1) the button isn't a trackball, just a shiny button and part of the gesture area
2) it does play video. In one of the interviews with Ed Colligan that is online, it shows the device playing a movie in landscape mode.
3) more will be revealed in the time before we launch
felix
· 11 months ago
Thanks for the corrections, Ben! I had read so much, I was going off a Gizmodo wrap up piece and I guess somehow they just had the wrong info in it. Sigh. I'm disappointed (a tiny bit) about it being a button instead of a trackball, I've had a little jealousy about those blackberry trackballs! But that's great news that it'll play video - will it take video also? That'd be the cat's meow.
I'm looking forward to seeing this in the flesh. I read that this was a linux based OS, is this related in any way to the OS designed for the Foleo? Or was it a brand new beast? Reasonable to expect, assuming success of the platform, that this might show up on a netbookish like thing? Inquiring minds want to know! :)
22209
· 11 months ago
I'm excited about the Pre, but worried that Sprint will require the Simply Everything plan (~$70/month) for its use as they do for the Instinct. I might be willing to pay over $200 one-time for the Pre, but not with a $70 recurring charge.
felix
· 11 months ago
I think that's a little more expensive than my iPhone plan, but it does give unlimited minutes and texts also... if that was available on AT&T, I might go for that. What plan would you like to see?
22209
· 11 months ago
I've got an awesome plan that I'd like to keep .. it's the earlier version of the SERO (Sprint Employee Referral Offer(?)). I've got unlimited data, unlimited text, and 500 anytime minutes (nights/weekends start at 7pm) for $30/month. I'm happy using that on my Centro, and can't imagine a phone cool enough to make me pay more than double monthly.
Robin
· 11 months ago
Nice analysis. Most people I talk to seem to be saying that the best thing about it is the competition it gives to Apple. I've said elsewhere that the people who should be most afraid of this are RIM because migration for their users would be a plain win, whereas iPod/iPhone customers would have to sacrifice games and media. Also it's worth remembering that by the time the Pre comes out, it will be 2 years since apple started selling the iphone, and a year since the last hardware upgrade. We could well be looking a significant iPhone hardware and software rev around that time. I can't believe that Apple don't know that springboard is in need of an overhaul, and we know they are doing 'something' about background operation. Just those two things would eliminate most of the apparent OS advantage of the Pre. They could even legitimately use the card metaphor for app switching since they designed it in the first place for mobile safari. I'd say the single other thing that Apple could do to distance themselves from the pack again would be to double the speed.
felix
· 11 months ago
Yeah, I've got another post brewing about the smartphone market, but I think it's going to be a big 2-3 year race to establish #2 and it's between RIMM, Palm and Android. I'm really not sure at this point who's got the edge... if Palm is able to regain the luster of its brand quickly, I might bank on them, but I suspect it'll be a harder road even with top notch gear. We'll see!
I'm with you also, I'm sure we'll a major update in hardware and software for the iPhone in a year or so that'll bring them up to speed. I would really not mind seeing a speed bump on the iPhone, a little extra horsepower would go a nice long way. :)
mpodrazik
· 11 months ago
Palm is definitely back in the race, but I don't know where that puts them in the multi-year race you posit. The new OS looks sweet, but they are missing a key business advantage that the other players have.
Apple obviously redefined the market and are the team to beat, especially when combined with their dominant IPod position and ascendant Mac hardware/software. Everybody loves the brand. They are integrated. Nuff said.
RIM has historically been dominant among business users, the BlackBerry is ubiquitous. This can continue to be leveraged, (the client I'm at, for example, outlaws IPhone access to the corporate Exchange server but BlackBerries are supported). The movement of everybody to more powerful smart phones was inevitable. Their problem is that Apple captured everyone's attention at the critical tipping point with a killer product.
Android's big, while unproven, selling-point is that it's open source. Google is not the hardware maker and anybody can run the damn thing. They don't need to have these exclusive relationships with carriers since potentially many many handset makers will have it on many many devices on many many carriers. It's the Microsoft strategy vs. the Apple strategy, but with a free Windows license. Regardless of the features this is a very attractive option I would think.
Don't count out Nokia and Microsoft either. Windows Mobile sucks but it is impossible that Microsoft will allow all this action to go unanswered for long. The whole Azure/Live/Mesh combination could be a force to be reckoned with, and now that Symbian is open source as well who knows.
