 A palm prē with keyboard extended on the home screen. | |
| Manufacturer | Palm, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Screen | 320 × 480 px, 3.1 in (79 mm) HVGA, 24-bit color LCD |
| Camera | 3.0 megapixel camera with LED flash, "extended depth of field", and geotagging |
| Operating system | Palm webOS |
| Input | Multi-touch touchscreen display, volume controls, proximity and ambient light sensors, 3-axis accelerometer |
| CPU | 600 MHz (underclocked to 500 MHz) Texas Instruments OMAP 3430 (ARM Cortex A8 + PowerVR SGX) |
| Memory | Original: 256 MB DRAM Pre Plus: 512 MB DRAM |
| Storage | Flash memory Original: 8 GB Pre Plus: 16 GB |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, MicroUSB, A-GPS CDMA version: Dual band CDMA2000/EV-DO Rev. A 800, 1900 MHz GSM version: Quad band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GPRS/EDGE Dual band UMTS 850/1900 or 900/2100 MHz HSDPA |
| Battery | 3.7 V 1150 mAh Internal rechargeable removable lithium-ion battery |
| Physical size | 100.53 mm (3.958 in) (h) 59.57 mm (2.345 in) (w) 16.95 mm (0.667 in) (d) |
| Weight | 135 g (4.8 oz) |
| Form factor | Slider smartphone |
| Successor | Pre 2 |
| Related | Palm Pixi |
| Hearing aid compatibility | M4 [1] |
The Pre was launched on June 6, 2009 with Sprint, and later also went on sale in Canada with Bell Mobility. A GSM version of the original Pre was launched later in 2009 on a number of networks in Europe and in Mexico. A revised model, the Palm Pre Plus, which doubled the available memory and internal storage, was launched on January 25, 2010 for Verizon Wireless and later released on AT&T Mobility on May 16, 2010. The third generation of Palm Pre, the Palm Pre 2, which uses HP webOS 2.0 was announced October 2010.
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History and availability
Palm debuted the Pre at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show, as the first mobile phone to use the Texas Instruments OMAP 3430 processor, as well as its initial US exclusive carrier agreement with Sprint, which operates a CDMA network. Prior to the device launch, it was known internally by the codename Castle.The Pre's incorporation of features similar to Apple's iPhone, specifically elements of the user interface, has led to speculation of possible patent infringement litigation, with Apple COO Tim Cook stating that "we will not stand for people ripping off our IP" and Palm responding that they "have the tools necessary to defend [themselves]", hinting at Palm's large portfolio of patents.[5][6]
On May 19, 2009 Sprint and Palm announced the Pre would be available beginning June 6, 2009[7] in the United States. The Pre retails at Sprint stores and other locations, including select Radio Shack and Best Buy stores in the United States—as well as locations in Europe.
On May 28, 2009 Verizon Wireless announced that it would also carry the Palm Pre in "about six months."[8] A later comment from a Sprint spokesperson indicated that the launch carrier would have US exclusivity rights to the Pre "through 2009."[9] Sprint's CEO, Dan Hesse, commented that his company and Palm had agreed not to discuss the length of the exclusivity deal, but remarked that "it's not six months."[10]
On July 7, 2009 Telefónica announced that they would exclusively carry the Palm Pre in the UK, Spain, Ireland and Germany on their O2 and Movistar networks, with availability "before the winter holidays".[11]
On July 27, 2009 during the company's second quarter conference call, Verizon chief operating officer Denny Strigl announced that Verizon Wireless will begin selling the Palm Pre in early 2010.[12]
News coverage of the launch noted that the sales quantity was a record for any Sprint phone launch, and estimated sales of approximately 50,000 units for the day, and up to 100,000 for the week.[13] However, reports stated that sales of the Pre in July and beginning of August were much lower than expected.[14][15][16]
On November 11, 2009 Palm announced that the Pre would be available in Mexico being the exclusive carrier Telcel. It will start being sold on November 27.[17]
On August 27, Bell Canada has the Palm Pre available. Bell will be supporting the Data services on the EVDO Network
Pre Plus
A new version of the smartphone was announced at CES 2010. Differences include the renaming of the device to Palm Pre Plus, the removal of the center button, 16 GB storage memory (8 GB on the original Pre), doubling the RAM from 256 MB to 512MB, and the back cover is now already Touchstone compatible. The keyboard and slider mechanism have also been improved.[18] In the US, this will be sold exclusively along with the Pixi Plus by Verizon Wireless. On March 22, 2010 Palm announced that it would be releasing both the Pre Plus and the Pixi Plus on the AT&T network in the "coming months".[19] AT&T launched the Palm Pre Plus on May 16, 2010 for $149.99 with a free Touchstone charger for new customers.[20]Pre 2
