Palm pre
 

Palm just announced a new device and OS at CES. They seem to be using the latest generation of OMAP chips and at least the engadget editors were impressed.

It's nice to see Palm back in the game after all these years. :)

Also here is the Sprint site for the phone.

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just saw the engadget entries - looks sweet, makes me wanna buy a palm product again.

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same here...if I could get sprint

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to bad about that evdo. still, maybe they will do a new "livedrive"? ;)

one sweet example of what cortex can pull of to.

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looks ugly

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Wow, so nice. Hopefully the HSDPA version won't be tied to a single operator in Europe...

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still not sure what the OS is all about. It says SDK and third party programs will be all in html/css/javascript?????

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I think it looks sweet, but I wish it had a slightly larger screen...and availability on other networks wouldn't hurt.

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Looks better than the iPhone.

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All of the first party user land software is in html, css and javascript, too. Done right, it's actually a fine idea for this type of device. First of all, CSS and HTML are completely passive presentation systems, leaving all of the magic for the interpreter to implement. This means that the OS gets lots of control and everything is smoothly integrated.

Also, Palm clearly wants every web developer ever on the PalmOS bandwaggon. With this, they can build native software for the platform that integrates with their own web services while still wearing the web developer hat. It's a smart choice, really. The reason the iPhone sucks at it is because Apple's idea of third party software was a web site viewed inside the Safari browser, kind of third class citizens versus software by the mighty apple. The issue was not that web sites are built with the HTML, CSS and Javascript languages.

I'm really looking forward to the exact details on their Linux software stack. I'm sure they must be using a lot of common Linux platform stuff, so it'll be fun to learn what. The more able contributors the better!
The instant messaging stuff sounds like it has a Telepathy back end, and if it is that'll really bring a smile to my face.

Re: Palm pre
 

Have you a link to more technical details? All I've seen in the coverage so far is that:

This implies some kind of offline, Google Gears, Prism-like system similar to the JavaScript applet framework Nokia is bringing to Symbian and Maemo (and for which I can't find any links), but doesn't actually guarantee it - it could just be marketing words about how easy it is to develop for.

EDIT: More in depth technical info at Ars: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...em-at-ces.html

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I watched the keynote.. and wow! I haven't used my Tungsten T5 in ages.. it's kinda dated now and the Nokia N800 has easily supplanted it as my primary pocket-based system. But this! This looks magnificent, really. I actually have SprintPCS as my carrier and my phone is coming close to being 4 years old now. I might just have to get one. Whether or not it'd replace the N800 is debatable--but it certainly might have the potential to do so, particularly if it's opened up enough to let users run apps that they code themselves or aren't from some store (ala iTunes app store on the locked-up tight-as-a-sphincter iPhone).

Not to mention that Nokia's lack of announcing when their next-gen unit may come out doesn't make me want to wait around to find out if I'll want it, eventually. I wonder how many people waited around for Vista to come out in 2003? Duke Nukem Forever? Anyone?

Palm seems to have announced a quarter that this will be released and they even have a prototype that we can watch in action. That's certainly enough to convince someone to buy their product instead.

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Also more info (and it does look to be heavily JS/CSS/HTML5 in the userspace) at http://developer.palm.com/

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that will lead to some eyecandy apps churned out in a RAD like way, i suspect.

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After the initial wow I gotta say that the hardware has some crucial lackings - fixed 8GB internal memory and the lackluster cam and lack of video recording is disappointing.

The OS/UI looks really interesting, though. Hopefully Palm will pair it with better hardware at some point.

Also, it is apparently set to sell for 399$ with a Sprint contract - that's not exactly cheap...
http://www.unwiredview.com/2009/01/0...399-on-sprint/

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It s seems that the CPU is an TI OMAP3 :)

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I'm sure I read somewhere OMAP3530, but a) can't find it again and b) they seem to be playing the detail of it close to their chest. Definitely an OMAP3, though.

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What I don't like is that some devs will get more access than the SDK provides. Why do they do this (aside from the obvious)? Android, iPhone, Pre, they all limit the devs... Its too bad...

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Some sources say that the OS relies on a Linux kernel with a modified webkit engine.

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Why can't a manufacturer match Nokia's hardware features with an awesome interface like this one.

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I can 100% guarantee you it's not an OMAP3530.

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omap3430.
_____

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My sources say that is a OMAP 3430 processor :D.

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8G internal sounds fine to me. How much do our Nokia tablets have? Not exactly expensive, either.. again, how much did our Nokia tablets go for when they were new?

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It is not legal, and in some countries such as Greece, you won't find them sold in that way. A vacation to Greece solves your problem. For an iPhone, Switzerland and Belgium are also viable options.

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N97 will have 32 GB internal, with 16 GB optionable (microSD). Total of 48 GB.

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With current memory card prices, the tablets can have lots of memory, just like pretty much every other phone out there. Fixed internal memory only is just silly at this point.

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I don't see anything about microSDHC or any kind of slot. It appears I was mistakenly thinking it had one. If it has a slot for memory, the 8GB is more than enough. If it does not get released with an SD or SDHC slot of some kind, then it will be a very, very disgusting oversight and a deal-breaker for most people. I may or may not want it then--personally, I'll probably be a little more ambivilent about whether I'd want it. Expandability for storage memory will be absolutely necessary if they intend to make a serious attempt to come back on top with this Palm Pre.

http://www.treocentral.com/content/Stories/2316-1.htm

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Yeah, 8GB internal and a card slot would just be fine, even only having a cardslot would be fine, with 16 & 32GB microSDs just around the corner.
The lack of external memory is a dealbreaker for me. I really, really like this phone, but 8GB (or rather, 7.4GB user accessible) is nowhere near enough. I want to use my phone as my music player, my navigation device, my video player and so on. All of that takes lots of memory, much more than it offers unfortunately.

