Week in review: Palm challenges Apple to phone fight

Apple and Palm have dialed up a nice little smartphone skirmish.

The Palm Pre next to the current iPhone 3G.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)

At Apple's annual Worldwide Developer's Conference, Apple announced a new version of the iPhone, called the iPhone 3G S. It's got the same design and pricing as the current iPhone 3G model, but sports a faster processor that Apple says will load most apps somewhere between three to five times faster. It also comes in improved capacities, all the way up to 32GB up from 16GB.
•  Apple selling iPhone 3G S at 8 a.m. June 19, AT&T at 7 a.m.
•  Where does the iPhone 3G S get its speed?

Apple announced that iPhone OS 3.0 will be available worldwide June 17 as a free update to iPhone customers, and as a $9.95 update for iPod Touch owners. For an overview of what the software does, see our previous news roundup from the mid-March developer event.

Meanwhile, Sprint Nextel executives said the launch of the much-anticipated Palm Pre hit a sales record for the company. Neither Sprint nor Palm is discussing specific sales figures, but Tim Donahue, vice president of business marketing for Sprint, said the launch exceeded the company's expectations.

While the crowds that showed up on Saturday morning to buy the Pre at Sprint stores and other retail locations where the phone was offered were small in number compared with the crowds that have gathered for the past two iPhone launches, analysts are calling the launch of the Pre a success.
•  Palm picks Apple veteran to run company

Photos: Cracking open the Palm Pre

The dark horse in the race, Nokia said its flagship smartphone, the N97, which was announced in December, has gone on sale in the U.S. at the whopping price tag of $699. This price isn't that shocking considering the phone will also be offered in Europe for a comparable price.

The reason the price of the N97 is still so high is that Nokia is not selling it through any particular carrier. Instead it will be sold to U.S. customers in Nokia flagship stores in New York and Chicago as well as online.

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Apple bashes Windows 7, talks Snow Leopard

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[myles taylor]

A phone doesn't have to rival the iPhone Launches to be a success. Sprint and Palm were on a decline and even 10% of the iPhone crowds would be considered a success.

[Fil0403]

Nothing has to rival Apple products' launches to be a success: anyone intelligent enough to know the difference between hype and success knows that real success is not measured by the amount of sheep waiting hours in lines in front of stores to get the latest product with the logo of their favourite company on it (often regardless of what it is and how good it actually is), it's measured by sales and resulting market share - the only reason why Apple's products' and services' success is usually measured that way is because the only Apple product/service that has any true, real, significant success is iPod/iTunes.

[seven7dust]

exactly even palm never didnt expect it to sell as well as the iPhone
They probably only produced about 350,00 units in the first place !
it was the media who did this

[roadlife]

Myles: Sprint is still on the decline. They announced the last Sprint "Iphone Killer" that would get 10% of the market,. the "Instinct," had record sales the first month about 10 months ago.. Record sales for Sprint is like "world famous in Poland."

The Pre will do well enough -- once it gets off of Sprint.

FYI people are not defecting, literaly ,and by Sprint's own admission, to Verizon every quarter becasue of iPhone, since Verizon doesn't even have iPhone. They are leaving because of the abysmal billing problems, customer service and other issues with Sprint.

[slapppy]

LOL... Monday just put Palm Pre out of the running. Better to go up against BlackBerry than the iPhone.

[bonesbautista]

What slapppy wrote. I use a Storm for my work phone and an iPhone for my home phone (no land line). Every time I see a write up about the Pre - the WebOS, really is closer to my interest here - the Pre/WebOS combination is a competitor for the BB platform, especially with yet another BIS outage yesterday...

The WebOS doesn't compete against the iPhone platform. Palm needs to get a sturdier build of the Pre out and a couple of devices out and they'll be good to go, and I'll ditch BB and use the Palm with Exchange - RIM's got more to worry about than Apple does, and I'm writing this from a BB user's perspective...

[jabberwolf]

Trying to decifer what Slappy wrote.
Responding to Bonesbautista as well:

A BB for work and a iphone for home use? WHY?
You can have both with the Palm, that was the point.
The webOS is based on Javascript and will mean 10,000s of apps ready in no time when they release their SDK.
And not dorky useless apps, like the iphone with a limited subset of tools.

The reason the Palm goes against the iphone is that is allows it to be used, like the iphone, but solves the active sync (multitasking issues) the iphone has. It also has actual buttons that black berry users love.

