Palm Pre Review, Competition For The iPhone


Introduction

The Palm Pre is likely one of the most anticipated smartphones to arrive this year. First announced at CES 2009, the Palm Pre has been called an iPhone killer, Palm’s comeback device, and Sprint’s savior. Needless to say, there are a lot of expectations for the Pre.

Two of the first things you’re likely to notice about the Pre are its sleek, clean design and its vibrant display. The Palm Pre also boasts of the ability to multitask, it has a new notification system, a physical keyboard, and a screen with multi-touch capabilities. All of these features combine to make a phone that appears to be one of the best iPhone rivals yet.


On the inside, the Pre runs Palm’s latest operating system, called webOS. This new OS has also received a lot of hype. Although it’s almost hard to believe, there’s been talk about a Linux-based Palm smartphone since 2004. Obviously, the Palm Pre and webOS have been a long time coming.

As a company, Palm has certainly experienced highs and lows. At the peak, Palm was synonymous with smart handheld devices. Prior to the Pre’s launch though, the company had lost much of its market share. Some users had even given up on Palm and discounted the company as a worthy competitor in the smartphone market. Given this bumpy ride, you can see just how much Palm has riding on this new smartphone and OS.


So how does the Pre compare to other smartphones on the market? And will the Pre and webOS be enough to save Palm? What about Sprint—will the Pre help this struggling carrier better compete against the likes of Verizon Wireless and AT&T? These are a few of the questions we’ll attempt to answer in our hands-on review in the following pages.


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