I hate it when I'm all happy and thrilled about a device only to find out more and more shortcomings (no autofocus on the cam, no video recording, fixed memory...) that kill it again :(

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That depends what you're going to use it for. I honestly wonder what the hell people use 32 or 64 GB of storage for on a device like this. Your whole MP3 collection or something? A few videos, tons of applications, and some MP3 easily fit on a 8 GB device. If you already have a dedicated DAP (like an iPod) you don't need such feature on your Palm or Nokia device. As far videos, I watch 'em once perhaps twice, and then toss 'em.

OTOH, being able to import or export a large amount of data using a card is not possible on this device. If, however, the device has good syncing capabilities, that is partly mitigated.

I wonder if any Be Inc cruft made it somehow into this product. Software code, patented ideas, ...

The Maps icon in the second link of OP http://www.google.com/xhtml/images/icons/48_48/maps.gif is the same as Google Maps on S60 (Java ME application).

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Porn! Porn movies, porn music, porn stories.. what else? :p


heh.. ok, being serious--I *DO* much enjoy taking portable media with me. A LOT of it.. and various selections of it. Primarily podcasts (audio and video) and transcoded TV shows to watch when I can't watch at home, a lot of stuff I just want to always have available just in case I want to show or refer to them (documents, pictures, etc.). Sorry, no porn here. :)

This stuff adds up and 8GB will last for a decent amount of time on a portable device.. but there'll come a time when I want to fly out to Colorado and visit my sister and I'll have wished I had more space so that I didn't have to depend on wifi or the phone network to transfer data around, possibly costing me a good chunk of money I didn't need to spend if I'd only had an SD slot.

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Sure. You might want to buy a better processor for your computer. And more RAM. Because you might need it. But, will you need it? By that time you'll upgrade to the next device or compliment your Palm Pre with another device or use another medium to carry around data such as this really nice 1 TB SATA HDD for 40 USD, or this nice Blu-Ray disc. Or you carry a SD card with you which you do not connect in your Palm Pre. Instead, you shove it straight up her lap. If you're really on it, shell your N800 with 2 32 GB SD cards and use BlueTooth or something to give your Palm Pre access to 'em; just to give an example of a quick hack should the rare occurance become true. I'm not saying you don't have a point, but I am saying you're exagerating the relevance of your point. With 8 GB you can have 3 videos (1 GB), tons of HQ maps (1 GB), Wikipedia encyclopedia (2 GB) and still have 50% free for HQ pictures, music, and application. Yes, at some point 8 GB is a joke for on-board storage, and at that point this makes the device less attractive second hand on this regard. That is a given.

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Don't think that hadn't occured to me. :) The fact that I still have my N800 with two SDHC slots made me think that it might compliment the Pre quite nicely for a bunch of reasons (more storage space, more hackable as near as I can tell so far, terminal and shell, etc) but if the Pre had more space, I might not even need to carry around yet another device like the N800 on a trip.

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so, if there's a significant commonality in hardware with the tablet, and it runs linux, then we just have to wait till the guys who ported android to port palm "pre"?

can't wait!

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Yes. You can tether too. Switch data back and forth. Pick the best tool for the best job. Especially the bigger touchscreen of N800 is attractive. E.g. for watching a movie.

Again, probably you won't need that much space. You just believe there might be some point in the future where you will need it, but you do not appear to know when nor appear to look well at all kind of easy alternatives.

Look at it from a different angle. People usually replace their phone after 1-2 years. In 2 years a new SD standard is developed. USB3 and DDR3 are standard then. Core 2 * is dead. AM2 is dead. A while ago, SD beated CF, but this was not a given in 2002. All stuff which seems to be upgradable but in reality it will be limited in the future. And in 1 or 2 years you want a new device already because all the hacks to keep the current device top notch are only a little less expensive than reselling the old device and buying a state of the art new one, and the related headache cause a great deal of hassle. A corporation like Nokia knows this, they thrive on selling their hardware. Still, they manage to not piss off their intelligent/geek/liber* customers too much. ;)

Speaking of SD/CF/NAND/SSD if they're using a Linux kernel I wonder what FS they're going to use.

I'm pretty sure Android will be ported to such OMAP device easily. They're ported Android to netbooks as well. Not that it wasn't ported to NIT long ago... still, its a given, and if Palm are using Linux kernel and WebKit they might contribute back there as well. I don't know if you can expect additional open source contributions from Palm though.

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Not sure quite what that meant, but perhaps Dan was right...

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Meh... it's a small screen device.

I'm kinda partial to a 4.3 screen (and that took awhile to get used to). The tablets seem to have hit the sweet spot in screen size, resolution, and power consumption for a pocketable device.

I am excited when seeing videos of the next gen OMAP in action on the thing. Sweeeeeet... The next gen tablets will rock!

As far as html/css/javascript is concerned, since the last version of MicroB was released, my most useful productivity and information apps on my N800 are home made scripted, web pages that I store locally. :)

It is a great way to sip from a mobile data connection only the information you need or can use instead of subjecting that connection to the deluge of data that a typical portal sends or requires.

In the end it looks like the Pre will slow down the assimilation of all things iPhone... and that's a good thing.

As a pocketable, portable information or video entertainment device, because of the small screen, it will eventually leave its users wanting... IMHO

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yodude, you care to share any of your personal pages or at least a description of what they do? are you running a web server locally? sounds interesting to whip something up quick

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Laptop.

Porn? Oh. Yeah. On the airplane. Well, portable DVR cost like... a few tens of EUR/USD, with a bigger screen than...

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It runs linux but... is it tivoized? if it is, then it is useless for us.