Asia-Pacific Pre Will Be Second-Generation, Mid-to-Late 2010

asia pacific map By now, Asia-Pacific Palm fans will have heard the sad news that we won't be receiving the Palm Pre anytime soon, as confirmed by intrepid investigator Jason Lingohr and reported by PreCentral yesterday. PalmInfocenter has been looking into this issue for some time now, and with this new information at hand did some digging of our own into the sorry state of affairs. The picture we have pieced together from multiple sources is essentially what Jason has already discovered, but with a new twist.

Palm's overarching strategy with the first generation of webOS devices is indeed to focus tightly on the North American and European markets. It's purely a matter of survival: the company does not want to spread itself too thinly at such a critcial juncture in its history. Thus, much like Apple's original iPhone, only a select group of countries will be receiving the first-generation webOS flagship, the Pre; indeed, we may have already seen the extent of Palm's initial international rollout with the US, Canada, Spain, the UK, Germany and Ireland (although there's still that Mexican Pre to consider, too...). Apparently, all the Australian carriers were informed of this decision several months ago - putting paid to recent rumours of a launch on Vodafone AU in November.

However, the intention is for the second-generation Pre to be released to a much wider audience, including Asia-Pacific - and yes, this is confirmation that an updated Pre is coming, rather than a whole new device. No details on specs or timing are confirmed yet, but expanded storage capacity was specifically mentioned as "near-certain". Whether that means more built-in memory or the oft-requested microSD slot, none could say.

As to the release date, opinion ranged all over the map: our most credible source was unwilling to make any kind of guess, while others are betting on mid-to-late 2010.

Where does all this leave that other webOS device, the Pixi? None of our sources could say, nor were they willing to speculate. But rest assured, dear readers, your correspondent is staying on the hunt.

One final note: I wouldn't really class all this as a rumour; I'm quite confident in the patchwork of information I've stitched together. That said, since nobody was willing to speak on the record, I'd take it with a grain of salt... were I a reader.

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Tight Focus...

surfmaniac @ 10/23/2009 11:59:21 AM # Q
Sounds like a good strategy to me for a company of this size. Eventually these WebOS phones will be global, it'll just take time.


MS

RE: Tight Focus...
SeldomVisitor @ 10/23/2009 12:01:49 PM # Q
> ...it'll just take time.

Yes, the one thing Palm has plenty of, huh?

Hmmm...come to think of it, now that an official source has said a better Pre is coming out, who's gonna buy the existing Pre?

Hmmm...

Maybe Palm doesn't that much time left, huh?

RE: Tight Focus...
hkklife @ 10/23/2009 2:01:57 PM # Q
"Better Pre" likely means a 16GB model with a better quality slider. Palm are notorious for milking certain formfactors to death (T|T3, T|E, Treo 600 etc) with just incremental upgrades. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

What Palm should be much more worried about is trying to distinguish between the Pre and the Pixi and/or release a high-end device (perhaps resurrecting the "Treo" moniker). The Pre's specs are starting to look horribly feeble next to the new competition (HTC Imagio, Motorola Droid et al).
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?

RE: Tight Focus...
bhartman34 @ 10/23/2009 6:42:37 PM # Q
I think more built-in memory is more likely than a micro-SD slot. To put a slot in, they would have to redesign the phone, to a certain extent.

As far as being jealous of the Pre II (or whatever it will be called), sure, that's a problem. But that's the game when you're dealing with electronics: You always know a better device is just around the corner. I'll be perfectly happy when the rumored update comes to eliminate (or at least greatly increase) the app limit restriction. More memory isn't really an issue when you can't utilize all the memory that's there in the first place.

RE: Tight Focus...
twrock @ 10/23/2009 6:52:42 PM # Q
hkklife wrote:
"Better Pre" likely means a 16GB model with a better quality slider. Palm are notorious for milking certain formfactors to death (T|T3, T|E, Treo 600 etc) with just incremental upgrades. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

I had the same thought. But then, I remembered that this really is not the same Palm company we had grown to "love/hate/put up with/insert your own descriptor here". They might actually do things differently. But then I thought about Apple and the similarities with Palm's current management and wondered if they might do what Apple has with the iPhone (very much incremental upgrades). And finally I thought about them simply not having the resources to do anything more than the bare minimum, even if they really wanted to do much more. I dunno.

