Palm Pre and webOS: lies, damn lies, and statistics
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Jan 12th 2009 11:12AM
posted Jan 12th 2009 11:12AM
The Pre is not the only webOS-based device planned.
During the Pre's fanfare-packed intro, Palm CEO Ed Colligan mentioned that webOS would serve as Palm's platform "for the next decade." So unless the company plans to offer nothing but the Pre for the next 10 years (hint: they don't), there will be plenty of hardware variations from which to choose -- just like the Palm OS of old.
The Sprint version of the Pre is not a global phone.
Two versions of the Pre will be offered, a CDMA version that will launch in the US as a Sprint exclusive and a 3G GSM version that will launch internationally. The CDMA version doesn't have a secondary GSM radio for use outside the States, so you won't be able to roam on GSM networks around the world. Businesspeople, frequent flyers, beware!
webOS can't run legacy Palm OS applications.
Natively, webOS represents a complete clean break, both architecturally and philosophically, from the legacy Palm OS we're all too acquainted with. It's possible that Palm could offer a compatibility layer that allows Palm OS applications to run on webOS -- we haven't heard anything in that regard -- but they won't "just work" out of the box.
The Pre won't be the gaming platform the iPhone has become -- at least, not initially.
Because webOS is relying on web standards for its apps (sound familiar?), it'll be easy to code up simple games, but likely difficult or impossible to create complex, visually engaging, highly interactive ones. We wouldn't be surprised if Palm ultimately caved and provided a true machine-level SDK, but to start, this is all devs will have to work with. Unlike the early days of the iPhone, though, Palm is providing some libraries that will allow webOS apps to take advantage of gestures, accelerometers, and other features that typical hardware-agnostic web apps wouldn't be able to.
The Pre is not made by HTC (and we don't know who does).
Palm hasn't said who makes the Pre, but we've heard that it's not HTC. While Palm has worked with HTC in the past, they've also worked with Inventec -- and we're sure there are several others who'd love to have landed the contract.
It's pronounced "pree."
"Pray" and "pree-ay" have been offered as alternatives, so if you want to sound uninformed or pretentious, be our guest. Otherwise, stick with "pree" and you'll be solid.
You can have any color Pre you like, as long as it's black.
The shape and style of the Pre certainly seem to lend themselves to Palm offering a whole spectrum of colors, but out of the gate, the only Pre you'll be able to buy is black. Neither Palm nor Sprint have given any details on whether we'll eventually see others.
Nothing said here makes me not want this phone. Stop comparing everything to the dang iPhone, Engadget! But if you must, this is the phone to compare it to.
Great!!!
So what did you think about the phone part of the Pre?
does it come in black?
Eric, whether you like it or not, the iPhone is THE pre-eminent phone right now, especially when it comes to touch screen phones. It makes sense to compare things to it because thats what consumers are going to be doing. Thats neither a good thing or a bad thing, its just the way things are. It doesn't take away from whether or not will be a great phone. As an iPhone lover I think the pre looks really good and alot of people will probably enjoy it. Plus its not as if BOTH phones can't exist and be succesful.
uhhh, just re-read it, and the only comparison to the iPhone is saying that the Pre and the iPhone both started with web-based apps. Oh, then it says that the Pre actually opens some of the gesture and hardware support that the iPhone didn't. (making this BETTER, by the way...)
Comparing a new touch-based smart phone to the iPhone is not only OK with me, but expected. It is the best known phone in the country, and possibly on the planet. Anyone who is shopping for a smartphone knows what an iPhone is and what it does. It's the common denominator. Maybe we should all ignore the iPhone and compare all new cell phones to a Samsung SPH-N270 from 2003. Then Engadget could get out of talking about the iPhone while simultaneously confusing the hell out of everybody.
jimmy says "It is the best known phone in the country, and possibly on the planet"
Don't get me wrong, I'm not an iPhone hater. I have a iPod touch and I absolutely love the thing. But calling the iPhone the best phone and not qualifying it for what it is might be a little irresponsible. One can argue that the iPhone is the best all touchscreen smartphone but even then you'll have a lot of people that will argue that with the Treo Pro, HTCs, Instinct, etc. My personal thought on the iPhone is that it is probably one of if not the most innovative devices in the past 3 years and it has sparked a new trend in smartphone development, which is a great thing. But just saying its the word's best phone period is sounding a little fanboi-ish.
Eric, as you quoted, jimmy said it's the "best known phone", not the "best phone". Read what you're posting next time.
Jason, are you serious? So, it's the best 'known' phone as opposed to what, the best 'unknown' phone? I think the examples I gave are 'known' phones. What are some examples of 'unknown' phones? Oh I've got one!! Wait, crap! Now it's 'known'!!!!!! It's a paradox!!!!!
Eric, I disagree with you on that point. While the Treo Pro, the Instinct and many of the HTCs may be 'known' to most of Engadgets readers, most 'regular' consumers probably would not know exactly what phone you were talking about when you say 'Treo Pro'. They might know Treos are Palm but they probably would not know the details of the phone. When you say 'iPhone', they're going to know EXACTLY what phone, what it looks like, what it does, etc.
at least thats the case with my friends, who aren't tech savvy but who are relatively alert about cell phones.
