The UK Mobile Phone Blog

Palm Pre now launched in the US: What can we expect?

Whilst a European launch is still around 3 months away, our friends across the pond in the good ol’ U S of A have been reveling in the launch of the potential iPhone beater; the Palm Pre. It’s not often that America enjoys the launch of a new smartphone before the European market. And with many heralding the Pre as a potential iPhone killer and the saviour of the ailing company, can Palm relive those former glory days when the Palm Pilot brought PDA’s to the limelight and the Treo was the talk of the smartphone world? Is the Palm Pre really all it’s cracked up to be?

Well, early reports stateside are promising. Launching on the 6th of June (exclusively on the American carrier Sprint) in Sprint stores as well as select Radio Shack, Wal-Mart and Best Buy stores in the US, the Palm Pre broke all records for a new phone launch on Sprint. Around 50,000 units were reported to have been sold on launch day with around 100,000 in total for the Pre’s first week. So, not a bad first week. Obviously, as the phone has only launched in the US, we’re watching things from afar but it has been claimed on various corners of the internet that the Palm Pre is still in incredibly short supply with Palm struggling to keep up with demand. A demand that many critics said simply wouldn’t be there in the run up to the rumoured new iPhone that we now know as the 3GS. All this makes for good reading for Palm as their is clearly huge demand for the Pre despite it being exclusive to the US’ third most popular network behind the big boys Verizon and AT&T.

So, the launch was a success, but what about the phone itself? Well, unfortunately as it’s only launched in the States, we’ve yet to get our hands on one but judging by the positive reviews the Pre looks to be a very capable device. The screen resolution is the same as that found on the iPhone 3GS but because the screen size is slightly smaller (3.1 inches compared to Apple’s 3.5) the Pre looks sharper and crisper because the pixels are packed in closer together. In terms of brightness, some reviewers have claimed it’s not quite as bright as the iPhone and suffers a little in direct sun light for legibility but in general use it fairs pretty well. In terms of actually using the touchscreen, prepare to be amazed; the highly regarded tech blog Gizmodo have claimed that the touchscreen is actually better than that found on the iPhone. The Pre features multi-touch which has, up until very recently been exclusive to the iPhone. Now the Pre has arrived and potentially stolen its crown. The multi touch (we must stress this is purely the opinion of Gizmodo) is more accurate, responsive and just plain better than the iPhone. A big claim and one which we can’t wait to put to the test.

The performance of the touchscreen is fairly critical in a touchscreen phone so it seems that the Pre gets off to a good start. The addition of a slide out QWERTY keyboard will provide respite for text and email purists and while not the best example of a QWERTY keyboard still performs well. The most hotly anticipated feature of the Pre is Palm’s new operating system Web OS, built from the ground up for the Pre. What you’ll find is a 5 app shortcut bar on your home screen which works like a more intuitive (and pleasing on the eye) Symbian home screen. In the empty space you can swipe right to go to the 3 screen menu, swipe left to go back and swipe up on an application to launch it from the bottom of the screen. Web OS is also fully capable of multi tasking numerous apps (i.e open a web page and listen to music while you wait for it to load). Apps appear as cards on your home screen so you can easily manage what you have currently running (keep an eye on this as having too many apps will drain battery and processing power). From what we’ve seen, Web OS looks to be a great new addition and a worthy contender to the already established operating systems.

As with any phone, it would seem the Pre isn’t without it’s flaws. Many have claimed that while the construction of the phone is very good, the quality of the materials used can’t quite compare with the iPhone. Even more worrying, the Pre apparantly has a very sharp edge that is exposed when sliding the phone to use the keyboard (so sharp in fact that it can slice through a block of cheese). The camera also proves a stumbling block; 3.0 Megapixels puts it on a par with the new iPhone (though some way below various other smart phones) but the inability to record video seems pre-historic (sorry) in 2009. But it’s not all doom and gloom. The Pre still has around 3 months until it is expected to launch in the UK so here’s hoping Palm will take a look at the uncomfortably sharp edge and offer video capture via a firmware update.

The delayed launch should also prove beneficial in terms of the apps that will be available. At launch only 18 applications were available but with the impending release of the Web OS SDK this should really take off by the time we get our grubby mits on the Pre. Looking back, software is something Palm have always held in high regard so we should hopefully see similar support for the Pre.

So there you have it. Our first look at the Pre. Will we see a comeback worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster or is this the end of the line for Palm? Only time will tell. If early reports and reviews are to be believed, we could have the most genuine threat to the iPhone yet. Rumoured to be launching as early as September, click here to sign up for updates and we’ll keep you updated on all things Pre.