Anyway, the Pre appears to be very impressive, but from a one-foot-in-the-grave company exclusively partnered with the distant third-place carrier having their own problems (hemorrhaging customers, me included), its still gonna be tough road for them. They would need a big selling point. Now if they come out with a WiMAX-enabled version...
felix
· 11 months ago
These are great points - I have a longer post brewing on this topic, but my basic thinking is that with the launch of the iPhone essentially came the mainstreaming of the smartphone. The market went from niche to mainstream over the past two years and will is and will continue to grow quickly. Thus, more or less, the market essentially started two years ago - what had gone on prior to that is irrelevant to success in the new market. RIMM had a historical advantage but now they're saddled with a legacy OS ill equipped to meet this new crop of next gen mobile OS's head on, something big is going to need to happen on this front and soon. Android is a real contender - but they are saddled with a consortium of 30 odd partners with conflicting needs, I have a grave fear that the speed of their innovation is going to be hampered by this. Microsoft and Nokia, in my opinion are worse off in this new landscape saddled with both legacy OS's, no impending new ones and as far as I can tell are desperately trying to stay afloat. If WebOS and the Pre come out soon and live up to most of the hype, I think it'll really put Palm back on the map.
wka
· 11 months ago
I could see WebOS encouraging Apple to make it possible to run Dashboard-style Javascript/HTML-based quasi-apps on the iPhone. I seem to recall reading some rumors about Dashboard widgets on the iPhone long ago, but they never panned out.
felix
· 11 months ago
I hope that WebOS turns out to actually kick ass and it encourages Apple to make some very significant changes to mobile OSX! Conversely, I'd love desktop OSX to be able to run some of my iPhone apps as apps or widgets or something. Obviously input is problematic, but still...
Robin
· 11 months ago
Any apps you are thinking of in particular, felix?
felix
· 11 months ago
Nothing in particular, although now that I'm thinking about it, some of the small games would be fun to have for a quick diversion, or the things like KICKMap , or some other minor apps that behave a lot like dashboard widgets anyway... I guess the Google Mobile App just got some experimental love for the Mac, which I haven't checked out yet.
What I really want is simply an App Store for OSX. How awesome would that be, for the desktop, for the iPhone and... dare I say it... for AppleTV. :)
Robin
· 11 months ago
Heh - well you know my view on the AppleTV app-store. I too would like a Mac app store, and I'm sure they're thinking about it. However I think they need to do some work on it while it's still on the iPhone. I'd hate to see the Mac become the domain of thousands of $0.99 fart apps!
ronin
· 11 months ago
It's too bad they didn't bring back Graffiti. Keyboard is ok and all but it would've been pretty cool to input using finger Graffiti gestures. ;-p
felix
· 11 months ago
Lol, I have no comment on this! I continue to question your sanity, though.
All Comments
2) it does play video. In one of the interviews with Ed Colligan that is online, it shows the device playing a movie in landscape mode.
3) more will be revealed in the time before we launch
I'm looking forward to seeing this in the flesh. I read that this was a linux based OS, is this related in any way to the OS designed for the Foleo? Or was it a brand new beast? Reasonable to expect, assuming success of the platform, that this might show up on a netbookish like thing? Inquiring minds want to know! :)
I'm with you also, I'm sure we'll a major update in hardware and software for the iPhone in a year or so that'll bring them up to speed. I would really not mind seeing a speed bump on the iPhone, a little extra horsepower would go a nice long way. :)
Apple obviously redefined the market and are the team to beat, especially when combined with their dominant IPod position and ascendant Mac hardware/software. Everybody loves the brand. They are integrated. Nuff said.
RIM has historically been dominant among business users, the BlackBerry is ubiquitous. This can continue to be leveraged, (the client I'm at, for example, outlaws IPhone access to the corporate Exchange server but BlackBerries are supported). The movement of everybody to more powerful smart phones was inevitable. Their problem is that Apple captured everyone's attention at the critical tipping point with a killer product.
Android's big, while unproven, selling-point is that it's open source. Google is not the hardware maker and anybody can run the damn thing. They don't need to have these exclusive relationships with carriers since potentially many many handset makers will have it on many many devices on many many carriers. It's the Microsoft strategy vs. the Apple strategy, but with a free Windows license. Regardless of the features this is a very attractive option I would think.
Don't count out Nokia and Microsoft either. Windows Mobile sucks but it is impossible that Microsoft will allow all this action to go unanswered for long. The whole Azure/Live/Mesh combination could be a force to be reckoned with, and now that Symbian is open source as well who knows.
Anyway, the Pre appears to be very impressive, but from a one-foot-in-the-grave company exclusively partnered with the distant third-place carrier having their own problems (hemorrhaging customers, me included), its still gonna be tough road for them. They would need a big selling point. Now if they come out with a WiMAX-enabled version...
What I really want is simply an App Store for OSX. How awesome would that be, for the desktop, for the iPhone and... dare I say it... for AppleTV. :)
Mac app store, and I'm sure they're thinking about it. However I think they
need to do some work on it while it's still on the iPhone. I'd hate to see
the Mac become the domain of thousands of $0.99 fart apps!