Palm Pre, webOS: Software outshines device

June 26, 2009, 11:22 AM —  CIO.com — 

Introduction: Say Hello to Pre and webOS

Ever since Palm unveiled the Pre and its brand new mobile operating system, webOS, in January at the CES 2009 show, Palm's smartphone has been the talk of the Web, consuming the tech blogosphere and frequently headlining on such sites as WallStreetJournal.com and CNN.com.

That's for good reason. Palm, once king of the PDA space with its Pilot and Treo handhelds, has fallen from grace, and the Pre, along with webOS, represents what may prove to be Palm's final effort at a comeback against those other little smartphone makers, RIM and Apple.

If the Pre is a hit, Palm's down-and-out days could be forgotten as quickly as, say, the Foleo. But if Pre falls flat, further reducing confidence in Palm and its wares, the company may never recover.

I spent some time with the Pre at CES and again at CTIA a few months ago, and I've had a review unit for two weeks now. While I do not think the Pre is a true iPhone or BlackBerry competitor--sorry Palm, apologies Sprint - the webOS certainly caught my attention. And if anything's going to save Palm now, it'll be webOS that does the trick.

It's like I wrote back in January after the first time I laid thumbs on the Pre: "[I]t's not Palm's latest device that has me truly excited; it's the OS." After spending some quality time with the Pre, I'm proud to say I was dead on with my early assessment. But don't just trust me; see for yourself.

First up, the Pre's strengths....

The Palm Pre and webOS: The Positives

First, my (few) positive impressions of the hardware.

Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world

I like it!
Close

On Twitter now

palm

Powered by Twitter
You are logged in | Sign out
Sign in and post to Twitter

What are you thinking?

Cancel Tweet sent

On Twitter now

Post a comment
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
peer-to-peer

Brian Proffitt
Microsoft/Novell: Breaking Down the Coupon Numbers

Esther Schindler
Drupal's Dries Buytaert on Building the Next Drupal

Tom Henderson
Top Ten General Operating Systems Rants

pasmith
PS3 motion controller delayed; goes up against Project Natal

sjvn
Neolithic Windows security hole alive and well in Windows 7

claird
Perl source code comparison makes for good reading

mikelgan
Cell phones don't create stress or interrupt much

Sandra Henry-Stocker
How to: The Unix Interview

 

Where Google Chrome security fails: the password
I heard mention that the Chrome OS will have some sort of encryption available a la bitlocker. If it's possible to encrypt personal data using another password or key, then it may have potential for very secure data.... And Ubuntu has an 'encrypt home directory' option, perhaps google should follow suit.
- Dann

Join the conversation here

The Daily Tip

The Daily TipQuick, practical advice for IT pros. Made fresh daily.

Hot tips:

Want to cash in on your IT savvy? Send your tip to tips@itworld.com. If we post it, we'll send you a $25 Amazon e-gift card.

Newsletters

Subscribe to ITWORLD TODAY and receive the latest IT news and analysis.

I would like to receive offers via email from ITworld partners.
By clicking submit you agree to the terms and conditions outlined in ITworld's privacy policy.
Marketplace