Full FeedPre vs iPhone release date, what will happen?
According to recent news, it appears as if Palm will be releasing their Pre sometime in May or June. This could be anywhere from more than a month to a few days before the iPhone 3.0 software and (suspected) new iPhone hardware are released. There’s no doubt that the Pre and the iPhone have already been compared to one another in as many ways as possible before the Pre has even released. However, a few people who have actually been able to hold a Pre say that the iPhone may still be better. After all, it does already have a huge user base and great App Store. The question is, what would be better for Palm, a release before the new iPhone or after?
In my opinion, Palm should definitely try to release the Pre before the new iPhone release. When the new iPhone software (and maybe hardware) comes out, there is going to be tons of press coverage about Apple, a mess that Palm doesn’t want to be lost in. If they release their product before Apple, they may be able to sway customers their way and purchase the Pre. With this, they would then most likely be locked into a two year contract, which would mean that they couldn’t get the new iPhone without hurting their wallet.
If Pre waits until after the iPhone, I think they will most likely not receive nearly as many customers as they might beforehand. Many of the people on the fence for a touch screen device would be sick of waiting for the Pre and make the plunge for the iPhone, especially considering all of the great new features it will soon have. This would obviously leave Palm in an even worse state than they are now. What are your thoughts?
Subscribe to keep up with the latest Apple news and rumors! - 
Subscribe to our feed
Our new podcast: Meet...
We know. Podcasts are so last year - but this one you won't want to miss. Whether it’s a rumor that won’t die, a new product announcement, or just a really good Macintosh or iPhone app find that we have to let you know about, we’ll make sure it’s covered on Appletellcast.
iPhone App Reviews
iPhone Apps. They were great when the App Store was first announced and we could all pick and chose what we wanted, but the number is now overwhelming. Here at Appletell, we'll detail the great iPhone apps we find, and steer you clear from those that aren't worth it even if they're free.
iPhone Game Reviews
As Apple turns the iPhone into one of the most popular gaming devices, the staff of Appletell--gamers and Apple fans alike--are here to help you get the most entertainment value out of your app store purchases.
I don’t think it will matter. Everybody knows how apple operates and has seen the iPhone commercials. People see an update to something that they know is already good and has a HUGE success rate will buy.
Sure I’ve seen a Sprint commercial but never an actual commercial for the Palm Pre. People that don’t keep with tech news have probably never heard of the phone.
I’m gonna love to see the results of this Apple-Palm war. But Palm will lose nevertheless but the results will be interesting to see…
on April 15, 2009 at 10:28 PM - LINKI think that if the Palm Pre launches afterwards it will get lost. Apple may not have immediate new hardware on hand, and may wait maybe a month. The iPhone is after all the software. But I would say more than likely by the way that AT&T has been blabbing about to anyone that will listen, new hardware is coming. The question is, how many in the first round of the iPhone-set that purchased an iPhone will pay the subsidized upgrade price? How many consumers have been sitting on the fence waiting for the chance to upgrade? Who are the potential shoppers out there? I can name a few groups, people with tax refunds, students going to college or high school students buying their first cell phone, people who live on the bleeding-edge of technology, and those who just get a new phone at the end of their contract. What features will make it compelling (higher res camera, video capabilities, faster processors like the one in the iPod Touch or better, prettier…(i could see a color shift…a red or blue or pink but probably grey/silver to match the rest of the line and dropping the white for the higher end model… something about the white that is classic iPod but not upscale… two colors will remain, but I have doubts about white remaining a viable option), and a better battery. Overall there will be some features that will make it a better mobile computing experience. There are only a few features that make the current 3G a phone that is lacking on the hardware side.
The camera and its capabilities are the most glaring. I mean you have phone and camera companies leveraging those technologies in an intelligent fashion. I look at the LG Viewty II as a device that couples an 8MP camera to your phone in one device. How it will work together is another question, but they are thinking what will the consumer want. Sony Ericsson’s line of camera phones fail in one instance, they can’t seem to get their tools together. They have the Playstation, a computer hardware market, a camera (vid and still) market, and they have Ericsson. They have all the tools, and yet they can’t seem to get more into one master device. Think of the users out there that would love to have that one device with the proper add-ons. Apple’s opening up of this 30 pin connectors to tethering allowing more inputs to happen for their Touch-based device in iPhone 3.0 can allow game makers to come together to design a peripheral attachment that the iPhone or iPod Touch would lay in for the use of traditional gaming with buttons. Apple got game makers to think outside of the box with the touch-based OS, but traditional gaming on the Apple devices would be a joy for users.
