Yesterday, Palm (you know, the guys that INVENTED the PDA!) - came out hibernation with a new device they're calling the "Pre" (pronounced PREE). Yes, it's yet another handset with yet another operating system. We all need THAT like a hole in the head, I agree... but I digress...
It has most of the features that you would expect if you were designing a new handset from scratch (and take 3+ years to do it!). It has built-in GPS, WiFi (b & g flavors), BlueTooth, IM, MMS, and SMS, built-in Exchange support (in addition to POP and IMAP), 8GB internal storage, micro USB 2.0 connector, removable battery, based on Linux, fast Webkit browser (same underlying engine as Safari), etc.
It's not expected to ship until the end of Q2 and will only be available on the Sprint Network. No pricing or plan details have emerged yet - but somehow I think it will be compatible with the Google G1 phone and (probably) less expensive than the iPhone.
However, there are a couple of pretty interesting things about the Pre that are revolutionary and that I predict will show up in other handset/OS offerings in the future:
Slide-out QWERTY keyboard - AND a touch screen
All apps (including Palm's own built-in apps) are HTML/CSS/JavaScript
Multiple applications run at the same time (and retain their state)
A new wireless "Touchstone" charging system (lay the phone on it - and it charges - when you get a call while charging it automatically answers when you pick it up)
So, is this thing an iPhone killer? Dunno. All I've really seen is some great in-depth coverage by Engadget so it's not really "fair" to compare it to the current iPhone.
BUT... there are some things that are missing in the 1.0 version that I'm not so sure I could do without like no International Roaming (or International version - as yet) and no graphics layer for gaming.
In addition, there were only sketchy details about the SDK and how they are going to distribute 3rd party applications (they will obviously have their own version of an "App Store-like" site). There's also about 1,000,000 more unanswered questions about data storage, built-in SQL databases, how application release management will work, etc., etc.
It's sort of nice to see Palm (what's left of it) come back into the mainstream. Their device looks pretty interesting (more so than the Google G1 Android phone I demoed) - and they have some really good ideas. But, as always - the devil is in the details - and right now there aren't that many of them. Time will tell if this little baby has what it takes to take on the iPhone.
I hope that Apple doesn't drop the ball, and just start pumping out "nano" versions of the iPhone - but I hope they really get their act together and come out with an even cooler, even more innovative product sometime in 2009.
Showing posts with label Palm Pilot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Palm Pilot. Show all posts
Friday, January 09, 2009
Friday, December 26, 2008
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Mac Takes On Baddies (Only In The Movies)
Last night I watched the movie "Live Free or Die Hard" - the next sequel to the Bruce Willis "Die Hard" series. While I'm a fan of car-chase-action-all-the-way movies - this one had a couple of twists in it that got me thinking about the Mac vs. PC debate.
Twisted logic, I know - but bear with me.
Justin Long, better known as "I'm a Mac" in the Apple ads, is the co-protagonist along with Bruce Willis. Willis plays the part of - well - John McClane - the "I'm just a cop doing my job but I kick bad guy ass by accident" and Long plays the part of Matt Farrell - a twenty-something hacker.
The basic story goes like this: Farrell is wanted by the FBI because there's been a FBI computer breach. John is assigned to bring him in. As it turns out - Farrell is one of a bunch of hackers who are wanted for questioning and who are being hunted by bad guy Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant).
Gabriel and his crew plan to shut down the US infrastructure and grab a bunch of money in the process - over the 4th of July weekend. I won't bore you with the details - but if you get a chance to check it out for yourself - it's a pretty good flick. But that's not the point of this post.
As I was watching this movie - I kept seeing the Farrell hacker character as a Mac. Really. It was weird.
All his actions; his speech; what he did and didn't do; his attitudes - I filtered through the "I'm a Mac" persona.
And as I got more and more into the movie - Farrell in many ways DID play the same role in the movie as the Mac does in the marketplace. He even LOOKS like the guy from the Mac ads - same scruffy beard, dressed the same way - everything.
Long played an underdog - who just escaped death by the skin-of-his-teeth - and confronts his own feelings of inadequacy and fear and realizes that he CAN take on big challenges even in the face of a foe who is superior in terms of manpower, resources and technical prowess.
Long also uses his brain (and some really old Palm Pilot and a Nokia E90 Communicator) to partially thwart the enemy. He's not worth a crap in the fighting department (he even gets bitch-slapped by Mai Linh [Maggie Q]) - but what he lacks in brawn he makes up for by just sticking to his guns and continuing down the path with a single goal in mind: save the world (or at least the US).
Here's to the little Mac that "could" - hopefully someday Apple will get a Bruce Willis to help it take a man pill and kick some marketplace ass as well.
Twisted logic, I know - but bear with me.
Justin Long, better known as "I'm a Mac" in the Apple ads, is the co-protagonist along with Bruce Willis. Willis plays the part of - well - John McClane - the "I'm just a cop doing my job but I kick bad guy ass by accident" and Long plays the part of Matt Farrell - a twenty-something hacker.
The basic story goes like this: Farrell is wanted by the FBI because there's been a FBI computer breach. John is assigned to bring him in. As it turns out - Farrell is one of a bunch of hackers who are wanted for questioning and who are being hunted by bad guy Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant).
Gabriel and his crew plan to shut down the US infrastructure and grab a bunch of money in the process - over the 4th of July weekend. I won't bore you with the details - but if you get a chance to check it out for yourself - it's a pretty good flick. But that's not the point of this post.
As I was watching this movie - I kept seeing the Farrell hacker character as a Mac. Really. It was weird.
All his actions; his speech; what he did and didn't do; his attitudes - I filtered through the "I'm a Mac" persona.
And as I got more and more into the movie - Farrell in many ways DID play the same role in the movie as the Mac does in the marketplace. He even LOOKS like the guy from the Mac ads - same scruffy beard, dressed the same way - everything.
Long played an underdog - who just escaped death by the skin-of-his-teeth - and confronts his own feelings of inadequacy and fear and realizes that he CAN take on big challenges even in the face of a foe who is superior in terms of manpower, resources and technical prowess.
Long also uses his brain (and some really old Palm Pilot and a Nokia E90 Communicator) to partially thwart the enemy. He's not worth a crap in the fighting department (he even gets bitch-slapped by Mai Linh [Maggie Q]) - but what he lacks in brawn he makes up for by just sticking to his guns and continuing down the path with a single goal in mind: save the world (or at least the US).
Here's to the little Mac that "could" - hopefully someday Apple will get a Bruce Willis to help it take a man pill and kick some marketplace ass as well.
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