On October 19, 2010, HP officially announced[21] the third generation of Palm Pre, the Palm Pre 2, which uses HP webOS 2.0. The device has a 1 GHz processor, 512MB RAM, a 5-megapixel camera and includes Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta, an updated version of Facebook with chat, and more durable hardware including a gorilla glass screen.[22][23] The phone was released to consumers in France, and is available unlocked in the U.S. It will later be carried in the U.S. by Verizon. Palm announced[21] that Verizon Wireless customers will be able to use Skype Mobile for Skype-to-Skype calls and messaging when webOS 2.0 is released for consumer use.Internal Hardware
The original Palm Pre's CPU is a 600 MHz Texas Instruments OMAP 3430 (ARM Cortex A8 + PowerVR SGX) underclocked to 500 MHz. It uses a Marvell sd8686 chip as a Wireless LAN SDIO Adapter for the WiFi and STMicroelectronics VX6852 as a 3.15 megapixel resolution sensor (2048 x 1536) for camera.Screen and input
All Pre phones feature a 3.1-inch capacitive touchscreen over a 24-bit color 320×480 resolution HVGA liquid-crystal display. The touchscreen allows for manipulation of the UI with fingers instead of a stylus, commonly used with older Palm phones and PDAs. Below the display is the "Gesture Area", a touch-sensitive area with LED underlighting that permits additional touch commands.The Pre has a full QWERTY keyboard. On the Pre, the keyboard slides out and is curved for ergonomics. In addition to the keyboard, the device features a single button in the center of the Gesture Area (absent in the Pre Plus), a volume rocker switch on the side, and a ringer switch on the top.
The Pre features three input sensors that allow it to respond to its surroundings. An accelerometer automatically changes the orientation of the display between landscape and portrait when the device is rotated in the user's hands. An ambient light sensor allows the Pre to automatically adjust the brightness of its display. A proximity sensor allows the Pre to disregard touch inputs when the phone is held close to a user's face during a call.
The original Pre has a 3 megapixel digital camera with LED flash.[24]
Connectivity
The Pre is available with high-speed connectivity on either EVDO Rev. A or UMTS HSDPA, depending on location. The Pre also includes 802.11b/g WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR with support for A2DP stereo headsets. A-GPS with support for turn-by-turn navigation is also included, though access to aGPS features remains locked for Verizon Wireless users.[1] For charging and data-transfer, the Pre uses a microUSB connector with USB 2.0 support, and audio output is supported by a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack.[24] While the phone reports support for the Bluetooth DUN protocol, Sprint has not permitted use of the Pre in tethered (or "Phone as Modem") mode. Verizon does support tethering via their Mobile Hot Spot support.[25]Storage capacity
The Pre has 8.0 GB of internal flash storage (approximately 7.4 GB of which is user accessible). The Pre does not have a flash memory card slot. The Pre Plus has 16 GB of internal flash storage.[24]Charging
The Pre can be charged either using the supplied MicroUSB cable, or by using an optional accessory for wireless charging using an electromagnetic induction charging dock, dubbed the "Touchstone Charger." The Touchstone Charger requires compatible back cover, which also is sold separately for the Pre, [26] while the Pre Plus comes with the touchstone-compatible back cover included.Software
Main article: webOS
The Pre was the first Palm device to use webOS, a Linux-based platform that replaced Palm's previous Palm OS.Interface
The webOS interface is based on a system of "cards" used to manage multitasking. webOS also supports multi-touch gestures, enabling most navigational input to be made using the touchscreen. The Pre does not include a virtual keyboard, only a portrait-oriented slide-out keyboard. An onscreen, virtual keyboard is embedded in the code and can be made available through a third party patch.[27] There are hundreds of third party "patches" that allow users to customize the usability and interface of the Pre.Synergy
webOS includes a feature called Synergy that integrates information from many sources. webOS allows a user to sign in to accounts on Gmail, Yahoo!, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Microsoft Outlook (via Exchange ActiveSync). Contacts from all sources are then integrated into a single list. Synergy was highly innovative, and was regarded by many as a highlight of the new operating system,[28] but received some criticism for being undiscerning in what it included in the contacts application. For example, Engadget commented that it had contacts that were simply Birthdays extracted from Facebook.[29]Syncing
The device makes use of the cloud based services model, but uses no desktop sync client (in the style of Palm's HotSync synchronization method).[30]However Palm has referenced a number of solutions for users who need to sync with their desktop software like Palm Desktop, Microsoft Outlook, or IBM Lotus Notes. Additionally, Mark/Space, Inc. has announced Macintosh desktop sync software, and Chapura such software for Windows.[31] Palm has offered an online guide to help customers.
