Buy Microsoft Office Home & StudentThe form factor and overall look of the device is amazing for the most part. The solid gloss black color screams for the consumer to pick it up, the bright clear screen draws you in with the millions of colors, the slideout qwerty keyboard screams to be pressed, ans the great angled slide grabs the attention and keeps the eyes focused on it. In a design for a device you cant ask for more than that, but with the good comes the bad. When the device is slid open revealing the keyboard it exposes a semi-sharp cheese like slicer that overlaps the recessed keys so they don't make contact with the screen when closed. This to the frequent phone user is troublesome since the keyboard is a huge thing on a device and having an imperfection there can be the beginning of the end. The only other flaw with the general make-up of the device is the "Oreo Problem" that many users have faced. The oreo problem is where the phone can move quite a bit from side to side as if you were un-twisting an oreo. (you can check this out i the video below and sprint does replace these devices with new ones.)
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(Credit:
SoftSailer.com)
What I Look Forward to Most
As I have said and implied in many of my posts, I love my Pre. I have had mostly positive (mostly very positive, actually,) experiences with the phone since I got it. It works with me seamlessly for the most part and has allowed me to stay in contact with the world in ways I either could not or could not enjoy with my Blackberry Pearl. I am thrilled to be a Pre user now, and I expect many positive future Pre experiences.
Like any good consumer of technology, however, I am always looking forward to the next fun technology-mediated experience. So, in that spirit, I would like to note a few, as yet un-had, experiences I am looking forward to with my Pre:
External Notification LightThe feature I think I would most like to experience on the Pre in future is being able to tell that I have a message without having to wake up the phone to check over and over again. Ideally, the home button might light differently for different kinds of notifications--for example, blue for voicemail, red for SMS, and green for email--but I would be thrilled if it lit up at all to indicate there was a notification I needed to review.
Visual Voicemail
I hope this is in the works 'cause this would be a great feature on the Pre--one I have have only heard about as a cell user and never experienced except for my limited experiments with Google Voice. The Pre is a phone that already excels at messaging and notifications in many ways, but without visual voicemail and (another missing feature I mention below), there are limits to how excellent the phone can be for messaging.
Forwarding SMS/MMS Messages
As it is, I do a lot of SMS and MMSing and I love doing both of these on my Pre, but I really look forward to being able to forward SMS/MMS messages.
Copying and Pasting More Easily
Yes, there is a way to copy/paste currently. But it doesn't work in all fields (received SMS's, for example) and it's kind of a pain to have to hold two keys down and drag. I don't do it very often because it's a bit too complicated, but I would do it a lot if it was made more easy. WebOS 1.1 has apparently got an easier method enabled in Memos--a way that involves some tapping for whole word and paragraph selection. This is the kind of thing that qualifies as "more easily" for me.
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As the songs goes "IT'S SO HARD TO SAY GOOD BYE!" This is the finale of a beautiful experience. I've never won anything before and it was truly a great surprise to me when I won the Palm Pre as well as the opportunity to blog about it. I've never blogged before so this was a eye opening experience. I've been reading some of the other bloggers experiences with the Palm Pre and I must say I've learned a lot. I also learned a lot with my own experience on the Pre.
A few weeks ago a critic said that all this blogging about the Pre is "transparent", in other words, if someone gave us the Palm Pre we would only write good things about it. Well I'm here to tell you that is not true. In all of these blogs there have been negative and positive things said about the Pre. I don't think anyone held back because someone gave us a phone. I know for myself I have expressed all the negative things about the Pre, for example: 1) I don't like the key pad 2) there is no video recorder 3) there is no voice command dialing for your wired headset 4) no automatic answer with the wired headset like the Palm Pro 5) also no voice recording 6) and last, the size, I would like the Pre to be a bit longer, about the same size of the Palm Pro, I feel more comfortable with that size phone. Now these negatives are all the things I look for in a phone and the Palm Pre does not have them but I do feel they will be added in the future, so I can wait. However, having had the Palm Pre for a few weeks now, the positives really out weigh the negatives as far as importance. Here are all the positives about the Palm Pre: 1) I love the internet, how the Pre will open up videos on the web and play them right on the spot without having to save the file and then open it up later. 2) I love how you can open up multiple apps and have them all running at the same time 3) Even though I don't like the key pad I'm really glad it has one because I'd prefer a literal key pad rather than a virtual one, I make to many mistakes with the virtual key pad. 4) I love the 3.2 mega pixel camera and flash, takes awesome pictures 5) I like the Apps store, sure there aren't enough but I'm sure with time and lots of patience the Apps will come rolling in. 6) I like the fact that you can put your old Palm OS with the use of Classic Apps on the Pre. If you have any old games or programs you can install them there and they'll run fine. 7) I really like the fact that the Pre has a very loud speaker. Easy to listen to music as well as hear a person clearly on a phone call. So you see the positives do out weigh the negatives. This is the phone I've been waiting for and as soon as I can put it into my name I will be selling my Blackberry Curve and my Palm Pro on E-bay.
