On Saturday, June 6, I stood in a line that was not as long as I had anticipated to be one of the first to purchase the Palm Pre, Palm’s long-awaited answer to the iPhone. And after having it for about a week, I’d say it’s a nice, fun device that’s great for the everyday consumer. The iPhone insured that the touch screen was the wave of the future, and Palm has fallen in line to deliver a touch-screen device that really is comparable to the iPhone.
I will say, however, that for business users—people who rely on seamless communication over several different media for their work—the Pre is not quite up to snuff—yet. It does integrate with Exchange overall, but not quite as well as the iPhone. Its security features are not quite there yet. Navigating through emails and using the copy and paste function are a bit cumbersome. And the highly-touted universal search function needs some improvement (right now, it really only works with the Internet, Google Maps, and your contacts).
Still, we have to remember that this is a first-generation device, meaning that it has been released into the world only able to function at about 80% of its potential. Over time, as its applications are updated, the Pre will mature into a very strong device. Let’s not forget that the almighty iPhone had quite a few first-generation problems when it was first released—more than the Pre does now, in fact. It just had the luxury of being so far ahead of its time that no one really cared.
Overall, then, I’d say that I’m impressed with the Pre; Palm has delivered in a market that at least appears to be dominated by the Apple Empire (whether such is really the case is debatable). I’m just not quite ready to recommend it to business users. If you’re looking for a cool new phone for personal use, though, I’d say go for it. The Apple Store is not the only place to go, after all.
-Sean Wright