- Oh, that WebOS!
- Minimalist phone design is
an instant classic
- Superb screen
- Screaming streaming on both
Sprint & WiFi
- Fabulous phone
- Smooth iTunes integration
- Robust software bundle
- Replaceable battery
- Solid fit & finish
- Small keyboard is very usable
The Not So Good
- Keyboard backlight is dim
- Browser not (yet) supported
by Adobe Flash
- Can’t play DRM protected
iTunes (blame Apple)
- Battery cover is a bear to
get off
- Proprietary Palm USB
- Fingerprint magnet
Bottom Line:
Palm produces a phone and OS for the
new century…and, the best smartphone user experience to-date.
The Story
Palm’s new PRE is a shiny black lozenge
with a design reminiscent of a Movado ‘Museum’ watch. Until you
turn it on, all you see is an inscrutable black reflection, with a rounded
little dot/button at the bottom. Slick, minimalist and sexy, it makes
the perfect launching pad for Palm’s remarkable new WebOS. Up front,
let me make something clear: this isn't your brother’s iPhone, or
your daddy’s Crackberry…however, it is an honest-to-god PALM; and
excels in all the things good that we used to associate with that brand.
It does more things then any other device on the market; and, overall, does
them easier.
The PRE
is smaller then you might think, with a rounded shape that nestles perfectly
in the palm of anyone’s hand (left or right). When the QWERTY keyboard
slides open at the bottom, it continues the PRE’s natural curvature;
and proves to be very balanced while thumb typing. This is the same
smallish keyboard used on the Palm Centro, and it uses that device’s
‘sticky’ keys to compensate for the sardine-like spacing of the
keys. I am 6’ 3”, with very thick fingers; yet, I could type without
errors (although not as quickly as on a Treo’s larger keyboard). Palm
made some intelligent changes from the typical QWERTY layout (e.g.,
the ‘@’ symbol is a default, instead of an ALT character); and,
despite its slimness, the keyboard doesn’t flex or creak during use.
My only knock on the keyboard was the backlighting: the orange color
used for the ALT and numerical characters is almost unreadable at night.
The PRE manages to sport important buttons
and jacks without compromising their usability or the smoothness of
the device. On the top are the power button and Palm’s ubiquitous
sound on/off button; and, the earbud jack (finally moved from the bottom
of Palm devices). The volume controls are nestled on the left side of
the PRE; and, the cover for the USB jack is on the right side. The USB,
in particular is praiseworthy and damnable at the same time: When you
plug the PRE into your computer, it gives you three choices:
- Sync Media
- USB Drive
- Just Charge
The media will sync your music player
with Sony’s music store; or, your iTunes. Unfortunately (as with anything
that isn’t an iPOD), it will only play non-DRM music. Otherwise, it
is an intuitive and pain-free experience. The USB Drive mode is very
welcome, in that it provides a standards-based method of managing content
on your device; and, the ability to avoid processing with your computer
while charging is a nice touch. On the downside, the USB cover is impossible
to get off without having the keyboard open (although its secured sensibly
and solidly to the PRE); and, Palm insists on a proprietary micro-USB
jack, instead of an industry standard version.
Along with the Music player, the PRE
features a fast web-browser that will be familiar in look/feel to iPhone
users. Like that device (and most current smartphone browsers) it shows
the entire web page, in its entirety without any ‘mobile’ formatting.
That’s where the iPhone comparisons come in: you use the same type
of finger pinching/spreading to zoom in/out; and the view automatically
switches from portrait to landscape as you rotate the PRE. The only
issue I had with the browser is that I couldn’t view video content
on news sites like CNN; but, that isn’t Palm’s fault…Adobe hasn’t
yet released a Flash viewer for WebOS (although they are currently working
on it).
The PRE’s 3-megapixel camera is a welcome
change from any previous Palm-cams: this composite shows the historic
Tiffany skylight at the Hoboken, NJ railroad terminal. The top image
is taken with my Treo 755p, the middle image with the PRE’s camera,
and the bottom image with a quality digital camera. As you can clearly
see, the PRE takes very nice snapshots; and its LED flash greatly improves
quick shots of celebrities whom you catch doing silly things in public.
The application bundle also includes
a robust document suite (it handles Microsoft Office and Adobe pdf documents),
YouTube, Fandango, TeleNav GPS (my 2006 Treo Product of the Year) and Google
Maps (automatically tied into the PRE’s GPS receiver); and, I easily
downloaded a few extras over Sprint’s app store. One that I really
enjoyed is Flixster: it takes Fandango’s concept and streamlines it
for smartphones. Flixster is tied to the PRE’s GPS receiver, so it
automatically starts with theaters near your current location, although
you can quickly put in another zip code or city. Once there, you use
simple icons at the bottom to view current or upcoming movies in theaters;
as well as movies out on DVD. From there, you can quickly get rich information
on each movie, as well as its most current trailer. Once you have made
a decision, you can buy the tickets online (if the theater is set up
for it); and, away you go. Flixster is the kind of application where
the PRE really shows its stuff: although the PRE has WiFi, I used Sprint’s
network to view the trailers; and they streamed without any stutters,
hiccups or pixellation. The experience is further enhanced by the crisp,
color-rich images of the PRE’s superb screen.