All that is 'known' to me is that I'm buying this 'unknown' phone as soon as it is available. I feel this is the most inovative phone software since the iPhone (yes, I know of Android and it doesn't quite do it for me) and time will tell if loyal Palm followers will make it a true player. I think it has a good chance based on the demo at CES. Allow it to run legacy palm apps, give devlopers access to the core code for awesome apps, add a software store, and this one will have a true chance. Yes, I just described a bunch of iPhone/iPod capabilites because like I said before, that device has started a new trend in smartphones. The true test is going to see what Sprint does with this. They need to come up with some homegrown apps for this device to get people to buy it. I'm a loyal Sprint user as their network is superior and their plans are the cheapest so anything they can bring to the table to keep me interested is welcome. This is just the device to do it and its perfect timing.
Eric, I wasn't voicing my opinion over anything. I simply pointed out that you were quoting jimmy, who said it was the "best known phone", but then going off on a rant as if he had said it was the "best phone". Calm down.
lol.. DEFINITELY my iPhone is NOT the "Best known phone" on this planet.
I has features that it's best at compared to all other phones at the moment, such as the games, safari (except for ANNOYING CRASHES), and media aspects, but definitely NOT the best.
You need to take the phone for what it is. I love my iPhone when I'm bored or on the can, because it has some seriously fun games. And I've tried using different phones for web (tried BB bold, javelin, and some Nokia phones) but none match the ease of use of the iPhone, and I gotta say.. truthfully? I don't ENJOY using the browsers of these other phones compared to the iPhone.
Now as for some efficiency to get some serious work done, I really cannot use the iPhone. While you're in a certain app, or doing one thing it is perfectly fine, but every SINGLE time I need to do something else, I need to take like 5+ taps to get to it and come back. And all the little animations and things like that just make the device slow. It takes forever to do multiple things on the iPhone and that's why the Pre looks so GOOD!!!
People say that the BB is great for work, and I admit it is. But other than solid email, it is not AMAZING at multi-tasking either. Now the iPhone just purely sucks, as I've stated above. But on the BBs, although it is POSSIBLE to multi-task, and quite usable, it still keeps you at one app. You start writing a new email? If you want to go somewhere else, or start another new email, or do something else, you either finish it and send it off, or save it. You're still stuck with one app at a time.
Finally, the Pre puts together exactly what I was looking for. Solid multi-tasking and efficiency in its UI with its innovative notification system, a solid web browser with multi-touch capabilities to allow for an enjoyable online experience, even more innovative cloud experience (that doesn't exist in any other device at the moment) with Synergy, and does this all with sex appeal (unlike the clunky G1). It finally takes a work phone like BBs and a fun phone like iPhone, and squashes it together into an interesting, innovative, good looking phone!
Now, I'll probably keep my iPhone around as, at the moment, the games and apps available on the appstore are unmatchable in any other handset (like stated above in the Engadget post) but the Pre will definitely become my daily handset. I CAN'T WAIT!!!
Jason, the problem here is that we are all getting into the expected discussion about the iPhone and I was merely pointing out that Engadget (deffinate iPhone fanbois and if you want proof I'll point you to dozens of articles on the Storm, Instinct, and others showing it) always find what they will call 'flaws' in a phone by comparing it to the iPhone simply because it doesn't do something the iPhone does or it does something different. I should have known that making an iPhone comment would not sit will with most people out there. Unfortunately for iPhone lovers, in my opinion, it is NOT the phone by which all phones should be judged. If people can't take a stand alone view of a phone and judge it for what it is then they are flawed. There are simply too many factors now to put all smartphones in one category, smartphones. I have already said I'm a fan of the iPhone, but does that mean this phone will be a failure, as many are on followup post on this blog, before its even launched simply by basing it on what we know now? Does it mean this phone will be a failure if it does not sell as well as the iPhone? That's fine, let those people be close minded. In my opinion, as good as the iPhone is, it's had its day. This year we will see a new phone emerge that will scare Apple. Of course, Apple will just come out with something better next year. =) Just be prepared to pay and arm and a leg for it.
Eric, try reading it as "best-known phone" as opposed to "best known phone." As in, the iphone is the most widely known phone. The all-important hyphen strikes again.
David, I could not agree with you more. I'm an avid BB phone user and I have an iPod touch for the exact reasons you have an iPhone. It's a great internet device and gaming device, just not a great phone. I've gotten good enough with my blackberry to multitask pretty efficiently but it just took too much time to become that proficient. I have a pearl. I'm not sure if the bold or others would do better for me, unfortunately Sprint's BB lineup blows.
But like I said and like you pointed out, let's take this phone for what it is, innovation and 'newness' that this line of phones need. I'm excited to get my hands on one and try it out and give it a non-biased review.
