new.
This is a feature? It's not smaller with the kb extended
Quote:
It's a little bit longer than a Treo when the keyboard is extended, but the curving bit makes it seem a nice size.
Redundant
Quote:
? It runs Linux. SQLlite is the built-in database. Developers will have to use "web technologies" to make most of the apps, but it sounds like there may still be ways to use closer-to-the-metal languages.
When discussing features it's appropriate to state the feature and then the benefit. Core Data is a persistent SQLite framework and Webkit supports the HTML needed.
Quote:
? The animations and interface are gorgeous. They are in many ways busier than the iPhone's animations, and clearly largely cribbed from the bouncy, lively way the iPhone OS moves around, but they look really nice when switching from app to app.
I don't know if I want my UI getting any glossier
Quote:
? It has the coolest menu bar I've ever seen. The touchpad actually extends about half an inch below the screen, and to bring up the ever-present menu bar, you push up from below to smoosh it onto the screen, where it rests under your thumb like a Gummi worm. It looks really great and really useful. It is the first clear "impress your friends" feature.
I've seen it and don't like it. I saw the Palm employee struggle when demoing this feature
Quote:
? Integration with Facebook and Gmail looks top notch. Here's the part that got me: if you choose to, you can make your contacts list pull live from Facebook, including their selected profile picture, which means every time your friends call you their image will be their latest Facebook profile picture. Not a huge deal, of course, but a wonderful touch.
There's already a Mac app that does this. iPhone would be a piece of cake.
Quote:
? There will be an official app store, but you can still load other apps. Probably. Palm isn't quite sure how syncing with a PC will work, but it sounds like you'll be able to load apps from a variety of sources as well as buying them over-the-air from the Palm application store.
Not a feature. When I go to a store I want a centralize mechanism for shopping efficiently. I don't want ten sources to locate what I should be able to do in one. Not a feature and the app store pretty much supports my ideal
Quote:
? It's got multitouch, Apple patents be damned. We asked if they were afraid of Apple's claimed protectionist patents for multitouch. They would only respond with a confident smile.
Apple doesn't own multitouch. Their "pinch" wasn't fluid at all in their demo.
"7 Reasons Why the Pre Is Better Than The iPhone" turn out to be "has multitouch like the iPhone", "might allow apps other than apps sold in an app store that doesn't exist yet", "has busier animations that will impress your friends", "has a particular animation that I really like that doesn't work very well in the demos", "is Linux", "is smaller except when it's not", and "has trivially easy to implement integration with FaceBook and Gmail."
Oh, and cut and paste, of course, but at this point that just amounts to a ritual invocation.
I can see being taken with the thing, but some of that stuff is just silly.
"7 Reasons Why the Pre Is Better Than The iPhone" turn out to be "has multitouch like the iPhone", "might allow apps other than apps sold in an app store that doesn't exist yet", "has busier animations that will impress your friends", "has a particular animation that I really like that doesn't work very well in the demos", "is Linux", "is smaller except when it's not", and "has trivially easy to implement integration with FaceBook and Gmail."
Oh, and cut and paste, of course, but at this point that just amounts to a ritual invocation.
I can see being taken with the thing, but some of that stuff is just silly.
That pretty presumptuous. We at least need to wait and see the Palm Pre out in active use before it can be said they've surpassed the iPhone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by str1f3
others can. i'm just giving the only point of view i can. my own. but i know i'm not alone. almost every tech blog is stunned that palm made this. not saying that apple can't do something more imaginative but in six months at wwdc it's time to step up!
From the video of the Pre on engadget, the OS already looks more fluid than the iPhone's OS, and the browser looks much, much better than Safari, especially when changing orientations.
Just too bad the phone will on Sprint, and not a network that matters, like Verizon.
The video definitely looked good. I'm not sure how you define the OS looking more fluid. We didn't get to see them using the different apps.
How does the browser look much better than Safari? All you could really see are web pages being displayed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by guinness
From the video of the Pre on engadget, the OS already looks more fluid than the iPhone's OS, and the browser looks much, much better than Safari, especially when changing orientations.
Just too bad the phone will on Sprint, and not a network that matters, like Verizon.
It will be interesting to see just how much control palm ends up giving to 3d party developers. This one factor could either make their operating system a force or completely irrelevant in 5 years.
I am somewhat tempted to believe that the most open mobile operating system will emerge as the "victor", but history has proven this to be incorrect.
This is a feature? It's not smaller with the kb extended
That sounds like a strained objection to me, it's hard to believe it's being aired, though maybe you can clarify it.
The main thing I see about wanting small size is about pocketability. The device being bigger when the keyboard being extended is an irrelevant objection, because I don't see any but the dumbest users keeping it open when putting it into a pocket.