But what I do know is that the "pre-Pre" management managed to lay Palm on it's deathbed. [See how I did that there. :-) ] The current management has been dealt a very poor hand. If they somehow "resurrect" Palm, they deserve a lot of credit.

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?

RE: Tight Focus...
surfmaniac @ 10/23/2009 7:27:59 PM # Q
They are resurrecting PALM. If Rubenstein and co were not there, this company would now be nothing but a memory...

RE: Tight Focus...
hkklife @ 10/23/2009 10:17:24 PM # Q
BGR ain't too optimistic on Palm's chances on Verizon (from his new Moto Droid preview):

"So will the Motorola Droid be successful? Absolutely, we think. It will eat in to BlackBerry sales, Windows Mobile sales, and positively murder any lingering Palm Pre sales. It's that good. Did you notice how Verizon still hasn't announced the BlackBerry Storm2?"

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/10/23/motorola-droid-preview/

This may VERY likely be my next phone, folks. But not until I give it a fondling thorough enough to put Mike Cane to shame.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?

RE: Tight Focus...
twrock @ 10/24/2009 12:08:44 AM # Q
hkklife wrote:
This may VERY likely be my next phone, folks.

Spec wise, it's an awesome looking machine. (I don't think it will win any beauty awards, but some of us don't much care about that.) Yeah, if I was in the US on November 6, I'd be seriously fondling this thing too. Not that I'm big on the physical keyboard, but all else being equal, hey, why not have a keyboard? Doesn't look like it has made the thing too bulky. Maybe I'd find out I really like it, particularly since it does look like it has good sized keys.

I am surprised a little that they've got v. 2.0 of the OS in the Droid already. I wonder if it is completely stable. But in any case, you know they'll get updates out relatively quickly if there is a need. And then there will be the custom ROMs. Whatever Android phone you go with, you can pretty much bank on the community making it even better, sometimes even before it's been launched!

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?

RE: Tight Focus...
nastebu @ 10/24/2009 1:52:58 AM # M Q
If they go with the Apple model-- minor hardware upgrades but major software upgrades available to all users--that would be a very good thing. Maybe that's one of the reasons Apple has such high levels of consumer satisfaction with the iPhone.

Palm has some time. WebOS is easily good enough to keep investor interest, even if the sales are only midling.

RE: Tight Focus...
Gekko @ 10/24/2009 2:05:00 AM # Q

hkk - maybe you can be our Android guinea pig? i look forward to your review.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/23/verizons-droid-is-a-series-not-just-a-phone-droid-eris-coming/

RE: Tight Focus...
twrock @ 10/24/2009 2:28:50 AM # Q
Gekko wrote:
hkk - maybe you can be our Android guinea pig? i look forward to your review.

No kiddin'. If you get one before I do, I want a full write up. (But I think it will be a little too OT if you ask Ryan to put it up here.) Maybe since the Eris is HTC, I still have hope that I can get my hands on a >3.5" screened device before the end of the year. I haven't been able to find any specs on that unit, but maybe HTC will finally bump the screens up from 3.2" on their Android devices.

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?
RE: Tight Focus...
abosco @ 10/24/2009 7:19:17 AM # M Q
I'm actually more curious about the build quality. Whenever I tried out a G1, it felt like it was going to snap at any moment. That two-pronged slider mechanism seemed so unnatural.

It doesn't look very attractive, and Motorola doesn't have a track record for quality, but it may be built well since this is a company trying to save face.

RE: Tight Focus...
Gekko @ 10/24/2009 8:48:56 AM # Q

i'm tempted to go check out the Sprint HERO.
RE: Tight Focus...
hkklife @ 10/24/2009 3:24:47 PM # Q
Abosco;

Some of the older Moto dumbphones were built like absolute tanks. I have a RAZR2 that I still use for daily phone purposes and it's one of the most solid flip phones I've ever used. So I have much more faith in Moto pulling off a well-built flagship phone with no creaks or wobbles, than, say, HTC or Palm.