Now for the hard part, to say "GOOD BYE!" I've had a great time blogging about the Palm Pre and I just want to say thanks to the powers that be, CBS Interactive, Sprint and CNET, for opening up this forum to "TEST DRIVE THE PALM PRE" and for picking me as a blogger. The irony of life is "WITH TIME EVERYTHING MUST CHANGE, NOTHING STAYS THE SAME" so like a chameleon I'm changing and moving on with the rest of my life, hand in hand, side by side with the Palm Pre. It's been a blast blogging with the other bloggers and hopefully in the future we'll cross paths again. Life is good, so take care and until we meet again, PEACE. ;o)
(Credit:
Sprint)
So, in the spirit of moving forward with the Palm Pre, I have collected the following ideas based on happy Pre user experiences. Some of these are pretty great.
Maybe Sprint/Palm should have another contest for the best Pre marketing idea?
PreCentral member "Meriweather" describes one possible TV commercial:
Have a series of ads that play on the use of cards and multi-tasking--an arena where Palm has an advantage over the iPhone. For example, an ad with a street magician saying, "pick a card, any card" to a throng, and you pan in, and he flips through a series of apps on the Pre, showing calendar, Pandora, email, photos, TV, whatever you want to show off. People in the crowd are oohing and aahing, and shouting out, "we want pandora", "play a video" "check email", etc. Then the magician says, "no problem we can do all of them. All at the same time." The crowd cheers, except one guy with slumped shoulders, who slinks away.
"Ronlongo" describes his idea:
How about an ad where they show all of life's things going on all over the place (meetings, tasks lists, emails, etc.) like a jumbled chaos maybe as separate (but live) images moving around at random on the screen and the actor going crazy trying to manage and remember it all.Then swap to another actor. Suddenly all the activities resolve into a deck of playing cards again with live pictures on them. For example, one depicting a meeting at work going on, another showing Little Pete's baseball game, etc. the actor shuffles through the cards with ease managing them with complete ease. The meeting card depicts the meeting come to an end and the actor discards the card.
Finally the actor pulls all the cards together into a stack. Touches the top of the stack (where the Pre's power button is) and the stack resolves into a Palm Pre.
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(Credit:
Sprint)
My post earlier today about the crazy Palm Pre lady commercial led me to read a bit more deeply about Sprint and Palm ads, and during this search, I decided to try to visit Sprint's Now Network "vanity" site (live since May, I think) on my Pre.
If you haven't yet seen the "Now" site, it's definitely worth a look and a listen. However, don't expect to experience it "live" on your Pre. The closest Pre users can come to viewing it on their phones is looking at this screen shot. I thought it was kind of funny that the "Now" phone on the "Now" network couldn't access the "Now" experience on their vanity site, so I had to share that.
Now, since users can't have the full experience of the site via the Pre, let me explain what that experience is like...
When you navigate to the site, a woman's voice (which, somewhat ironically, sounds as if it is from the future) welcomes you to now and announces the current time. What you see is a rapidly changing, flipping, fluttering version of the screen shot above with what sounds to me like a plane flying in the background.