(I wonder if it can play more than just H.264 and mpeg4) he he!! I need divx/xvid!!!! not holding my breath.=) ok, I'll stop being a hypocrite and stop comparing to the iPhone now. See you all at the next Engadet non-iPhone bashing/iPhone lovefest.
I give up.
Jason, you're right.
The phrase "best known phone", although not clearly constructed, means "the phone that is most widely recognized."
Which is true. The iPhone is the de facto standard by which all other phones (especially touchscreen phones) are compared. This doesn't mean that the iPhone is the "best" phone (the definition of which I don't even want to get into), just that it's the single phone that's most likely to spark name recognition in the average consumer's mind. Which is more a function of Apple's design leadership and crafty marketing than of the iPhones actual value as a useful product.
Regardless, I love my iPhone. It does everything I need and is a pleasure to use. However, as a certified gadgetophile and an avid reader of this blog, I've been very interested in iPhone's competition, but none of them have (in my mind) qualified as a replacement for my iPhone.
Until this one.
most known phone.
But will it blend?
As surely as "will it blend" posts get low ranked, and rightly so.
Who gives a shit?
dies it come in black?
This is the stupidest question I've seen all day.
Of course it blends. It ALWAYS blends.
@ yaniv.chokron
Was that supposed to be a Batman Begins reference?
I prefer Chris Ziegler's quote from Henry Ford.
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Ford
It's not an iPhone says it all. Palm has at best a third or fourth place smartphone here which is good, but hardly a match for BlackBerrys or iPhones. Palm is going to be slugging it out with Android, WinMo and Symbian devices and Palm has the least resources of any smartphone company. Ed Colligan might be arrogant now, but after the hype, this Pre is going to have to deliver or Palm will be flushed down the toilet. Forget about this platform ten years from now. Palm will probably struggle to hold out until June when the Pre is launched. Palm can't afford to make any mistakes while burning through their meager cash reserve. I think the casual handset buyer will probably have thought that Palm went out of business years ago and rightly so.
Lies!
It's all lies, I tell you!
Any word on whether there will be flash support?
Not out of the box, but rumor says that Adobe and Palm are working on it.
If they do, I'd love to see the "All of the internet in your pocket. Really, all of it." advertisements. ;-)
^'Lie' is often misclassified as 'rumor'.
It was flatly stated at CES, without any further commentary, that their is no Flash support.
@bcakbeat: They didn't say one way or another in the official CES presentation. However from the various demos and article interviews, Palm wants their device to be as good on the internet as possible. It'd naturally make sense to be working on flash for the "webOS"
@bcakbeat "It was flatly stated at CES, without any further commentary, that their is no Flash support.":
Speaking of lies... That was not said at all.
Looks like Chris needs to check the dictionary for the meaning of 'lie' and 'statistics'.
sorry that reply should've been under avis's comment.
where are the lies? damn lies? and statistics?
They lied to us.
That's what I want to know.
Terribly misleading propagandist headline, at best.
FAIL title.
The lie is a lie.
Imagine someone didn't read the article and started posting this elsewhere, Palm's stock would sink waaay down again
You're kidding, right?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lies,_damned_lies,_and_statistics
Thank you Nilay Patel.
I'm glad you made a point about the pronunciation. I can't stand idiots that ignore the - over the e and pronounce stuff wrong. Just like the idiots that always called their Treo's "Tray-oh's".
Yes, thank the Lord they cleared this up, I can now sleep at night.
Like "nukyalur"? ;)
How's about that there 'iTouch'?
^Actually, the name is iPod Touch, _not_ iTouch.
That's what happens when you only listen to haters. ;)
Well, I would go with "Pr-ay". On the Palm website, they show it spelled "Prē". The ē with the little line on top. (a Macron) The line makes the vowel long. In other words, that means that you pronounce the *sound the letter makes*, and NOT the name of the actual letter, like in some English words. So therefore, it's "pr-ay" and NOT "pree".
Similarly, it's the same deal with the Palm Trēo. (same "e" with the line) That's why it's not "treee-oh"; it's "tray-o".
So there, if anyone can prove me wrong, please do.
Steven, did you fail fourth grade english?
The vowel being elongated means EXACTLY what you said it DIDNT mean.
If it has a curve over the top of it, THEN you pronounce the SOUND, not the letter name.
How do you pronounce PrEtend? How do you pronounce trEpidation?
Hint: Pretend would have a line over the first e, while trepidation would have a curve.
PWNT
backbeat
Actually the former President's pronunciation of Nuclear is not wrong as described in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:
Main Entry:
nu·cle·ar Listen to the pronunciation of nuclear Listen to the pronunciation of nuclear
Pronunciation:
\ˈnü-klē-ər, ˈnyü-, ÷-kyə-lər\
Function:
adjective
Usage: Though disapproved of by many, pronunciations ending in \\-kyə-lər\\ have been found in widespread use among educated speakers including scientists, lawyers, professors, congressmen, United States cabinet members, and at least two United States presidents and one vice president. While most common in the United States, these pronunciations have also been heard from British and Canadian speakers.