So while you try to shield the lackluster update of the iphone, Palm switchers will enjoy both worlds and not have to settle for having 2 phones like yourself.

[slapppy]

@ jabberwolf

To recommend the Pre work is insane. No real cut, copy & paste, no real global universal search, even on servers, IMAP MobileMe, Exchange.

Optical Grade Glass Oleophobic Coating Screen - NOT PLASTIC
3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch display
480-by-320-pixel resolution at 163 ppi
CPU/GPU same as the pre
Open GL/ES 2.0 Optimized by iPhone OS
16GB/32GB
8GB for $99
Talk time: Up to 12 hours on 2G - Up to 5 hours on 3G
Standby time: Up to 300 hours
Internet use: Up to 5 hours on 3G - Up to 9 hours on Wi-Fi
Video playback: Up to 10 hours
Audio playback: Up to 30 hours
Size and weight
Height: - 4.5 inches (115.5 mm)
Width: - 2.4 inches (62.1 mm)
Depth: - 0.48 inch (12.3 mm)
Weight: - 4.8 ounces (135 grams)
iTunes seamless integration
Movies
Video PodCast
Audio PodCast
TV Shows
Music
Music Videos
iTunes University
iTunes Latino
50 thousand apps and growing fast
REAL High End 3D accelerated Games
High End Applications
Dock Connector API and I can't wait to see the 3rd party hardware stuff coming this summer. This alone pushes the iPhone way beyond the wanna bees.
BT API
MobileMe with Locate me and Remote Wipe
Apps open and switch instantly now
Superior battery life by a huge margin
Video Recording ( Widescreen ) and Instant Editing right on the iPhone, Instant Share to YoutTube, MobileMe and eMail
Instantly share pictures to MobileMe Gallery
It's an iPod!!
Safari with AI, Multi-Touch controls
Real Cut, Copy & Paste. Yeah even non editable text can be copied.
Voice Memos
Voice Control and yeah not just English, Chinese (Cantonese), Chinese (China), Chinese (Taiwan), Dutch, English (UK), English (U.S.), Finnish, French (Canada), French (France), Germanm, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish,, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, Spanish (Mexico), Spanish (Spain), Swedish
MMS with full copy and paste
Real Universal Global Search to the Framework/API level. It mean all apps, not just core apps get Global Search
Keyboard with the best predictive intelligence yet. Has 40 international layouts and growing. Nice to have a virtual keyboard to easily add languages.
Dictionary supports international languages also
Character recognition so you can write in Chinese characters!
Digital compass ( hikers/bikers/campers ) will love this
Tethering
Nike + iPod
Parental Control
Autofocus and selectable Focus on the Camera!
Photo and Video Geotagging
Google Sync
Exchange Sync
AGPS - Voice Turn by Turn support
Viewable document types: .jpg, .tiff, .gif (images); .doc and .docx (Microsoft Word); .htm and .html (web pages); .key (Keynote); .numbers (Numbers); .pages (Pages); .pdf (Preview and Adobe Acrobat); .ppt and .pptx (Microsoft PowerPoint); .txt (text); .rtf (rich text format); .vcf (contact information); .xls and .xlsx (Microsoft Excel)

[jjg-713]

@ slappy's reply to jabberwolf

shameless, just shameless, copy and paste from apple's website....wake up man/woman, stop trying to justify your iphone purchase. Your precious iphone is getting "features" found on phones from 2005. ahahahahah. What will it get next year?...how about a flash to go with that camera...yeah, that'll give you something else to include in that list.
YOU FAIL

[slapppy]

@ jjg-713

You obviously have no idea what "cut, copy & paste" is on the iPhone. Not anything close to what your blabbering about. You post a reply with no real data or compelling information. Just blabbering on and on.

[jjg-713]

@ slappy
You obviously are not smart enough to understand my post.
So you think copying and pasting specs from the apple website is compelling? The iphone was probably your first 'smartphone'. Copy and pasteexisted on palm, winmo and symbian devices long before the iphone. In any case, congratulations and welcome to 2009.

[slapppy]

@ jjg-713

Yep you definitely don't know what your blabbering about. Watch how its done and learn on the site. If you want to play the who did what game, you forgot about the Newton. Duh! LOL Nice Fail for you.