And don't worry, I'll definitely do a Droid impressions piece IF I decide to switch. I actually went to the local VZW store today and while they wouldn't divulge any solid info, the guy said the Droid was going to be "bad ass" and they were expecting low inventories & high demand, as VZW is going to be pushing the Droid more aggressively than the Storm 2 (big surprise, huh?) prior to the holidays.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?

RE: Tight Focus...
twrock @ 10/24/2009 11:17:16 PM # Q
Gekko, definitely check it out. I think the Euro/Asia version with the chin is more to my liking, but I think the differences are only external. I was impressed, but it still wasn't the phone I was looking for.

Kris, I'm also "waiting" for the rumored HTC Dragon. Some of the rumors have it being a tweaked HD2 (WinMob unit). If that turns out to be true, it'll have a 4.3" 480x800 screen in a body smaller and thinner than my TX's! It will truly be impossible to complain the screen is too small on that thing. (And hopefully I won't have to mortgage the farm to afford it.)

As much time as I waste here, I've been wasting a lot more time on the Android sites hoping my "gotta have" device is finally announced. Oh well, still waiting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLCJEYLIBQY

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?

RE: Tight Focus...
mikecane @ 10/25/2009 5:47:30 PM # Q
>>>This may VERY likely be my next phone, folks. But not until I give it a fondling thorough enough to put Mike Cane to shame.

I don't like the Droid hardware. I can imagine that keyboard being inadequate, to say the least.

I like the Hero -- and especially the Acer Liquid (but woe for its stingy built-in storage!) -- but with all these Android OS devices, I've yet to hear the Secret Word: PIM.

If any of you go Android, you'll likely want to do eBooks, so go look:

http://snurl.com/srqqq
http://snurl.com/srqr4
http://snurl.com/sghri
http://snurl.com/srqs6

I haven't investigated PDF yet because that's a goddammed nightmare on most every pocketable device.

Reply to this comment

Lament...

andy pandy @ 10/23/2009 7:55:02 PM # Q
hiya Tim from sunny Adelaide,

There is but a tiny fraction of me left that could be talked down; i think i've been patient. But Millhouses thoughts on how, sometines, it's 'the waiting to kiss' where there's much to be found, only have so much gas. Tim, tell me you don't own a Nokia N900...say it boy; and soon, very soon, God willing, so will i. What do you think the chances are that Access will roll out a version of the Garnet VM for this thing. i wrote them, but they're not talking.

cheers,
a

RE: Lament...
Tim Carroll @ 10/24/2009 9:01:40 PM # Q
Hiya Andy, from rainy-and-overcast (today) Sydney -

I don't own an N900. I appreciate its hardware sexiness on a geek level, but i couldn't buy one for myself. I just don't like Nokia's UIs. I never have. And the UI is nearly always the deciding factor in whether or not I want to own a device. It's why I've stuck with Palm for so long - I know PalmOS like the back of my hand and haven't found anything yet that beats it, although the iPhone comes mighty close.

I just hope I can grow to love webOS as much as I do PalmOS, otherwise my Palm love affair might end with my imported Pre. Experiments with the webOS emulator have been promising, although that really doesn't compare to using an actual device.

If you don't want to go to the trouble of importing, expansys are offering the Pre now: http://www.expansys.com.au/d.aspx?i=189373

...although, we have no idea whether Aussie SIMs are going to work in it yet.....

Reply to this comment

That was a long wait to hear about another long wait

justauser @ 10/24/2009 3:40:59 PM # Q
Can't say I'm still waiting for the Pre to come to Aus now hearing this news. Probably stick with the Treo680 till it dies. Any platform is now fair game if it doesn't.