The page is essentially a live mosaic of constantly updating stats about random things: how many people are getting a spray tan right now, how much milk vs. soda is being consumed, how many planes are in the air, the number of texts being sent on Sprint phones, how many workers are out sick right now, etc. Periodically, the futuristic female voice reports a "Now" stat and makes other announcements like, for example, "All content is rated 'N' for..." What else? "Now!"
It is actually pretty cool, so check it out on a desk/laptop sometime.
Note: I would like to acknowledge that it's not Sprint's fault that the Pre won't play with their "Now" site. The Pre just isn't there yet (I'm not a programmer, but I'm guessing it's a Flash thing).
Here's one little area where I'm not so pleased with the Pre. I'm used to being able to set different rings for text messages, phone calls, and voice mails. While you can set individual ringers for your favorite contacts, the little bleep for texts, emails, and voice mails is the same.
I like to know when I've received a text. It's my main form of communication from my phone. I would rather not know when I've got a new email, and I'd like a different ring for my voice mail.
Please, Palm, make these customizable in a future update!
(Credit:
d0lph1nK1ng)
It looks like I'm going to have to stop being so lazy and find access to Mac OS 10.5+ so that I can get filecoaster on my Pre so that I can install the latest and, perhaps, greatest homebrew app to date..
Yes, that's right: There is now a Google Voice homebrew app that looks too good to pass up.
If homebrew app installing is not so much your style, vote over at Google Voice for them to work on a native app for the Pre. For now, as Derek over at PreCentral explains:
Blackberry and Android owners can get apps. iPhone users, well, they've just been blocked out of the service thanks to Apple's insanely terrible app policies. Seems like a good opportunity for Palm, doesn't it?Do you want such an application for webOS? Of course you do.
Mosey on over to Google Voice's suggest a feature page, scroll down to the mobile applications section, and check off Palm Application. Hopefully Google will make it and Palm will accept it and you, friend, will use it.
So, um...what are you waiting for? Vote already!
In answer to a question on my previous post, yes, two of the Pre's falls resulted in scuffs on the corners. Guess that's what happens when a smooth, shiny object collides with concrete... Sigh.
In keeping with a review of the Pre's hardware durability, I wanted to touch on the little USB port cover. This baby fits in there tight, almost too tight. There are days when I'm not sure I'll get it open... Once it is pulled out I feel like it's going to stay on, unlike other phones I've had where that piece is quickly lost.
The Pre's screen seems to be pretty durable. My Instinct's screen scratched very easily. I am being more careful with the Pre, but honestly, I'm rough on gadgets and I'm surprised my screen still looks like new.
A small complaint: The battery cover is nearly impossible to remove. I had to view the serial number under the battery while talking to a Sprint rep and my husband and I both struggled with the phone for almost three whole minutes before removing the cover. Even then I'm not sure we removed it correctly. Why can you press the release and then just slide it off???
The other complaint I have is the lack of removable memory. My previous phones had micro-SD cards I could remove and slide into an adapter that fit in my laptop's card reader. This got rid of the need for an extra cable. I really wish this was an option with the Palm Pre.
Since I have been a Sprint user for coming up on a decade now, I took its service level for granted. I am going to attempt to rectify that now with some basic notes on how the service is with Sprint and the Pre.
While I cannot compare against personal experience (see above), I do have friends with a mix of cellular carriers and I can compare against them. In my area (Seattle), I have rarely noticed an instance where I got worse service than others around me and have noted several times to be getting any/better/more reception in places that my friends are not.
And for me, that has always been my biggest boost about Sprint. I seem to get service everywhere (aside from a trip through South Dakota) and other than when I had to order a new phone and change service plans, I have never even had to interact with Sprint's customer service, which is what most complaints about Sprint seem to stem from. Also on the plus side is that I have the least expensive bill of anyone that I know and that even includes some friends who do not have any sort of data plan on their phone.
Not only is the service prevalent but it is fast as well which is good because I often have to use Sprint's service to cover for the completely abysmal performance by cable and internet company (No, it's not Comcast. I wish I had Comcast) which constantly drops my internet service for hours at time. That has resulted in me spending time actually forced to use my Pre's web browser to get work done and that it can cover for that in a pinch is another feather in Sprint and Palm's caps.
