While we have had numerous comparisions of Palm Pre and the Apple iPhone here, is a quick preview of what the Pre brings against the iPhone 3G. Of course, not forgetting that the real competition would be between Palm Pre and the iPhone 3 (Pro?).
Lot of Palm Pre details had leaked out last week, and OnlyGizmos has a mini roundup of the same. Many have termed Palm Pre as just another iPhone killer that won’t do much (Palm will die?), while others (like myself) have shown hopes that this would be the founding stone of Palm’s revival!
iPhone 3G is a remarkable device. It packs in 8GB/16GB memory with everything that an iPod can do, amazing music, incredible video playback, beautiful touchscreen with multitouch gestures – simply unmatched by anything else out there! But Palm Pre is probably the only competitor that comes with an equally compelling capacitive touchscreen and good multitouch gestures. What made the iPhone a real killer was the OS X backing to the hardware, and the Palm WebOS is good competition to the same. Pre Packs in a 8GB memory that would do just fine for most people (though iPhone gives you a 16GB version already).
iPhone is a tall lady with a slim and handy design 😛 while the Palm Pre is a sweet baby that you can carry much easily. iPhone sports a bigger touchscreen and lacks a physical keyboard, the slideout Keyboard is something that makes the Palm Pre a hot attraction for old Treo users, Nokia E71 users and Blackberry users – who want to get their hands on a multitouch device.
Both phone feature a 3.5mm headset jack, and now as we learn the Palm Pre syncs flawlessly with the Apple iTunes.
Both devices have their own killer set of features. The Palm Pre manages to catchup with almost all that the iPhone 3G can do. And being a year older than the iPhone 3G it adds up Universal search, multitasking, camera with flash, accelerometer, proximity sensor, video recording (ok Pre doesn’t support Video Recording yet 🙁 ,bThx Greg), sms forwarding & Copy paste 😛 etc.
While Palm hasn’t outed the SDK yet there are some good apps preloaded on the Palm Pre. Expect a YouTube app as well. The Palm Pre also lets you use the device as USB mass storage thus making it more open than the iPhone 3G. Web browsing on the Palm Pre is said to be swift and something that’s better than the iPhone according to some early handson. The biggest advantage of the iPhone against the Nokias and others was the amazing web features. That’s no more a USP. But iPhone does have a .4″ bigger screen and students surely love it in colleges 😛
BGR has had an early hands on with the device, and they have given an early review already. While the build quality and QWERTY quality was something that was a big concern according to them, the WebOS is certainly a winner.
With amazing data integration, rumored Gmail Push, good media, video, multitouch – Pre has a nice start. What hurts is a) Sprint: It isn’t the best carrier 2) CDMA: Global roaming? 3) GSM version wont come till year end :(4) $299 pricing (why the rebate complication) 5) App Store? 6) Just 8Gb memory, Nokia / Apple are moving to 32GB now 7) Gaming.
Specification Fight: Palm Pre and the iPhone 3G
| Feature | iPhone 3G | Palm Pre | ||
| Network | GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900 / GSM 850 HSDPA 2100 | 3G EVDO Rev A | ||
| OS | OS X 2.x | Palm web os | ||
| Display | TFT touchscreen, 16M colors (Multitouch) | 3.1″ touch screen24-bit color 320×480 resolution HVGA display | ||
| Camera | 2MP | 3.15 MegaPixel, 2048×1536 pxl, enhanced fixed focus, LED flash | ||
| EDGE | yes | yes | ||
| Internet Browser | Safari Mobile (Full HTML) | WAP 2.0 / HTML (PocketIE | ||
| Messaging | SMS, Mail (IM vi) | IM, SMS, and MMS | ||
| FM | no | |||
| Processor | 412Mhz | TI OMAP 3430, running at 600MHz | ||
| Battery | Internal, GSM Talktime 10h (1150 MAh) | Standard battery, Li-Ion: 1150 or 1200 MAh | ||
| Colours | Black / White | Bblack | ||
| Connectivity | Bluetooth (only headset) / WiFi | Bluetooth / WiFimicro usb connector with usb2.0 | ||
| Memory | 8GB and 16GB | 8GBUSB mass storage support | ||
| Weight | 133gms |
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| Others | 3.5mm headset jackiTunes App Store | 3.5mm headset jackUniversal Search (Phone aps+contacts + faceboo) Multitasking |
The AT&T list of iPhone 3G vs Pre isn’t a real concern. There are too may things in favor of Pre already. With a more compact design, a qwerty, better camera, flash, equally good (if not better) www browsing and some innovative and new features – Palm Pre scores over iPhone 3G for me. iPhone 3.0 … well as I said before, that’s yet to come. Your opinion? Leave us a word below in the comments field 🙂