My gadget lust will have to be sated by Kindle (which now has graced our shores). With iPhones so prolific, smart phones have lost their wow factor anyway. Not gonna turn any heads whipping out a mobile at a business meeting any more. Kinda loses its appeal

RE: That was a long wait to hear about another long wait
Tim Carroll @ 10/24/2009 9:15:25 PM # Q
For a long time, I felt mobile phones were the bane of existence. My first phone was a Treo, 'cause I figured that if society was going to force me to carry a little electronic ball-and-chain with me everywhere, then it might as well at least have other useful functions.

Here's a blog I wrote on Facebook awhile back, which is tangentially related....

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=16112669239

Don't be iFooled

Funny how things change over time. Doesn't feel like that long ago I was in high school, slagging off mobile phones as the bane of existence. Not everybody had one back then: they hadn't yet become the hideous, life-sucking necessity that they are today. But at the time, it certainly seemed like wherever you turned there was some inconsiderate retard taking over a public space either by playing with ringtones, having far-too-loud conversations, or just otherwise fiddling aimlessly with their f*cking mobile like they'd never seen a phone before.

It sickened me.

Not For Me, I would declare righteously, from atop my glorious teenage High Horse. I was not going to become one of those mindless drones, with eyes and mind forever locked on a tiny postage-stamp sized screen, forsaking the world around me in favour of a stupid, unnecessary lump of electronics.

Well! We all know how that story ends: society moved with the times and eventually forced me, at gunpoint, to get on board the Mobile Express. Hell, I have a job writing about phones now. They're ubiquitous. We have reached saturation point, folks. It's like my teenage self's worst nightmare brought to life, except with less sodomisation by David Koch. But, if there was one small benefit to take away from all this, it's that mobile phones at least weren't interesting anymore. Oh sure, you still had the obsessives who thought they're the greatest toy since the motorised dildo, but for the most part the mobile craze was dead. Not the hip new thing anymore, just something you need; like a wallet, or keys.

And then along came the ****ing iPhone.

Advertising hype sickens me on a regular basis (Hello, Lynx!), but the mind-numbingly overblown build-up to the release of the first iPhone was in a class of its own. Helped along by a complicit media, Apple managed to put the release of their new phone up there on the same societal pedestal as the f*cking Second Coming of Jesus. Revolutionary, they called it. There were kilometres-long queues outside Apple stores, for ****'s sake. Over a f*cking phone! It's not even that good!

In my aforementioned job as mobile commentator, I watched the hype snowball into an unstoppable monster. Merely mentioning the word "iPhone" would ensure massive amounts of traffic for articles that otherwise had nothing to do with it. People would see my own over-capable phone (a Palm Treo, if you must know) and ask "oo, is that the new iPhone?"

"NO!" I wanted to bellow in their faces. "IT'S NOT A F*CKING IPHONE! THE IPHONE IS NOT EVEN OUT IN AUSTRALIA, AND EVEN IF IT WAS I WOULDN'T BE CAUGHT DEAD PAYING THAT MUCH* FOR A F*CKING SH*TTY PHONE THAT DOESN'T EVEN HAVE BUTTONS!"

Like all things, it eventually came and went, and things seemed to be getting back to normal. Until last week, when Apple announced the next version of the iPhone would finally debut in Australia. According to The Australian today, Vodafone has been getting 40,000 iPhone-related inquiries daily since it was announced.

It's happening again. It shouldn't. The iPhone is a fraud, ladies and gentlemen. A glossy, overpriced fake. It's the phone version of Norma Khoury. The new 3G model fixes a lot of flaws with the original, but there's still plenty left over to bitch about. Here's a handy cheat sheet for you, should anyone ask why you couldn't give a sh*t about the iPhone craze:

The iPhone has no real buttons. Imagine typing out SMS on your microwave. Welcome to the iPhone revolution!

The iPhone's battery is sealed inside its casing like an Egyptian pharaoh. So when it dies, you have to send it away to Apple to have it replaced for an expensive fee. And you'll also be without your phone for about a week. Revolutionary!

The iPhone can't even do the basics properly. The iPhone can't do MMS. It can't record videos. It can't use wireless headphones. It has no memory card slot. It doesn't support some of the most popular media formats. There's no unlocked version. You have to sync with iTunes. On and on and on the list goes, the point being that while it might be a great web browser, it's a pretty sh*t phone.