The first strong competitor to the iPhone. But the iPhone has been out 2 years now, so we should expect some serious competition to start to appear. I will just say though, I don't think this could have come out before the iPhone. There are too many similarities.
The first strong competitor to the iPhone. But the iPhone has been out 2 years now, so we should expect some serious competition to start to appear. I will just say though, I don't think this could have come out before the iPhone. There are too many similarities.
Yeah it's funny ...people come out with iPhone derivatives and start boasting but the reality is Apple's already moved on to the next level.
I'm glad I'll be jumping in at the right time though I wish Palm much success as the mobile market need not be dominated by one vendor.
Comments
I hope it ruffles a LOT of feathers at Apple and that it sells indeed like hotcakes
That way it'll kick Apple a bit in the butt to get a move on and stop condescending and treating it's users like a bunch of retards with their damn half ass iPhone OS
You obviously like to make assumptions about things you have no clue about.
It is not small (way bigger than iPhone), and if you look carefully, the Pre is very thick.
Anything which is physical will break at one point. That's shown by the reliability studies that iPhone is the more reliable (over Blackberry).
Narrower keyboard is better? Wow. First time I hear anyone claiming that.
You obviously don't know a close-up pic when you see one. It is smaller than the iPhone!
Anything which is physical will break at one point? Hmm -how many Apple or any other manufacturer's laptop hinges have ever broken?
However, it does suck that it took Apple to get these companies to get their collective heads out of their asses, thinking that we were all fat and happy as we tried to find the menu command for turning off the blinking light buried in a Symbian OS.
from BoingBoing Gadgets:
Seven features that make the Palm Pre better than the iPhone
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/0...s-that-ma.html
There was a glow on the face of every Palm employee we saw today, and deservedly so: the new Palm Pre is a hail mary product. It's probably going to save the company.
And it is, in many ways, better than the iPhone.
Brownlee and I got a little guided tour of a Pre by a beaming executive this evening. (We filmed it; Xeni, Derek, and Wes from the Boing Boing video team are working on it as I write.) But I'm so excited about the product that I wanted to share my enthusiasm before I forgot all the details about why I am so into it in the first place.
• It feels small and pleasant in the hand. Much smaller than the iPhone, but inexplicably the screen seems big enough. Part of that is the lovely interface that Palm has created that echos a little bit of the old Palm OS in font choice and such, but feels wholly new.
It's a little bit longer than a Treo when the keyboard is extended, but the curving bit makes it seem a nice size.
• It runs Linux. SQLlite is the built-in database. Developers will have to use "web technologies" to make most of the apps, but it sounds like there may still be ways to use closer-to-the-metal languages.
• The animations and interface are gorgeous. They are in many ways busier than the iPhone's animations, and clearly largely cribbed from the bouncy, lively way the iPhone OS moves around, but they look really nice when switching from app to app.
• It has the coolest menu bar I've ever seen. The touchpad actually extends about half an inch below the screen, and to bring up the ever-present menu bar, you push up from below to smoosh it onto the screen, where it rests under your thumb like a Gummi worm. It looks really great and really useful. It is the first clear "impress your friends" feature.
• Integration with Facebook and Gmail looks top notch. Here's the part that got me: if you choose to, you can make your contacts list pull live from Facebook, including their selected profile picture, which means every time your friends call you their image will be their latest Facebook profile picture. Not a huge deal, of course, but a wonderful touch.
• There will be an official app store, but you can still load other apps. Probably. Palm isn't quite sure how syncing with a PC will work, but it sounds like you'll be able to load apps from a variety of sources as well as buying them over-the-air from the Palm application store.
• It's got multitouch, Apple patents be damned. We asked if they were afraid of Apple's claimed protectionist patents for multitouch. They would only respond with a confident smile.
What a pleasing thing it is to see a company that had been all but counted out of the smartphone game come storming back into what I suspect will be the lead.
Update: Oh, one more thing: It has system-wide cut-and-paste.
Palm, Inc. used this year's Consumer Electronics Show to unveil its iPhone challenger, the Palm Pre, which will run a brand-new operating system called Palm webOS.
Sorry this looks like a cheap imitation iPhone. Desparation leads them to slap together some kinda OS. Desparation leads them to make the device operate in a cheap imitation way that becomes very obvious soon as u use it.
The chintzy tiny physical keyboard is soooo out of date.
Everything about this thing makes the iPhone look like the superb design flourish that it is.
No sale Palm.
AV
? It feels small and pleasant in the hand. Much smaller than the iPhone, but inexplicably the screen seems big enough. Part of that is the lovely interface that Palm has created that echos a little bit of the old Palm OS in font choice and such, but feels wholly new.
This is a feature? It's not smaller with the kb extended
It's a little bit longer than a Treo when the keyboard is extended, but the curving bit makes it seem a nice size.
