Thursday, June 4, 2009

Counting down (2 days left) to Palm Prē launch: Eight and a half Prē reviews released already

Ladies and gentlemen; please strap-in your seat belt, girt your loins, and hold on tight to something, because we've got not just one but eight and a half Palm Prē™ reviews coming up right now. Just in two days before Sprint officially launch the most awaited smartphone of the year: Palm Prē™ on June 6th tomorrow, tech blogsites are all in race to release their own hands-on, we are literally flooded with reviews of the Prē™ and all I can say is they're just going to make us want more to get the Prē™.

But why do I said eight and a half Palm Prē™ reviews?

Because aside from the already released reviews from Gizmodo, Engadget, PC World, PreCentral, PalmInfoCenter, Walt Mossberg (from WSJ), Rob Enderle (from TG Daily) and Sascha Segan (from PC Mag); there's one that has not publicly released yet and that belongs to NYT's famous tech pundit: David Pogue. There's no confirmation on whether or not the article really written by Pogue, as it seems his article leaked to an Indian news site called mydigitalfc.com and clearly put "by David Pogue" on the beginning of the article, Pogue's words of signature can be found all over the article.*

* UPDATE: David Pogue has finally posted up his review on NYT site

Without spoilling out all of the beans and funs, I'll just going to get the final thoughts or conclusion from each of the reviews. For a more thorough reading, you can visit each of the reviews at the respective links above. I know you're craving every day for even a single drop of Prē™ rumors & news. So, let's dig 'em right away shall we?

Gizmodo's Palm Prē™ review

"Think of it like this. The software is agile, smart and capable. The hardware, on the other hand, is a liability. If Palm can get someone else to design and build their hardware—someone who has hands and can feel what a phone is like when physically used, that phone might just be one of the best phones on the market.

I'm bored of the iPhone. The core functionality and design have remained the same for the last two years, and since 3.0 is just more of the same, and—barring some kind of June surprise—that's another year of the same old icons and swiping and pinching. It's time for something different. The Pre may have hardware that's worse than the G1/G2, but the whole package—the software and the hardware—isn't bad. It's good. It's different. That's something we can get behind. I can't wait to see what Palm gets dealt in their next hand."

Engadget's Palm Prē™ review

Engadget pre "There's no question that Palm has built this phone on the foundations laid by numerous devices before it -- most obviously the iPhone -- but the Pre clearly carves out its own path as well. Some of the ideas and concepts at play in webOS are truly revolutionary for the mobile space, breaking down lots of the walls that separate the experience of using a dedicated PC versus using a handheld device. ...

To put it simply, the Pre is a great phone, and we don't feel any hesitation saying that. Is it a perfect phone? Hell no. Does its OS need work? Definitely. But are any of the detracting factors here big enough to not recommend it? Absolutely not. There's no doubt that there's room for improvement in webOS and its devices, but there's also an astounding amount of things that Palm nails out of the gate."

PC World's Palm Prē™ review

"The long-awaited Palm Pre lives up to the hype with a responsive touchscreen and an engaging interface, but a few hardware design flaws keep it from being the perfect smartphone.

Hardware flaws aside, the Palm Pre made a solid impression on me. Its eye-catching design and smooth operation make this smartphone the most exciting device I've seen in a while."

PreCentral's Palm Prē™ review

Precentral pre As a blogsite that dedicates themselves to Palm Prē™, PreCentral managed to put together a solid and one of the most complete reviews of the upcoming Prē™ which I've ever read. So two thumbs up for PreCental for this throrough review of the Prē™, and they even recorded a 10 minute video review if you're bored to read.... ;-p Here's their conclusion of the Prē™:

"So what's our verdict on the Palm Pre? Simple: The Palm Pre is a stellar 1.0 product. ...

The Pre's hardware is very good and it's obvious how much thought went into making it feel organic. More importantly, the merging of the software and the hardware is as close to seamless as I've ever seen on a device. Heck, the status bar at the top with your signal strength and what not is designed to look like it's part of the hardware. Having the touch-sensitive zone extends below the screen into the gesture area isn't just a gimmick, it actually improves the experience of the device, adds functionality, and helps to make the Pre feel seamless."

