We test the new Palm Pre

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Chief Editor Ted Como brings you the latest tech advice on Tech Bytes

Published Tuesday, September 15 2009 - (4) Comments

Got smartphone?
It's a booming market and Microsoft just jumped on board with phones running Windows Mobile 6.5 available next month that won't be tied to a particular provider - Windows phones will be available through AT&T, Sprint and Verizon. The smartphone also is a bonanza for service providers who are raking it in on expensive plans - too expensive for the most part.
But having access to the Internet wherever you go with a device that plays music and videos, takes photos and videos, plays games, gives you directions, downloads your e-mail - there seems no end to it - is certainly convenient, and courtesy of Sprint, I've been testing the new Palm Pre the past several weeks.
While the Pre eats iPhone's multitasking lunch, it lacks ability to shoot video. As well, there are more applications for iPhone than residents of Kingsport and for the same money as the Pre, you can buy iPhone with twice the memory. Palm Pre has 8GB of memory and sells for $200; same price as the new 16GB iPhone3GS. Or, you can buy the 8GB iPhone 3G for just $99.
On the other hand, iPhone costs $160 a month through AT&T with unlimited texting and navigation while Palm Pre through Sprint is $100 a month under their Simply Everything Plan.
Then there's the BlackBerry and I recently updated my Verizon plan with the Storm - two phones for $49 after a $100 rebate and an additional $60 added to my regular calling plan. I don't have all the features of the Pre or iPhone, but I have all I need at a more reasonable price and I love the Storm's touch screen and speed.
The Pre has a lot going for it. It feels more comfortable to hold - it fits the hand better than iPhone. Its top features (as opposed to iPhone) are a QWERTY slide-out keyboard vs. touch for iPhone, a sleaker design, faster navigation and web access, better sound, and most important, multitasking.
With iPhone, you exit out of the browser to check your contact list; with Pre, you can have multiple applications open all at once, and "page" through them quickly.
Some may have problems with Pre's keyboard; it's small, but I had no difficulty typing on it. And launching apps on the Pre isn't just easy, but fun. Just click a button to fill the screen and touch the app; they stack up on the screen as "cards" and are dismissed with a flick of the finger.
Of course, the king of applications is iPhone with tens of thousands. But there are plenty for the Pre as well, though why Palm opted against releasing native libraries so that users could write their own apps - a major selling point for iPhone - is a mystery. This failure to encourage development of applications ensures Pre's second-place slot against iPhone.
Pre does not have voice dialing or voice recording - iPhone does, but the Pre includes turn-by-turn navigation and video playback looks great, though on iPhone you can edit and upload video. On Pre, you can combine inboxes and contacts from all e-mal accounts and social sites like Facebook. And the Pre comes with a neat charging feature called Touchstone which works without cables - just place the Pre on the Touchstone base.
I'm happy with my BlackBerry Storm, however, especially the costs and digital plan which is unlimited for only $30 through Verizon - if only I could just find a good astronomy program.
Touch Screens: Windows 7, due out next month, brings touch screen technology to the PC though I have to wonder what most home users will do with it. Other interesting features include Aero Peek, which brings the window you want to focus on to the forefront, rendering other windows transparent; Aero Snap allows you to easily place two windows side-be-side; HomeGroups lets you easily link to other W7 computers to share files and printers; Media streaming moves photos, music and video among PCs on your home network and includes Remote Media Sharing so that you can stream media over the Internet to other computers; with Jump Lists you get quick access to a mini-Start menu including pictures, music, documents, etc.; and Libraries eliminates having all files and folders under the Documents folder and instead, separates content types such as contacts, documents, downloads, music, pictures and videos.
3D TV: We're seeing more movies in 3D and by the end of next year, we may be seeing them at home on our TVs. Sony plans to have 3D sets available by the end of 2010 using active shutter technology where electronic glasses contain tiny shutters that open and close rapidly in synch with the television image to create a 3D impression. Sony plans to make its Vaio laptop computers, PlayStation3 games consoles and Blu-ray disc players compatible with the technology.
Solar Facts: If the Sun was six feet in diameter, Mercury would be orbiting 249 feet away, Venus, 466 feet; Earth, 644 feet; Saturn, more than one mile; and Neptune, nearly four miles. You can do your own calculations by adjustsing the size of the sun at http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/solar_system. The site also has allows you to adjust distances to stsars and galaxies and offers links to other astronomical web sites.
Birthday: Learn some interesting facts about the day and year you were born at http://www.dayofbirth.co.uk. For instance, I discovered I was born on a Wednesday, that I'm 434 years old in dog years, and have inhabited the earth for more than 551,000 hours.

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The problem with these darn phones, is to enable us consumers to purchase any phone we want, and not have it tied to a particular network provider, thus using it with whomever we choose. So this one is a step in the right direction.

citigreg . | 9/22/2009 - 12:34 PM - ( Comment

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citigreg . | 9/22/2009 - 12:33 PM - ( Comment

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It probably would have been a better idea to review one of the Android phones out for T-Mobile USA and Sprint (late next month). Android has everything that you said that the Palm Pre was missing, and the pricing plans for T-Mobile USA are much lower than AT&T although you are going to miss out on 3G services in the Tri-Cities area (a T-Mobile sales representative stated that he had heard December for it to roll out here). Also, just to mention. Some of the features in Windows 7 have already been in Windows Vista or XP under a different name. -- Michael Gilly

Michael Gilly | 9/21/2009 - 11:56 PM - ( Comment

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Michael Gilly | 9/21/2009 - 11:56 PM - ( Comment

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