The Phone is one of the real delights
of the PRE. You can dial the number by typing the person’s name into
the QWERTY keyboard (assuming they’re in your contacts list), or by
dialing with either the keyboard or virtual dial pad. Once connected,
it is simply put the cleanest sound I have ever heard from a cell phone.
I called other cellphones, people on business phones, and people with
FIOS fiber-optic phone service (virtually noise-free). In all cases,
I both parties heard each other with great clarity and excellent volume.
I also used the PRE as a speakerphone in my company’s conference room.
While it won’t replace an expensive office setup, the speakerphone
reproduced the caller with plenty of volume and clarity; and, they heard
all of us equally well. At the end of the day, I want my smartphone
to be a great phone, first and foremost; and, the PRE gets it
right.
The WebOS
is the real story here: Fast, intuitive and organic, it takes the old
‘Zen of Palm’ and brings it firmly into the 21st
Century. Although comparisons to the iPhone are inevitable, the PRE
takes the idea of ‘gesture’ control to another level. I tested it
on myself (experienced with traditional smartphones)/ my wife (doesn’t
like smartphones at all)/ my 7 year-old daughter (doesn’t know how
to use smartphones) and colleagues (computer consultants who know they’re
smarter then any phone). In ever case, once the basic concepts
of navigating the WebOS were demonstrated, a natural understanding of
how to use it came immediately. More then that, all took great pleasure
in operating the WebOS, because of its organic approach to navigation
and process. Navigation is mostly done in the black area directly under
the screen-proper; and is called the ‘gesture area’. This is a good
way to help reduce fingerprints on the screen; and, you will see them
accumulate quickly (normal for all touch screen devices). As you gesture,
you’ll see that ‘Movado’ button light up to let you know it recognized
your wee digit. Applications can be launched 2 ways:
- At the main window, where
there is an icon at the bottom-right to launch the application screen
- While in another window or
application; where you have two ways to access applications
- Press the ‘Movado’ button,
which will reduce your current screen to a ‘card’ on the main window
- Use the nifty ‘Quick Launch
Bar’. This widget can be accessed from any window/app in the PRE;
and brings up 5 (user-programmable) icons
The email & Calendar applications
have been ballyhooed since January’s CES show; and, my experiences
back up all the claims. For my purposes, I used my FIOS (POP) account,
and my work (MS Exchange) account. I moved the contents of my Palm Desktop
calendar into Google Calendar, and also used my work Outlook calendar.
Setup was incredibly easy. For the FIOS and Google data, I had only
to enter my email address and password. WebOS took care of the rest…and,
fast. PRE comes ready to rock with Microsoft’s ActiveSync (for corporate
Exchange/Outlook users); and, I only had to provide username, server
name and password. Once done, WebOS quickly synched with my company’s
Exchange server to give me my Outlook calendar, and push email (along
with access to all of my Outlook folders).
When the PRE’s screen is off, all you
usually see is a white digital clock at the top and a yellow ‘lock’
icon near the bottom. When you have a new email (from any of your accounts),
the most recent will show unobtrusively at the bottom of the PRE. At
that point, you drag the ‘lock’ up the screen to unlock the PRE.
If you want to view your email, you have two choices: tap the email
showing at the bottom of the screen and it will open; or, tap the email
icon at the bottom of the screen to open the email application proper.
If you don’t want to view your email right away, the notification
will stay at the bottom of the screen, no matter what application you’re
in…unless you don’t want it to. In that case, ‘flick’ it to
the right and it will disappear (without deleting the email, itself).
When you open the email application,
you’ll be presented with a screen that allows you to view all of your
emails (from all of the email accounts you have loaded onto the PRE),
or view the inbox for each account separately. Along with combining
your email accounts, the PRE also links all of your contacts from each
account into a seamless master contact list. Once you open an inbox,
you’ll find an easy to read/navigate list of your messages; where
you can open them (tap on it), or trash it (‘flick’ it to the right).
Once your message is open, you’ll see that it renders HTML and all
embedded hyperlinks and email addresses. Managing attachments is very
simple on both incoming and outgoing messages. Just tap the attachment
in your email, and the default application (docs, pdfs, media, photos,
etc.) will open it. Then, you use your fingers to zoom in/out, scroll,
etc. In order to create a new email, just tap the ‘+’ icon at the
bottom-left of the screen. Then, begin to type the name or email of
your contact; and a list will appear. Tap the name you want, and that’s
it. Next, tap the paper clip icon and select the attachment to go with
the message. Finally, tap the paper airplane icon (I like that one!)
to send your email on its way.
The layered calendars are just as neat:
office, and all your personal calendars combined into one master calendar;
yet, still segregated in the real world. That means (for the first time),
you can use one device to manage all of your business and (very) personal
data for contacts and calendar…yet keep it all under your control.
I don’t have to share my personal contacts (especially those recruiters!)
with my boss, in order to leverage company mail and calendar. Wow!