That said, why hasn’t Sony stepped into the fray? Why haven’t they pushed a phone with a high-end processor and downloadable content through their store that has backwards hooks into the PSP so that physical media and all the bulk required to run it could be cut out to make a faster, slimmer device that you have to take everywhere. I am saying that Apple being this sought after is not because it is per say a better device. They have been able to run roughshod over the similar products because of the overall integration of their devices on the hardware and software side. Analysts over the past couple of days have remarked how the iPhone is one of those rare devices that has become more useful and increased in perceived value over the life of ownership. A new version of the same device is not the only way to make a better device. Sometimes updating software is a way to add value. As a child, I hated the way that Sega would create consoles and abandon them when they made new hardware. It was like this continuous sense of betrayal as I watched Nintendo push more releases on older consoles for longer periods of time.
Window Mobile 6.5 should have no excuse for not porting its Zune player and making support for its content a priority in its requirements for hardware developers. The MS team does not seem to want to jump into the fray with its own hardware, but it should be guiding development by saying this is where we want to go privately with its hardware supporters so that WM6.5 devices can be upgraded to WM7 when the software becomes available. There shouldn’t be a WM6.5 device not capable of running WM7 OS since it is obviously in development and they should have a rough idea about what will be required to run it. Zune should be the player of choice on WM devices. That is not to say that 3rd party developers should be locked out, but that the Zune Player should be a selling point in the WM OS. The OS should have a mobile gaming developers connection. Apple’s praise for the iPhone and iPod Touch as a superior gaming platform when the words “Apple” and “gaming” have not been words readily used together in Apple’s history. The X-BOX division of MS was one of the few profitable devices from MS, and there should be a robust downloadable gaming division.
Blackberry rested on its high-valued place in the smartphone market, but while I am not calling for its demise, I am saying that they should be looking for sound partnerships, because out of all the hardware companies, I would say in the multifunction device market of consumer oriented smartphones, they would be the most vulnerable. BB has its name and e-mail, but what of the other features (music player, camera, WIFI). Yes the BB has features other phones don’t have like TV tuners, but the question I am asking is has BB made the acquisitions to make it a sought after device in the consumer market? What games are there? How rich it the developer community? How FUN is the BB? That is the problem, as a business device it probably great, but as a consumer device, the BB is not fun and may lose it advantage in the business environment because of the versatility of other devices with physical keyboards( Sony, Palm Pre, WM6.5, Samsung)
The companies I see on the future of the Smartphone markets will have but are not limited to the following:
a great media experience (camera, video, games, music, and video player)
great for communication (GPS, 3G, 4G, WIFI G/N, Bluetooth A2DP/EDR)
a great browser (Webkit Webkit Webkit… unless you can find something faster and better to build on top of I would get used to that one, CSS3, HTML5, JAVA, Flash if we must)
a great look
a great OS with a large and diverse developer community
Sony, MS, and Samsung/LG should be on equal footing with Apple and Palm and BB, but their failure to force their different internal factions to work together has caused them to fall behind. The camera people, should be in the room with the gaming/software people, phone people, screen people, video people, design people, and others to design not just one device, but plan for the longterm development strategy for 3-6 years.
Developers are coming to Apple because they know that Apple has a set screen size and one device to develop for with a over 30 million devices like it and more to come in the future with the same underlying code base. The built-in store approaching a billion downloads shows what other OSs are having to compete with.
I as a consumer like small devices. I like it more when those devices come in one package. I like it best that a company cares to make it better after I have been sold on the product… you know after they have my cash, they continue to take care of me and my device.
Follow me on Twitter @ http://www.twitter.com/aaronsbenson
on April 16, 2009 at 02:15 AM - LINK