The Palm Pre

Gynd05

Hi

I am thinking of getting the Palm Pre on a pay monthly contract with 02 and wanted to get people's general opinion on it.

I have heard that there aren't many applications on it, is that correct? I have read on the internet that more apps were due to be introduced in March but don't know if this actually happened.

I have also heard that you can't get MSN messenger or access MSN Hotmail on it, is this correct?

I would appreciate any feedback or comments on it's usability or general performance.

Thanks

nsabournemouth

The Palm Pre.......well it has a great OS, the multitasking is something else, very very good.You can have all of your apps open at the same time The way you can open and close apps is great. The way the notifications come through is very un-intrusive, at the bottom of the screen you get the notification of a text, email or from Facebook so if you're playing a game or something you get a little scroll across the bottom of the screen. It also has a qwerty pad which for me is important.

As for apps: There aren't that many that you get on the iPhone but Palm have made it very easy for the apps from other platforms to be ported over so you will see them.

One thing that Palm have done very well with are the OS updates. Remember on the iPhone everyone went mad when the 3gs had video capture, the only thing was you had to buy a new phone bit Palm released it on all Palm phones via an update and their updates are done in the background over the air so need to sit by your computer to do it.

There have been some issues with the hardware but that has been sorted and i do find it very easy to use and the way it syncs with Facebook etc is great.

Have a look at this link which will show you what i mean.

http://www.palm.com/uk/en/products/phones/pre/index.html#video

gjchester

Gynd05 wrote: »

Hi

I am thinking of getting the Palm Pre on a pay monthly contract with 02 and wanted to get people's general opinion on it.

Forget it.

Good as the Pre is it and WebOs are currently dead in the water. Palm has put itself up for sale, and the Pre is not selling well.


See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8618001.stm

With the best will in the world at this point I'd say if you get one do not plan on ever getting any official update. If Palm is bought the new owner may or may not develop the Pre, or the app store may just get closed forever.

If you like the Pre as it is now go for it, but don't plan on any upgrades, if they happen it will be a nice suprise, but they probably won't.

nsabournemouth

gjchester wrote: »

Forget it.

Good as the Pre is it and WebOs are currently dead in the water. Palm has put itself up for sale, and the Pre is not selling well.


See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8618001.stm

With the best will in the world at this point I'd say if you get one do not plan on ever getting any official update. If Palm is bought the new owner may or may not develop the Pre, or the app store may just get closed forever.

If you like the Pre as it is now go for it, but don't plan on any upgrades, if they happen it will be a nice suprise, but they probably won't.

The Pre and Pixi plus are to be sold in Germany at the end of this month and in the UK not soon after. They have also just had an investment of $96m and Palm are looking to license their OS to HTC instead of a buy out but if there is a buy out it will be HTC and they will look to take the OS on as their own. Palm are also releasing their phones in China and Vodafone are taking them on too.

Hammer_Slammer

Gynd05 wrote: »

Hi

I am thinking of getting the Palm Pre on a pay monthly contract with 02 and wanted to get people's general opinion on it.

I have heard that there aren't many applications on it, is that correct? I have read on the internet that more apps were due to be introduced in March but don't know if this actually happened.

I have also heard that you can't get MSN messenger or access MSN Hotmail on it, is this correct?

I would appreciate any feedback or comments on it's usability or general performance.

Thanks

Rubbish phone got rid of mine.Didnt get on with the os and just felt like a poorly made piece of !!!!.

STAY WELL CLEAR!!

ampletime

I got mine a month or so ago and i think its a good phone. Bit light app wise but the os is good and am very pleased with it. It could of been made better but yeah, all in all very happy and hope that htc do buy them or that palm let them use the os as that would be the makings of a very good phone.

gjchester

nsabournemouth wrote: »

The Pre and Pixi plus are to be sold in Germany at the end of this month and in the UK not soon after. They have also just had an investment of $96m and Palm are looking to license their OS to HTC instead of a buy out but if there is a buy out it will be HTC and they will look to take the OS on as their own. Palm are also releasing their phones in China and Vodafone are taking them on too.

Sorry I know you like the phone but it's a dead duck until someone does buy it. If it's so good why are o2 not releasing the Pixi in the UK, or Vodafone releasing either in the UK, because quite frankly the Iphone and Android have the market sewn up here, even Microsoft are currently shut out.

It *MAY* come out in other countries, Palm may be bought and WebOS may appear elsewhere on other phone, but it may also be that Palm folds and you get no more apps or updates. Given this uncertanty I'd be *extremely* hesitant to buy a Palm anything at this time. It may be HTC buy Palm for it's patents and simply cease development on WebOS.

Nokia bought Symbian for the OS, and pretty much closed it off for development. Nokia made it open source but never really did anything else. Microsoft are coming into the market heavily with the Kin and Windows 7 phones. Whoever buy's Palm either will need a lot of cash toi get it out there agains Apple, Google and Microsoft.

For me there are far too many maybe's for a phone you'd expect someone will keep 18-24 months.