iTunes syncing
This feature has not been available since shortly after launch. The chronology of this potential feature follows. Palm initially announced that the Pre would be capable of "seamlessly" synchronizing with Apple's iTunes via its Media Sync feature.[32][33] After Apple's first attempt to disable this feature the Pre achieved this by switching its USB Product and Vendor IDs to those of an Apple iPod, thereby mimicking or "spoofing" the Apple device.[34][35] The update to iTunes 8.2.1 reportedly disables syncing with the Pre.[36] WebOS update 1.1.0, released by Palm on July 23, 2009, temporarily restored iTunes syncing natively, but third-party applications could still be used to sync iTunes with the device with previous versions of WebOS.[37] At the same time, Palm reported Apple to the USB Implementers Forum for what it felt was Apple's misuse of the Vendor ID to identify devices linked through the USB interface.[38] The USB Implementers Forum however responded that Palm was the one misusing the USB vendor identifier and that Apple was correct. Apple responded again on September 9, 2009 with its release of iTunes 9 during their 'It's only Rock and Roll' event. The new version of iTunes effectively re-blocked the Pre from syncing with iTunes.[39] On September 22, 2009 the USB Implementers Forum found no wrongdoing on Apple's part and instead asked Palm to explain its apparent violations of USB policy by mimicking Apple's USB Vendor ID.[40]Third-party applications
Third parties are able to develop web apps that run within webOS. In addition, Palm has announced that they have partnered with certain trusted third-parties that have been given greater access to Pre functionality. At launch, 18 applications were available in the Palm App Catalog. As of April 1, 2010 there are over 4,800 official applications available in the App Catalog. One of the apps, available at launch, is "Classic", a Palm OS emulator (for $29.99) that can run a large number of the roughly 50,000 apps for the Palm OS. When Palm announced the Pre Plus and the Pixi Plus, they also announced over 20 3D games for the Pre. The most popular are Need for Speed, Sims 3, Tom Clancy's HAWX, and Real Soccer 2010.Homebrew Apps
 | This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (August 2010) |
This Homebrew community has created applications, patches and themes. Patches (a.k.a. "tweaks") make modifications to existing Palm applications to add/enhance functions (e.g., view email in landscape mode, view battery level as a percentage, increase number of app icons displayed per page, etc). Themes change the skin of WebOS background and icons to match a particular theme. The source of these Homebrew apps can be a number of different feeds. The Homebrew community has standardized on a single feed and installation process so that installing applications, patches and themes can be done through multiple independently-developed installers that work interchangeably. This means one may install an app/patch with one installer and uninstall or update it with another if he or she so chooses.
Information gathering by Palm
According to Debian developer Joey Hess, the Palm Pre periodically sends users' information to Palm. Palm gathers users' GPS information, along with data on every application used, and for how long it was used. This information is uploaded to Palm on a daily basis. There is an "opt-out" when the user first uses the GPS system and this is common for all mobile carriers and with Google Maps. There is also an opt-out on GPS data being sent to Google.[41]Reception
When showcased in 2009 January, five months prelaunch, the Pre received positive reviews, winning CNET's Best in Show, Best in Category: Cell Phones & Smartphones,[42] and People's Voice for CES 2009.[43]However, the Palm Pre suffered from some quality issues. The slider mechanism sometimes becomes sensitive, loose and wiggly, causing a problem that has become known as the "Oreo Twist" by users.[44] Palm aimed to address the issue with the Pre Plus, making the slider mechanism stronger. The screen is overly delicate, sometimes cracking from being in a pocket, and the headphone jack sometimes ceases working. On the Palm Pre Plus characters sometimes appear twice when typing, although the user has only hit the key once.[45] Many reviews have noted the poor build quality of the phones, deeming the build quality "only so-so."[46] In Engadget's second open letter to Palm, they cited "hardware issues which plagued the Pre, with no outward acknowledgment or rush to correct."[47] They added, "We've seen countless reports, read too many blog posts to recall, and heard all sorts of horror stories about broken sliders, power buttons that stop functioning, the "Oreo cookie" effect, and more. Hell, even our first review unit broke!"
Overall sales were modest from the outset.[48] Users have expressed intense concern about the slow pace of webOS upgrade releases and the absence of substantially improved hardware.[49] Comments have been quite critical of the lengthy delay in releasing the promised Flash application, dysfunctional document handling such as PDF files, speculation of what could be underlying the technological or business reasons for the slow release of the webOS 2 upgrade for existing phones, and a concern that when eventually released the webOS 2 upgrade be incompatible with PalmOS emulation. Media opinion in 2010 December was unenthusiastic
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