The iPhone is pretty, stylish, and a decent little portable web browser. It fails in almost every other respect.

Don't be iFooled.

*Actually, two years prior I'd shelled out quite a bit for my first Palm, but that was a different time. And at least it was unlocked, for heaven's sake.

RE: That was a long wait to hear about another long wait
jca666us @ 10/25/2009 7:06:14 AM # Q
After reading your old blog post Tim, it appears you need help!

countless BS and wordiness deleted for brevity

People would see my own over-capable phone (a Palm Treo, if you must know) and ask "oo, is that the new iPhone?"

That must have been a fun time for all :)

The iPhone is pretty, stylish, and a decent little portable web browser. It fails in almost every other respect.

Obviously Palm disagrees with you, considering how much they - and several other companies - have attempted to copy the iphone.

What you do not understand is that the iphone has a stellar user experience. Adding features and bumping specs isn't the answer to defeating the iphone.

Creating a better user experience is.

RE: That was a long wait to hear about another long wait
bhartman34 @ 10/25/2009 9:28:29 AM # Q
What you do not understand is that the iphone has a stellar user experience. Adding features and bumping specs isn't the answer to defeating the iphone.

Creating a better user experience is.

So what does this "stellar user experience" entail, other than taking it out of the package and saying to yourself, "Hey, I just got an iPhone! Isn't that cool of me?!"

It's got thousands of apps, but the vast majority of those are throwaways. And without jailbreaking your phone (which, rumor has it, Apple is working on preventing you from doing) you can't run more than one of them at a time. The development process itself is antiquated, with Android employing a more open model, and Palm both a) allowing homebrew and b) encouraging distribution on multiple channels come December.

The iPhone was revolutionary when it was released. But for two years, the changes to the iPhone have been so infinitesimal that they've let the rest of the world catch up. Apple isn't going to be able to keep the iPhone's numbers up simply by referring to the je ne sais quoi of the user experience anymore. They're going to have to do something to really improve the user experience.

Personally, I do think it can be done. There are areas they could go into where other smartphones would be left wanting. Chief among them, I think is to release (or at least support) keyboards like this. Nothing improves usability like giving users a real keyboard to type on. And as already mentioned, they can change the development model to remove the stigma of jailbreaking one's iPhone (although I'm not holding my breath on that one), so that at least non-techies could run multiple apps at one time, if they so chose.

I'll disagree with Tim on one point, though: "Typing" on an iPhone isn't like using a microwave. On all the microwaves I've ever used, when you hit the button, it actually depresses at least a little. Using a microwave is more like using a BlackBerry Storm 2. :)

RE: That was a long wait to hear about another long wait
jca666us @ 10/25/2009 11:30:43 AM # Q
So what does this "stellar user experience" entail, other than taking it out of the package and saying to yourself, "Hey, I just got an iPhone! Isn't that cool of me?!"

Far be it from me to teach you about usability and user interface design.

>It's got thousands of apps, but the vast majority of those are throwaways.

Throw away an arbitrary 75% which you may thing are garbage and you still have at least 20,000 quality apps. Even if it were only 5,000, that's several thousands more than what the Pre has available.

Last I saw, the Pre is less an iphone, more of an iphone wannabe.

And without jailbreaking your phone (which, rumor has it, Apple is working on preventing you from doing) you can't run more than one of them at a time.

Not a rumor - Apple has every reason to stop jailbreaking - as it allows users to download and install app store apps. for free.

As for multitasking 3rd party apps - so far that hasn't proven to be an overriding concern for users - as neither the Pre nor android have had breakout sales numbers.

The development process itself is antiquated, with Android employing a more open model, and Palm both a) allowing homebrew and b) encouraging distribution on multiple channels come December.

I guess we'll see if either company has success with that. Right now, Apple has little reason to change.

