My Thoughts on the Palm Pre

Okay, so it’s been a while since I’ve posted, but I’m working on remedying that right now. Without revealing too much, let’s just say I’ll be making some time to do a lot more tech writing in the near future. If you’re interested in what I’ve been working in for the past few months, check out my work on the /Filmcast podcast, /Film, Twitter, and my Tumblog.

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It’s scary how quickly things change in the tech industry. Just a few months after I wrote about my technolust for the T Mobile G1, Palm came out of nowhere to deliver one of the most surprising CES presentations ever with their unveiling of the Palm Pre. It was perfect timing, especially given Apple’s limp and Jobs-less Macworld 2009 presentation just a few days before. By then, I was well aware of all the problems people have had with the T Mobile G1, and my unbridled enthusiasm for that phone was a bit more tempered as I waited for a revamped model with better battery life and design.

Along came the Palm Pre–a phone I like to refer to as the first real “iPhone killer”. I know that’s a loaded statement, but in this case I think it truly applies. The Pre is of course building on the iPhones success, but its improvements over Apple’s platform are fairly significant. Whereas the iPhone is media and gaming focused, Palm is taking things back to what made them famous with the Palm Pilot–productivity.

This may just be me, but I find the focus on productivity is something I’d appreciate on my phone moreso than (battery draining) media and games. Palm’s emphasis on getting things done starts with the Pre’s physical keyboard, and continues to the phone’s multitasking capabilities and the Synergy data sharing across a variety services. From everything I’ve seen, the Pre’s aim is to make your life in our information saturated world a bit easier. It’s an objective that directly builds upon Palm’s beginnings in the PDA market, and it also shows how serious they are about reclaiming smartphone marketshare from the likes of the Blackberry and Windows Mobile.

I know I’m late to the party with covering this, but I just had to express my excitement over the Pre. Not only is it a great looking device that could give the iPhone some much needed competition, but it’s a great story as well. Palm’s future is based upon the success of this phone. So just as we geeks are eagerly anticipating every bit of information about this device, I’m sure that Palm is anxious to see how well it performs.

Palm’s been very careful about releasing any information on the Pre’s pricing and availability, but word is that we’ll finally know the details in the next few weeks. I should hope so, because Palm is surely working hard to get this thing on the street in June. The release is perfect timing for me since I’m looking to replace my Helio Ocean, and it should also coincide with Apple’s latest iPhone refresh.

Like many, I will be making an epic purchasing decision between the Pre and iPhone, and I can only hope that the Pre lives up to the hype.