[jjg-713]

@ slappy
OH WOW...the newton. Took you 2 whole days to research that didnt it?
so what's you point, that apple developed the newton and it had copy paste...so what...YOUR IPHONE STILL DOESNT
That just further proves the point that the iphone is just now getting basic features, which can be found on a 15 year old device
Your post still holds no relevance, nice try, but you need to try a little harder...cmon, i know you can do it

[slapppy]

@jjg-713

Uhh no unlike you who lives in a basement with his mom, I have work, dates and travel. Again you are still clueless posting ignorant information. iPhone 3.0 is what I have, so again you posted pretty much ignorant data. So basically your FAIL! LOL

[jjg-713]

@ slappy

Look, no one wins internet battles, especially ifanboys like you, because as most people know-fanboys are stupid and clueless. In any of your replies, you had not one valid rebuttal or even anything informational to say. With that said, I hope you like working as a troll, good luck with internet dating, and hope that you enjoy traveling to different topics to let everyone know that you are an iphone worshipper.

[earthvoyager]

Please wake up! It's June 12 now.

Palm Pre has challenged iPhone 3G. And it lasted and ended on June 9, 2009. Palm Pre is not even comparable to iPhone 3G S.

[sanenazok]

I guess the two phones are not comparable because...one of them doesn't do real multitasking?

[johnqh]

Windows Mobile had real multitasking since....ten years ago? Do people care?

[slapppy]

@ sanenazok

Even that has become irrelevant. Apps open in .5 seconds or less... Battery outlast the Pre by a huge margin.

[jpg27]

hahahaha@ sanenazok.....johnqh and slappy do raise important points....therefore you got owned! lol! 3Gs wins over pre. I didnt even think about that but the way apps run and load quickly on the iphone 3Gs will save huge amounts of battery life compared to the multiple apps that can be open on the pre which drinks battery.

Its all about efficiency...if the pre could have multitasked and have more or same battery life as 3Gs then it would have been closer to the iphone killer pre fanatics are calling it to be. but for this one im sorry you got owned!

[brynn08]

wow....i smell iphon-y isuers on here hating again.....again saying sprint is on the downhill.....etc.....i love to hear ppl that dont know what there talking about....too bad ATT didnt have apple they would be in big trouble...thats why att is so big is becuz of that phone....which i would never buy becuz #1 its not that serious.....#2 att is way too pricey.....#3 there network is rated at the bottom according to jd powers and associates actually.....ppl that bash sprints customer srvc havnt even been with them the past year...becuz thats drastically improved along with there network....which is rated #2 overall in the US.....so again....any provider that would have picked up the iphone was gona munch of its success.....verizon or sprint.....so dont sit here and bash other carriers....cuz everyone has different experiences in each carrier....ive had my issues with verizon....worst than sprint buit i dnt bash them......ppl are so ignorant these days.

[shycelticwitch]

brynn, learning the English language might help us better understand your flaming gibberish.

[jpg27]

I agree with shycelticwitch. Anyhoo brynn08 even though ATT might be low on the customer satisfaction line, a 2009 JD powers report shows that Apple 'Ranks Highest among Smartphone Consumers'. So to refute your line of 'which i would never buy becuz #1 its not that serious' Please don't be delirious or naive...the iphone IS a big thing.

The more interesting thing is that if the iphone ranks highest among smartphone customers then people dont care if the ATT network is crappy. Maybe thats because you get value added services that are not linked to the carrier?

http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/pressrelease.aspx?ID=2009082

[swyve]

"The faithful had a good laugh at that, and they laughed again when it became clear AT&T would also delay support for tethering, or using the iPhone to connect a laptop to the Internet. And yet again when they learned that the S in iPhone 3G S stands for speed?an oxymoron on AT&T's clumsy, congested network where dropped calls are the norm and large files intended for broadband download like it's 1999. AT&T says it's upgrading its 3G networks to handle speeds of 7.2 megabits per second?the new iPhones are built for those faster networks?but the "upgrades are slated to begin later this year, with completion expected in 2011," AT&T says. Sigh."

Yeah iPhone fanatics...stick with the LAME network...

[shycelticwitch]

Had Cingular since 2000, stayed with them when they became AT&T. Dropped calls? Not me. One one place in the three county area I travel in has bad reception, and it's in the middle of a 6 mile bridge over Tampa Bay. I believe that just as with 99% of computer errors, 99% of phone errors are created by the user and not the phone or the network. You just have to be a little smarter than the equipment you're using LOL.