PalmInfoCenter's Palm Pre™ review

Pic pre hands PalmInfoCenter has a long history as one of the most reliable sources for everything related to Palm, and their recent Palm Pre™ review proofs that very well. Ryan Kairer from PalmInfoCenter has just posted up a very well written Pre™ review, and here's his conclusion:

"The Palm Pre delivers on Palm's promise of a bringing a next generation differentiated product to market. WebOS is a powerful and compelling new mobile platform. Despite being a 1.0 product, the Pre is pleasantly functional and it users in new level of simplicity and ease of use. Coupled with the attractive hardware design and charming display, this adds up to a distinctively agreeable experience for mobile phone users. Palm has a lot ridding on the Pre and it now appears to be fully back in the game with a superb combination of software and hardware."

Walt Mossberg's Palm Pre™ review

Everybody who lives in digital and computer world knows and respect Walt Mossberg, he has an extensive knowledge than anybody else in the industry. Although there's no solid evidence, we always assume that Mossberg has a close relationship with Apple, so it's said he got to know what Apple is doing before anyone else. In his Pre™ review, Mossberg accidentally (or is it not?) confirm twice of a new iPhone hardware coming on WWDC '09:

Mossberg pre "I consider the Pre to be potentially the strongest rival to the iPhone to date, provided it attracts lots of third-party apps, which it sorely lacks at launch. ...

Whether the Pre is better than the iPhone depends on your personal preferences, though I’d note that the new iPhone to be unveiled next week will have lots of added features that could alter those calculations. ...

Unfortunately for Palm, Apple has both a new iPhone operating system and new iPhone hardware coming, likely available within a month, that could obviate many of these advantages."

Sascha Segan's (PC Mag) Palm Pre™ review

Pc mag pre "The Pre is full of the sort of mind-expanding innovations that make you greedy. Take Synergy, for example: Every device should work like this. Why don't I have one address book and one calendar comprising everything I've scattered around? But now I want complete synergy. ...

Still, the Palm Pre has the magic that the iPhone has, that Android doesn't have, and that the BlackBerry Storm might have had if it had worked properly when it was first introduced. It's far cooler than any other phone on Sprint, or even any phone on Verizon Wireless... Overall, though, webOS is the most exciting mobile platform I've used in quite a while, and the Pre is pretty impressive, so it nabs our Editors' Choice for smartphones on Sprint."

Rob Enderle's Palm Pre™ review

"I've been playing with the Palm Pre for the better part of a day and you really get the sense that if a product could be designed that said "screw you Apple" this is how you would build it. It is very much like they took everything folks have complained about regarding the iPhone that folks at Apple said couldn't be fixed and fixed them.

...This is one hell of a test for Apple. But until they respond, the Palm Pre sets the new bar as the best phone I've ever had the honor to carry. Congrats, Palm! Incredibly well done."

David Pogue's "unpublished yet" Palm Prē™ review*

David pogue pre "All right, then: the Pre is a spectacular achievement. Zero to sixty in one version. But is it an iPhone killer? Silly bloggers! The Pre will be a hit, but the iPhone isn’t going away. First of all, Apple’s 20 million-phone lead will only grow when the new iPhone 3.0 software (and, presumably, a third iPhone model) comes out shortly.

Second, Palm’s audience for this model is limited to the United States. It requires a CDMA network, so it won’t work overseas.

Third, even the Pre has its annoyances. Opening certain programs can be very slow—sometimes 8 or 9 seconds—and there’s no progress bar or hourglass to let you know that it’s still working. There’s no memory-card slot to expand the 8 gigabytes of storage, and no Visual Voicemail (where messages are listed like e-mail). The onboard search function won’t look through your e-mail or calendars. There are a few bugs left to exterminate, too.

Finally, the Pre is not quite as simple as the iPhone. All those extra features, by definition, mean that there’s more to learn."

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