Redundant
? It runs Linux. SQLlite is the built-in database. Developers will have to use "web technologies" to make most of the apps, but it sounds like there may still be ways to use closer-to-the-metal languages.
When discussing features it's appropriate to state the feature and then the benefit. Core Data is a persistent SQLite framework and Webkit supports the HTML needed.
? The animations and interface are gorgeous. They are in many ways busier than the iPhone's animations, and clearly largely cribbed from the bouncy, lively way the iPhone OS moves around, but they look really nice when switching from app to app.
I don't know if I want my UI getting any glossier
? It has the coolest menu bar I've ever seen. The touchpad actually extends about half an inch below the screen, and to bring up the ever-present menu bar, you push up from below to smoosh it onto the screen, where it rests under your thumb like a Gummi worm. It looks really great and really useful. It is the first clear "impress your friends" feature.
I've seen it and don't like it. I saw the Palm employee struggle when demoing this feature
? Integration with Facebook and Gmail looks top notch. Here's the part that got me: if you choose to, you can make your contacts list pull live from Facebook, including their selected profile picture, which means every time your friends call you their image will be their latest Facebook profile picture. Not a huge deal, of course, but a wonderful touch.
There's already a Mac app that does this. iPhone would be a piece of cake.
? There will be an official app store, but you can still load other apps. Probably. Palm isn't quite sure how syncing with a PC will work, but it sounds like you'll be able to load apps from a variety of sources as well as buying them over-the-air from the Palm application store.
Not a feature. When I go to a store I want a centralize mechanism for shopping efficiently. I don't want ten sources to locate what I should be able to do in one. Not a feature and the app store pretty much supports my ideal
? It's got multitouch, Apple patents be damned. We asked if they were afraid of Apple's claimed protectionist patents for multitouch. They would only respond with a confident smile.
Apple doesn't own multitouch. Their "pinch" wasn't fluid at all in their demo.
sophomoric writing and logic.
sophomoric writing and logic.
Man, really.
"7 Reasons Why the Pre Is Better Than The iPhone" turn out to be "has multitouch like the iPhone", "might allow apps other than apps sold in an app store that doesn't exist yet", "has busier animations that will impress your friends", "has a particular animation that I really like that doesn't work very well in the demos", "is Linux", "is smaller except when it's not", and "has trivially easy to implement integration with FaceBook and Gmail."
Oh, and cut and paste, of course, but at this point that just amounts to a ritual invocation.
I can see being taken with the thing, but some of that stuff is just silly.
Man, really.
"7 Reasons Why the Pre Is Better Than The iPhone" turn out to be "has multitouch like the iPhone", "might allow apps other than apps sold in an app store that doesn't exist yet", "has busier animations that will impress your friends", "has a particular animation that I really like that doesn't work very well in the demos", "is Linux", "is smaller except when it's not", and "has trivially easy to implement integration with FaceBook and Gmail."
Oh, and cut and paste, of course, but at this point that just amounts to a ritual invocation.
I can see being taken with the thing, but some of that stuff is just silly.
All good points.
others can. i'm just giving the only point of view i can. my own. but i know i'm not alone. almost every tech blog is stunned that palm made this. not saying that apple can't do something more imaginative but in six months at wwdc it's time to step up!
Just too bad the phone will on Sprint, and not a network that matters, like Verizon.
How does the browser look much better than Safari? All you could really see are web pages being displayed.
From the video of the Pre on engadget, the OS already looks more fluid than the iPhone's OS, and the browser looks much, much better than Safari, especially when changing orientations.
Just too bad the phone will on Sprint, and not a network that matters, like Verizon.
The video definitely looked good. I'm not sure how you define the OS looking more fluid. We didn't get to see them using the different apps.
How does the browser look much better than Safari? All you could really see are web pages being displayed.
My thoughts exactly.
I am somewhat tempted to believe that the most open mobile operating system will emerge as the "victor", but history has proven this to be incorrect.
This is a feature? It's not smaller with the kb extended
That sounds like a strained objection to me, it's hard to believe it's being aired, though maybe you can clarify it.
The main thing I see about wanting small size is about pocketability. The device being bigger when the keyboard being extended is an irrelevant objection, because I don't see any but the dumbest users keeping it open when putting it into a pocket.
The first strong competitor to the iPhone. But the iPhone has been out 2 years now, so we should expect some serious competition to start to appear. I will just say though, I don't think this could have come out before the iPhone. There are too many similarities.
Yeah it's funny ...people come out with iPhone derivatives and start boasting but the reality is Apple's already moved on to the next level.
I'm glad I'll be jumping in at the right time though I wish Palm much success as the mobile market need not be dominated by one vendor.
Has anyone else seen such software?