[malert]

The Iphone is truly a great device there is no device out there that can compete with it. ATT is not bad they have better pricing then there competitors and they have the most cell towers then all other company. They are rated higher in customer care then all of their competitors besides Verizon which they are number one and two.

So for you haters don?t be jealous your device can't compare.

[jabberwolf]

Why is it when a better device that actually does more comes out... everyone is an iphone hater?

Sorry but people aren't "haters". They just hate fantards that wont face facts.

Utility wins over propaganda period.

[joeshmoefromoregon]

This is like comparing apples and oranges there both phones there both pda's. But 2 very diffrent designs and abilities. I didn't run out and get a iphone for the simple for the fact that att sucks in coverage where I live, along with there prices. However I have been fighting with windows mobile 6.1 for the past year and half( nice little calus on my forhead). An to anyone who has had to deal with that I feel your pain. I didn't like the softwear for the ipod and I didn't like the fact that the iphone yet again wouldn't put a replacable battery in there phone so in a year or so you would have to part with your phone and wait on them to fix it to the tune of 100+ bucks ( really can't even train people to do this localy )But then I held the device and played with it for a day when a freind ask me iphone sit for him. It is a amazing device. sturdy and functional you get what you pay for. It has draw backs just like every other device out there no key pad , can't multi function, overly expensive But for that whole generation of ipoders this is a must have phone. The apps are overwhelming to me and a lot of them do the same thing so that number of 50,000 for me is laughable. I got my pre on saturday of last week and right away I was able to figure it out with out to much reading. The screen is amazing and the phone is sleek but at time does feel like plastic interior of a chep model vw. The camera didn't work . So I had to take it back and was prepared for a long drawn out soulution and terrible customer service. Niether happen they took my name and gave me a brand new phone on tuesday letting me keep my phone till the other showed up.Who are you and what have you done with sprint ! The new one is perfect in every way and has worked flawlessly . The thing about this phone I like best is its ability to learn or take all my contacts from all my accounts and bring them together its amazing. Everyday there have been new apps. All of them free so far witch is excellent and the more I use this device the more of a slave I become to it . I am sure if I had been exposed to the iphone in that manner it would be the same. All things being equal you still like to work with people and devices you know. Even with all things not being equal you sill like to work with people and devices you know. I don't realy care what camp your in you have to be excited! If your a cell phone user hang on I see a wonderful future. I think about what my first cell phone could do 5 years ago and where we are now lol its only going to get better. I hope sprint and the pre will help bring perspective to ATT to think about its prices and service as well as apple to keep them pushing forward maybe they will come out with a removable battery lmao.
Compition is good

[brynn08]

shycelticwitch.....your a part of the ignorant iphony isuers arent you ??? ill stick with my pre and save hundres of dollars a year....while being on a superior network....thank you babe !

[reeltime]

Two things---

#1 Applications Applications Applications. The value in the iPhone is in its applications not its features.
#2 Tethering.. Though not 100% kosher, now that there is a way to do it, I may never want another phone.

[pcman2002]

What Palm should do: I think the Palm WebOS is pretty good. But they really should design a phone with a big screen (with or without keyboard. If you ever use your finger to control the screen, you should note well any screen size smaller than 3.5" will give you pretty hard time to control those touch-screen buttons. Same applies to Android's phone, all the available Android phones come only with 3.2" screen, that's not enough. Palm WebOS and Android OS can certainly compete with iPhone in various aspects, but not their hardware.

[shellcodes_coder]

iPhone is such a crap, it can't even shoot videos. Well...

[bchang1943]

get your new os on the 17th for free and video with 32 gb storage.

[Sandon753]

I posted this on another page, but I'm trying to get out the word that there is a legitimate screen issue that is appearing on many Pre's. I have some photos on other threads. Let me know what you think.

http://www.everythingpre.com/forum/pre-lounge/heat-related-screen-issue-20315.html

http://forums.precentral.net/showthread.php?p=1674476&posted=1#post1674476

[jpg27]

lol thats messed up! ok ok in all fairness all phones have their issues and mine with the iphone was the accelerometer was not changing from portrait to landscape. But no screen????? thats totally messed up. I read on the forum that the person was WAITING to get a PRE replacement?????? MADNESS! when i took my accelerometer mishap iphone 3g in i got a replacement the same day. i was in and out in 15 mins! whoohooo!