The iPhone was revolutionary when it was released. But for two years, the changes to the iPhone have been so infinitesimal that they've let the rest of the world catch up. Apple isn't going to be able to keep the iPhone's numbers up simply by referring to the je ne sais quoi of the user experience anymore. They're going to have to do something to really improve the user experience.

I don't see that the rest of the world has caught up - yet.

And as already mentioned, they can change the development model to remove the stigma of jailbreaking one's iPhone (although I'm not holding my breath on that one), so that at least non-techies could run multiple apps at one time, if they so chose.

They'll need to work out the issue with battery life first.

RE: That was a long wait to hear about another long wait
abosco @ 10/25/2009 1:47:30 PM # M Q
The iPhone was revolutionary when it was released. But for two years, the changes to the iPhone have been so infinitesimal that they've let the rest of the world catch up. Apple isn't going to be able to keep the iPhone's numbers up simply by referring to the je ne sais quoi of the user experience anymore. They're going to have to do something to really improve the user experience.

Apple's quarterly sales numbers say otherwise. They sold more iPhones this quarter than ever before.

Guys, if what you were saying is true, this platform would not have the sales numbers that it enjoys. This phone is not sold based on hype alone. If that were true, the second and third iterations would not have set new sales records each time.

No opinions from me in this post, fellas. Just the facts.

RE: That was a long wait to hear about another long wait
Tim Carroll @ 10/25/2009 2:33:55 PM # Q
^^ In the last two months, four of my friends have bought iPhones. The reason? Lack of decent alternatives in Oz, apart from WinMob devices. All wanted to upgrade to a smartphone. One had been eagerly waiting for the Pre like me but got sick of waiting for Palm to release it. (Can't blame him either, really. The wait is very very annoying.)

In short, I reckon the iPhone is going as gangbusters as it is right now because of the dearth of competition. Give webOS and Android some time to establish themselves and they'll start eating away at Apple. (I'd say watch the Droid closely, but I think it's too ugly to do as well as Verizon are hoping. And landscape keyboards still don't work for the mass market.) RIM, of course, already has their own beachhead, but if they don't junk the Blackberry OS and start afresh soon they're gonna be in real trouble - if they aren't already.

RE: That was a long wait to hear about another long wait
Gekko @ 10/25/2009 3:42:03 PM # Q

the Pre is no competition. it's a shit device based on my personal experience as well as the experience of many others as well as its shitty reviews and shitty sales numbers. now pull your thumb out of your ass and move on.
RE: That was a long wait to hear about another long wait
jca666us @ 10/25/2009 4:10:45 PM # Q
Give webOS and Android some time to establish themselves and they'll start eating away at Apple.

Tim, given how good spec-wise Droid looks (and it'll be on Verizon to start), why would anyone want to wait for a Pre on Verizon?

Considering Droid's advertising hits alot of the same points the Pre advertising initially did, what possible reason would anyone have to go with a Pre?

RE: That was a long wait to hear about another long wait
twrock @ 10/25/2009 5:04:41 PM # Q
jca666us wrote:
Apple has every reason to stop jailbreaking - as it allows users to download and install app store apps. for free.

I'd ask for clarification. You aren't saying that jailbroken iPhones can download apps for free from the iTunes store, are you? 'Cause somewhere I missed that memo. And if that's true, Apple are complete idiots for creating a system that has that big of a hole. I personally don't think they are idiots, so that must not be what you meant.

So if you are just talking about jailbreaking giving people their freedom to get apps from sources other than Apple, well then, yes, and that's just one more reason why the iPhone experience is superior to all others, because end users are given no choice of where they can buy apps or even get apps for free.... Wait a minute, why's that better?!!

There's no chance you work for Apple, is there? I ask because it seems you've swallowed the entire pitcher of the company koolaid.

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?

RE: That was a long wait to hear about another long wait
twrock @ 10/25/2009 5:14:21 PM # Q
jca666us wrote:
As for multitasking 3rd party apps - so far that hasn't proven to be an overriding concern for users - as neither the Pre nor android have had breakout sales numbers.