Any technology purchase it a leap in the dark to some degree, but there too big a chance that Palm will cease to exist.

nsabournemouth

gjchester wrote: »

Sorry I know you like the phone but it's a dead duck until someone does buy it. If it's so good why are o2 not releasing the Pixi in the UK, or Vodafone releasing either in the UK, because quite frankly the Iphone and Android have the market sewn up here, even Microsoft are currently shut out.

It *MAY* come out in other countries, Palm may be bought and WebOS may appear elsewhere on other phone, but it may also be that Palm folds and you get no more apps or updates. Given this uncertanty I'd be *extremely* hesitant to buy a Palm anything at this time. It may be HTC buy Palm for it's patents and simply cease development on WebOS.

Nokia bought Symbian for the OS, and pretty much closed it off for development. Nokia made it open source but never really did anything else. Microsoft are coming into the market heavily with the Kin and Windows 7 phones. Whoever buy's Palm either will need a lot of cash toi get it out there agains Apple, Google and Microsoft.

For me there are far too many maybe's for a phone you'd expect someone will keep 18-24 months.

Any technology purchase it a leap in the dark to some degree, but there too big a chance that Palm will cease to exist.

Released in Germany next month, both Pixi and Pre Plus, SFR same or start of next month. Spoke to O2 a couple of weeks ago and they did say the a Plus version will be released too but no given date as i am keen to get the Pixi Plus.

I think it is a very good phone as do lots of tother people and i agree it has taken off more in Europe than here but not everyone is an iPhone or Android fan. It will be very interesting to see what happens if the rumour mill is right.

almillar

gjchester is being far too negative and reading too much into speculation. OP asked about the phone not stock market rumours. (And no, Palm looking into their options, including being bought, isn't a rumour).
The Palm Pre is a great phone, I've had it since launch and have watched it get better and better. As of today there are 1132 apps in the official App Catalogue for the UK, and 1000s more unofficially. What you heard about March is that Europe was getting the ability to buy the non-free apps, and that has indeed brought lots more Apps, including loads of 3d games. You certainly can get MSN Messenger, I'm using IM+ on my Pre for it, or you can also use the web version on the proper web browser. As for hotmail, same again. I use the mobile hotmail website which works excellently on the pre, even when you haven't got good 3G reception. Hotmail does now allow POP3 access I think, so you can just plug your details into the Pre's email program. I think to get the best out of the Pre you would want to get a Google account, as the Pre's calendar, IM and mail programs all work very well with it.
Don't forget the big hitters for WebOS either - The best multitasking on a mobile (yes better than iPhone OS4), Synergy (pulling all your contacts together from your different online sources - you don't have to synchronise any more!) and of course that hardware keyboard which is excellent to type on!
Any more questions just ask...

Fire_Fox

http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/09/editorial-htc-and-palm-should-get-hitched-and-make-beautiful-ba/

gjchester

almillar wrote: »

gjchester is being far too negative and reading too much into speculation. OP asked about the phone not stock market rumours. (And no, Palm looking into their options, including being bought, isn't a rumour)..

Palm looking to sell itself is not speculation.

If you want to commit to a phone for two years that currently has limited UK support (even O2 has demoted it from the smartphone landing page focussing on the iPhone and blackberry) when the company is activly looking to sell itself, go ahead.

Personally I think as soon as Palm is sold all support will evaporate.

I may be wrong, but the Palm Plus and Pixi are almost certainly not going to see the light of day in the UK. I understand the Pre is exclusive to o2 for 2 years (so it probably won't be on any other network until Oct 2011), if o2 wanted the Pixi it would be out already, it's not. That speaks volumes about how the Palm brand is percieved. Putting it on a similar contract and cost base initially as an iPhone was just marketing suicide for the pre.

In most takeovers the company taken over usually is assimalted and vanishes. The most likely result I see is in the last section of that web page firefox quoted,

"but whatever, HTC would do just as well do buy Palm, fire everyone, and throw webOS out with the trash, because it would still be getting Palm's enormous patent portfolio"

It's also entirely possible Apple could buy Palm, for exactly the same reason, to kill WebOS and have a stack of patents to sit on.

The Pre's a has been, it failed.

Sorry Palm made great devices in the past but the Pre marketing was not good enough against Apple and ultimalty thats the seller on phones now, not the devices features. There was a lot of fuss about EA developing games for the Pre, well aside from giving some games away EA have moved on and are pushing iPad games. There are six games from EA in the US store, and none on EA's UK store. Hardly a big rollout of games, it's just the N-Gage all over again, big launch then no-one was interested.

Phones are no longer just phones, they are a fashion statement. The long and short is android and iPhones are cool (iphone even more so than android), the Pre isn't even in the same league in the fasion stakes.

I'm sorry I know you and NSAB.. both like the Palm pre, webOS does look nice, but it's a has been, and I'd would not advise anyone to buy one as the future is uncertain, and on a device you expect to use for two years that a big gamble to make.