[Fil0403]

How much is Apple paying you? I can do the same with the iPhone, here:

I posted this nowhere, but I'm trying to get out the word that there are several legitimate miscellaneous issues that are appearing on many iPhones. People have some photos on other threads. Let me know what you think:

http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/9636.html

http://bindapple.com/iphone-3g-problems/

Other than the fact you were only able to reference 1 issue with the Pre and I was able to reference several with the iPhone, I would say that's prety much the same thing.


@jpg27: Are they as fast replacing the battery for you? Because a Pre user probably takes just around 15 seconds to do that for free.

[Sandon753]

I'm going in today after work to see if I can find a pre without any screen problems. Other than this one issue, the phone is amazing. I know to be patient with first generation phones. Pre > iPhone any day

[Fil0403]

If I had to choose between the 2 right now, I'd personally choose the iPhone,. Then again, Palm has much more experience with smartphones than Apple could ever dream of, so I guess time (not number of sheep waitinh hours in line outside stores waiting to get the latest product with the logo of their favourite company on it) will tell which one is the best. Now if I could choose any smartphone I wanted, that's another story: I would prefer a BlackBerry or a Nokia N97 anytime, IMO they're both better than the hyped iPhone.

[sin946]

I don't think iPhone has any contender yet. Pre is another imitation in crowded arena. iPhone has its own league and it is lonely there, perhaps looking for a challenge. Imitation is imitation not a challenge, I would like to see a groundbreaking innovation in order to qualify to grab a headline "Palm challenges Apple to phone fight".

[jjg-713]

WOW, bunch of isheep here. Although I bought a pre, i will admit that the iphone is a nice peice of tech. People should be excited that Palm have done such an incredible job(software wise). Competition is always good. I doubt that most of you fanboys in here talking jibberish, have actually held or used a pre.

[brynn08]

@malert ATT has the most towers ?? lol no buddy that would be verizon.....and att isnt # 2 in customer care....there actually ranked #3rd and ranked #3 in network performance/dropped calls.....sprint is actually ranked ahead of att and tmobile....proly should go check out jd power and associates for that bit of info......sprints 3g network is far superior than att any day..i have both carriers....i didnt want att but im on my moms family plan....and i travel alot with both phones....so no biased opinoins here buddy....pls state facts the next time u write something....just becuz your one of millions that kiss Steve Jobs ass.....thanks....

[bchang1943]

An Apple killer need to have lots of cash in the bank to give Apple a good run. Apple has usd25 billion in the bag and gathering usd4billing profits a year while Palm survived recently because it raised usd100m. Is this simply media hype?

[bchang1943]

Listen there are 50,000 apps out there for Iphone and growing. Thousands are free. There are less than 50 at last count for Pre. Palm did great for what it is but the challenge is too great. Iphone is giving me a new OS on the 17th for free. I dont know another company doing to me during the past 15 years of buying and using cel phones. Thank you Apple.

[oneAwake]

The majority of those "50,000" app's are redundant and useless, for the record, due to the Pre's classic emulator, legacy PalmOS app's can be ran on the Pre. Also, you are NOT getting a new OS, Apple is "updating" the previous iphones OS with additional features.

[brynn08]

@jpg27......u must be an i-phone user to....first off i wasnt even talking to you....or that other ignorant user....im just stating facts as i read/see/experience......besides what good does a phone do if you cant use it half the time ??? i phone is a nice phone....i just wouldnt switch carriers for it....thats just me.....and im going to reiterate that its not that serious...period....in the US like what 17 million ppl have iphones......2/3 of them have never purchased apple products before in there life...thats the funny part....its a very nice device....i give it that....but lets not praise att for stealing other carriers customers....its that phone that made att the way it is today....i for one again will never purchase it.....let alone pay att for its ridicoulus data plans....plus u have to pay extra for text messaging....but if ppl are naive enough to pay for the phone...they shouldnt say **** about paying for the plans....which now a bunch of iphony users are starting to do....

[jpg27]

well dude i wouldn't know anything about the US plans.. I did hear you guys across there are getting a raw deal with ATT plans...O2 plans here in the UK are very competitive and reasonable. But its fine really...if its the carrier youre worried about you can get an ipod touch and still have the same experience minus a phone. Go ahead m8 youll like it! ;)