And I'm sure it won't be an "overriding concern", right up until the moment Apple "innovates" and allows multitasking, and all those iPhone users start crowing about how awesome it is and how this proves that the iPhone is the greatest smartphone ever. ;-)

No, typical of the pattern, until the iPhone has it, it wasn't needed. When the iPhone has it, it's the greatest thing. Ergo, nothing will ever be as great as the iPhone.

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?

RE: That was a long wait to hear about another long wait
mikecane @ 10/25/2009 5:49:24 PM # Q
>>>The iPhone is pretty, stylish, and a decent little portable web browser. It fails in almost every other respect.

You are irreparably brain-damaged.

Next!

RE: That was a long wait to hear about another long wait
Tim Carroll @ 10/25/2009 5:54:23 PM # Q
Gekko:
the Pre is no competition. it's a shit device based on my personal experience as well as the experience of many others as well as its shitty reviews and shitty sales numbers.

Most reviews I read were pretty good, the sales figures that nobody knows about appear adequate for Palm to stay alive, and in a few days I'll be able to either disagree rudely with your personal experience or join the bitter "Palm OS 4 eva" crowd here at PIC. ;)

RE: That was a long wait to hear about another long wait
bhartman34 @ 10/25/2009 6:28:01 PM # Q
abosco wrote:
The iPhone was revolutionary when it was released. But for two years, the changes to the iPhone have been so infinitesimal that they've let the rest of the world catch up. Apple isn't going to be able to keep the iPhone's numbers up simply by referring to the je ne sais quoi of the user experience anymore. They're going to have to do something to really improve the user experience.

Apple's quarterly sales numbers say otherwise. They sold more iPhones this quarter than ever before.

Last quarter's sales don't really mean much. It's future sales that we're talking about, in this context. With the Pre out, and with multiple Android phones coming out, there are now numerous phones that can do what iPhone iDoesn't.


Guys, if what you were saying is true, this platform would not have the sales numbers that it enjoys. This phone is not sold based on hype alone. If that were true, the second and third iterations would not have set new sales records each time.

How does that logically follow? The hype didn't stop after the first generation of iPhones. They're hyped constantly. The iPhone franchise gets a lot of mileage out of just being produced by Apple.

Does the iPhone suck? No, it doesn't. The GUI, in particular, is something Apple did well. But the slickness of the UI isn't enough to keep them going.

RE: That was a long wait to hear about another long wait
justauser @ 10/25/2009 7:44:05 PM # Q
It's not as if we all don't have access to an iPhone to check out the beast for ourselves. My wife has one. I regularly use it myself - for many of the aforementioned reasons I will not be replacing my 680 with one of these toys. And to confirm bhartman's point; There's plenty in the market that are just as pretty as the iPhone's UI. Seems every manufacturer has toted an iPhone killer-attempt in their line up over the last couple of years (and I did say attempt).
RE: That was a long wait to hear about another long wait
abosco @ 10/25/2009 8:06:49 PM # Q
Last quarter's sales don't really mean much. It's future sales that we're talking about, in this context. With the Pre out, and with multiple Android phones coming out, there are now numerous phones that can do what iPhone iDoesn't.

What in the shit are you talking about? The iPhone has been out for almost three years now!! In order to last that long, you need substance beyond the fanfare. And it is unanimous that the iPhone did, indeed, deliver. This isn't even up for debate.

But the slickness of the UI isn't enough to keep them going.

You're right, it isn't. That's why they have rallied around the App Store, developer community, and iTunes integration. And guess what, it is working so well that every other company in the world is trying desperately to mimic it.

It's one thing to have an opinion that the iPhone fails to deliver in a few areas that may be important to you. If you can't live without a real keyboard or thousands of SD cards, fine, you can find a better solution. But to fail to acknowledge that the iPhone goes deeper than a pretty GUI is absolutely maddening. You're wrong.

-Bosco
m105 -> NX70v -> NX80v -> iPhone -> iPhone 3G

RE: That was a long wait to hear about another long wait
jca666us @ 10/25/2009 8:09:52 PM # Q
I'd ask for clarification. You aren't saying that jailbroken iPhones can download apps for free from the iTunes store, are you?