Multitasking couldn’t be simpler…take
this real-life scenario:
- I’m researching competitive
information on the web (What can I say? I lead a dull life), when a
phone call comes in
- I answer the call, and my
web session reduces to a ‘card’
- The caller wants me to look
up some details about an upcoming meeting. I use the Quick Launch bar
to launch my calendar
- The phone app reduces to a
‘card’ and my calendar comes up
- My caller asks me to review
a document related to the meeting, I push the ‘Movado’ button, and my calendar is reduced to a 'card'
- From the main screen, I launch Doc View
- After reviewing the document,
my caller asks me if I can email him a copy of the document, and contact
information from the meeting
- I tap the menu for Doc View
(upper left-hand of screen), and select ‘Share’
- Doc View is reduced to a ‘card’,
and a new email opens, with the document already attached
- I push the ‘Movado’ button
to get to all of the ‘cards’ on my main screen and ‘flick’ (left
or right) to get to the meeting, and tap it
- Calendar opens back to the
meeting, and I copy the information I need (tap on the text to insert
the cursor, hold down the SHIFT key and drag your finger to highlight
the text. Then, go to menu and select COPY)
- I bring the main screen back
up and ‘flick’ to the email card and tap it
- The email comes up, I tap
in the body section to insert the cursor, go to menu and select PASTE.
The information from the meeting is now in the message
- I type in my caller’s last
name, and tap on their name when it appears in my contact list. The
email is now addressed to them
- I tap the paper airplane,
and the message is on its way
- I bring up the main screen,
and tap on the phone card to bring the app back into full view
- I stay on the phone until
my caller verifies receipt of the email, meeting information and attached
document
- I hang up the call, and go
back to the main screen
- I then ‘flick’ the phone,
Doc View, email and calendar cards up; and, they are closed
- I go back to my web session
and continue my dull life
Connectivity has been no problem,
although my test area has been Manhattan, and northern NJ…a lot of
it on a moving train. WiFi was a snap to set up; and when connected
to my FIOS router at home, the internet connection fairly sizzled. Yet,
I have to reiterate that when using the Sprint EvDO network, I had no
speed or caching issues with the internet nor with streaming content.
The Sprint network provided strong, consistent broadband speeds.
I found that the battery life for the
PRE really depends on what you’re using it for. When I used it for
my profile (push mail, a lot of browsing and looking at movie trailers)
the battery life was comparable to that of my Treo 755p. That means
I could just get through the day on a single charge. If I used a lot
of WiFi or messaging, the battery life was reduced by about 40% but
that’s normal for smartphones. Skinny batteries = skinny battery life.
Until a new, more efficient battery paradigm is developed, this is the
nature of the beast. The PRE deals with this downside by allowing you
to swap out batteries by removing the back of the device. Unfortunately,
it’s not easy to do. You either have to have fingers shaped like a
butter knife, or press really hard to get the catch to release. Its
important to be able to get that cover off, because you need to put
a different back cover on the PRE, if you want to use the optional Touchstone
charger (that will be reviewed in a few days).
Pricing is a mixed blessing. Sprint
is offering the PRE for $199 (after mail in rebate) for new subscribers
with a 2-year contract...for those entitled to a rebate (due to how long
they’ve had their current Sprint phone)...and for those who qualify as
Sprint ‘Premier’ customers. That’s a really nice price for existing
Sprint customers, who usually have to pay full price for such phones.
On the other hand, anyone who wants a PRE is being forced to take one
of Sprint’s “Everything” plans. The plans really do include almost
everything…including a lot of services that users haven’t voluntarily
embraced. Sprint is correct in saying that they're cheaper then comparable plans on other carriers. However, for existing Sprint customers interested in the PRE, these mandatory plans represent a huge bump in monthly service costs.
Sprint's pricing required a stand-alone review, and an editorial.
Conclusions
So, is the PRE an iPhone killer? No…nor
should it be viewed that way. The iPhone is an Apple device, and you
can’t fight the loyalty of their customers. The PRE is a Palm...or, more importantly, what a Palm used
to be: a simpler, more powerful, intuitive and elegant way to do personal computing...without
sacrificing functionality.
Some may wish for more social networking,
some may wish for a larger screen or keyboard, but, hey! This is the
first device for the WebOS; and, it’s a great one. Verizon announced
that they will carry the PRE in January and AT&T is in talks with
Palm about carrying it, too. That means these three carriers see the
WebOS and PRE as a moneymaker. That will shore up Palm’s stock price
and long-term viability…attracting more shareholders and (perhaps)
suitors with deep pockets.
Truly, I love the PRE and am nuts about
the WebOS. Anyone who has hankered for a smartphone but has had concerns
about functionality or ease-of-use should get a PRE. Simply put, it
does it all…and, does it more simply then its competitors. Zen-of-Palm…its
good to have you back, baby.
That’s it…I’m off the bloody soapbox.
Finally, after months of waiting and speculating, PCmag.com has one of
a handful of Palm Pre’s that were given to analysts ahead of today’s
official launch. Mobile analyst extraordinaire Sascha Segan took the
rather remarkable device through a battery of tests and is declaring it
“excellent.” 