Palm's $200 Pre Smartphone Debuts With Positive Reviews

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 4, 2009 - 11:59am.

Los Angeles - Smartphone maker Palm (NASD: PALM) on Thursday introduced the Pre, its new multitouch handset intended to compete with Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iPhone, and early reviews from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and influential gadget blogs are largely positive. The Pre, which will go on sale Saturday from Sprint for $200 after a $100 mail-in rebate, features a slide-out physical keyboard, unlike the iPhone, and also allows multiple applications to be run at the same time.

Other advantages cited over the current iPhone models are copy-and-paste, MMS messaging, and the inclusion of unlimited text messaging in the basic $70 service plan.

The Pre can also sync directly with Apple's iTunes software, so users can upload their song libraries to the phone as if it were an iPhone or iPod.

Shortcomings of the Pre cited by multiple reviewers included a lackluster applications store at launch, weak battery life, lack of voice control or visual voicemail.

"The Pre will be a hit, but the iPhone isn't going away," wrote David Pogue in The New York Times.

"All in all, I believe the Pre is a smart, sophisticated product that will have particular appeal for those who want a physical keyboard," wrote The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg.

"It is thoughtfully designed, works well and could give the iPhone and BlackBerry strong competition -- but only if it fixes its app store and can attract third-party developers."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/technology/personaltech/04pogue.html

http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/03/palm-pre-review/

http://gizmodo.com/5277499/palm-pre-review

http://www.palm.com/us/products/phones/pre/