No; I'm not saying that.

I'm saying that there are people who've cracked downloaded apps., and have enabled these cracked apps. to be installed on jailbroken iphones - circumventing the app store.

As long as that situation exists, Apple (unfortunately) needs to crack down on the jailbreakers.

So if you are just talking about jailbreaking giving people their freedom to get apps from sources other than Apple, well then, yes, and that's just one more reason why the iPhone experience is superior to all others, because end users are given no choice of where they can buy apps or even get apps for free....

LOL - that's not what I'm saying at all - if jailbreaking was an alternative method to legally procure apps., I don't see a problem with that.


RE: That was a long wait to hear about another long wait
jca666us @ 10/25/2009 8:12:08 PM # Q
Last quarter's sales don't really mean much. It's future sales that we're talking about, in this context. With the Pre out, and with multiple Android phones coming out, there are now numerous phones that can do what iPhone iDoesn't.

You don't get it - it's not what the iphone does, it's how it does it.

There were numerous iclones out for the past year, yet none have the sales numbers the iphone has.

RE: That was a long wait to hear about another long wait
twrock @ 10/25/2009 8:40:09 PM # Q
jca666us wrote:
LOL - that's not what I'm saying at all - if jailbreaking was an alternative method to legally procure apps., I don't see a problem with that.

And might you even admit that having a choice of where one can get their apps from might actually be a better situation for the end user? I'm really starting to think you are arguing the company line for Apple instead of looking at this from the end user's perspective. Why is it better for Apple to reduce the users' freedoms? Because end users are idiots and can't handle the freedom? I can't accept that. The whole thing is for the good of Apple [period].

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?
RE: That was a long wait to hear about another long wait
nastebu @ 10/25/2009 11:26:55 PM # Q
Wow, I'm so glad we have another thread pointlessly bashing the iPhone. Because, you know, why not retread a classic.

And this time, Tim didn't even bother to work himself up to a new troll. He trolled using a *three year old blog post*!! Put more creativity into your trolling Tim.

RE: That was a long wait to hear about another long wait
twrock @ 10/25/2009 11:27:23 PM # Q
Seems every manufacturer has toted an iPhone killer-attempt in their line up over the last couple of years (and I did say attempt).

(This is not at all aimed at the original poster, but....)

You know, I've been trying to drop the whole concept of the "whatever-killer" from my vocabulary and thinking. In the end, there is simply no way to do it, so why even bother to talk as if it can be done? Each phone stands on its own merits and each phone either does or doesn't do what any particular individual wants it to do. If it does what you want, and it fits in your price range, then you can be happy regardless of whether or not there is phone X out there with some other feature set. (And notice that I didn't say "better feature set" since each person gets to decide that for themselves.)

Besides, the moment anyone puts up one particular phone as the standard, then unless some other phone comes along that is exactly like it in every way, only better in at least one of those ways (whatever the heck that means!), the original will always be better. Because people start the argument accepting that the iPhone is the standard, the only thing that can ever be better than the iPhone, is the next iPhone. The whole thing is just silly.

Since I don't accept the premise that the iPhone is the standard or the best (regardless of what millions of others think), I don't think it needs to be "killed" by anything. I just want someone to make the device I want, with the feature set I want, at a price I can afford, and I'll be a happy camper. It looks very much to me that that device will be an Android phone (in great part due to the OS, but that is not the only factor).

Of course YMWV (your mileage will vary).


Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?

RE: That was a long wait to hear about another long wait
twrock @ 10/25/2009 11:36:40 PM # Q
jca666us wrote:
I'm saying that there are people who've cracked downloaded apps., and have enabled these cracked apps. to be installed on jailbroken iphones - circumventing the app store.

As long as that situation exists, Apple (unfortunately) needs to crack down on the jailbreakers.

... if jailbreaking was an alternative method to legally procure apps., I don't see a problem with that.

Ok, gotcha. Hmm, too bad there is apparently no way to separate the hackers from the pirates. And in that case, there's one more reason for me to want to go with Android as my smartphone OS.

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?

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