Wait is over. Verizon has released Palm Pre & Pixy

[timeos2]

With little fanfare (so far) Verizon has added the Palm Pre and Pixy as new smart phones for customers. The best phones with the best service - nice combination for a change! Prices looked good as well. Enjoy!

 

[SMcdo]

I'll have to look into these. I've been waiting and waiting for the release of the Verizon iPhone so I can ditch my ancient Motorola Q.

 

[chellej]

My DS just got the palm pre and loves it. I love it too because I am no longer hearing... I hate this phone.

The Pixi is also buy one get one free right now

 

[TSfanatic]

I'll have to look into these. I've been waiting and waiting for the release of the Verizon iPhone so I can ditch my ancient Motorola Q.

I had heard rumors that this was in the works, but they kind of died down... is there any concrete proof that they will release the iPhone on Verizon??

 

[Passepartout]

....is there any concrete proof that they will release the iPhone on Verizon??

Just wishful thinking. iPhone's underlying system is GSM. Verizon's is TDMA. The two are not compatible. Kinda like putting a DVD in a VHS slot. It'll fit but it won't work .... Jim

 

[timeos2]

They can do it but they don't want to.

Just wishful thinking. iPhone's underlying system is GSM. Verizon's is TDMA. The two are not compatible. Kinda like putting a DVD in a VHS slot. It'll fit but it won't work .... Jim

But there is nothing to prevent the iPhone from using CDMA - most cell phones have versions for each or one that does both. Since the original iPhone was done for Verizon, who decided not to take it as an exclusive phone thus letting AT&T become the (so far) US exclusive, they obviously have them that can use CDMA. Rumor is that Apple simply wants too much for each phone thus other vendors such as Verizon simply don't feel it's a worthwhile move to bring it in. It isn't the technology its the politics (isn't it always?).

Having used them, and even discounting the basic issues due to the AT&T network, the iPhone holds no allure for me anyway as it is derivative and not particularly pleasant to use compared to others. But plenty of people would want them I'm sure if Verizon did offer them. It will most likely happen at some point when Apple wants more $$ in volume rather than on each phone.

 

[Clemson Fan]

So John, have you even purchased the Palm Pre now that it's on Verizon?

BTW, CDMA (verizon & sprint) networks are probably the gold standard in the US, but GSM (AT&T and T-mobile) networks are clearly the international gold standard. I was in the phillipines recently and they only have GSM networks. I was able to get 3G data. You can also do simultaneous voice and data on a GSM network which you can't do on a CDMA network. I think that has more to do with apple's decision to continue on with AT&T more than anything else.

I'm no apple fanboy (see ipad discussion), but when it comes to the iPhone IMO they hit a home run. The droid comes the closest, but IMO the Pre is a very distant 3rd. I' interested to see if verizon can revive the Pre, but I don't think it can since the Droid is already part of verizon.

We'll see in the coming months.

 

[Ken555]

Since the original iPhone was done for Verizon, who decided not to take it as an exclusive phone thus letting AT&T become the (so far) US exclusive, they obviously have them that can use CDMA.

The iPhone was never on Verizon. The rumors are that they couldn't make a deal with Apple, but none were ever sold for that service.

 

[3kids4me]

I have an Verizon Env and don't think I can use another kind of keyboard. They use the same keyboard on the Voyager I think. I tried to use the touch keyboard on a friend's iphone and kept typing in the wrong letters. I type quickly and the Env keyboard has a little space around each letter which makes it so easy. Of course, the Env is terrible when it comes to reading your e-mail! Isn't there a phone that has the reading and touch screen capabilities of an iphone but with a nice, easy keyboard like on the Env?

http://phonenext.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/verizon-env2-lg-vx9100-smartphone.jpg

 

[Ken555]

I have an Verizon Env and don't think I can use another kind of keyboard. They use the same keyboard on the Voyager I think. I tried to use the touch keyboard on a friend's iphone and kept typing in the wrong letters.

It took me a few weeks of regularly using the iPhone before I became adept at the keyboard. It's actually quite rare for people to pickup the iPhone and instantly become comfortable with the keyboard, unless they're used to a similar virtual keyboard.

 

[Glynda]

Which?

So Verizon's Palm Pre or Motorola Droid?

 

[Transit]

Palm pre is a day late and a dollar short.

 

[timeos2]

Pre has the most of what I look for

So Verizon's Palm Pre or Motorola Droid?

Droid is a first generation product. Rather bulky yet doesn't feel solidly made. Pre is extremely solid, smaller overall, better keyboard, brighter screen and builds on the legacy of the one that started it all. Both are good but overall the Pre seems much more polished in many areas.

I have used both on a limited basis but haven't got my own Pre yet. As mentioned before I love the latest and greatest but I do wait until something pushes me from my already adequate and reliable product (in this case a Palm 755p that is rock solid in features as well as reliability). The WiFi could be that one extra BUT I need the Sling Box client (promised "soon") to make it all equal to the 755p. I'm also waiting for the "end of contract" bonus for one of the non-Palm phones to come up so I'll probably wait a couple more months before changing. Sometimes that can change quickly if a phone fails (unlikely with the Palms - common with others).

CNET says this: "The bottom line: The Palm Pre Plus earns its place as the top WebOS device, improving on the Pre with a better design and performance, and upgraded features. Verizon customers looking for a versatile smartphone to balance their personal and work lives will be well-served by the Pre Plus."

Couldn't say it better!

 

[Clemson Fan]

The WiFi could be that one extra BUT I need the Sling Box client (promised "soon") to make it all equal to the 755p.

So, the Pre isn't even as good as your older Palm phone? You can't even get an older program for it?

With the iPhone, I can and have found a app for almost everything I do in daily life from stocks, online banking, medical apps and games. The iPhone has 140,000 apps, the droid has close to 20,000 and the Pre has less than 1,000. Why is it that nobody seems to want to create apps for the Pre? The Pre has been out for 6 months more than the droid, yet the droid is significantly outpacing it. I'm actually really impressed with the droid. IMO the droid is still not as good as the iPhone, but at least I think it's making the people at apple sweat a little which I think is a good thing and something the Pre failed to do.

 

[timeos2]

I'd pay extra not to have to deal with AT&T. But its cheaper not to!

So, the Pre isn't even as good as your older Palm phone? You can't even get an older program for it?

With the iPhone, I can and have found a app for almost everything I do in daily life from stocks, online banking, medical apps and games. The iPhone has 140,000 apps, the droid has close to 20,000 and the Pre has less than 1,000. Why is it that nobody seems to want to create apps for the Pre? The Pre has been out for 6 months more than the droid, yet the droid is significantly outpacing it. I'm actually really impressed with the droid. IMO the droid is still not as good as the iPhone, but at least I think it's making the people at apple sweat a little which I think is a good thing and something the Pre failed to do.

Since AT&T won't even allow tethering or streaming for Sling the iPhone (and AT&T in general due to TERRIBLE phone service and extremely spotty 3G coverage) isn't even a remote option for us. I'd be trading off 50% of what I can do on the "old" 755p that the iPhone either doesn't offer OR is prohibited by AT&T from running! And at a higher cost per month I might add. Also the lack of a keyboard, true multitasking and replaceable battery are major hardware/operational issues. The iPhone simply doesn't cut it as a serious phone. It is great as a mass market compromise. Since I run about 25 programs and all but one is currently available for the Pre (and all but 3 for the Droid) there can be a million questionable value apps for any platform and I couldn't care less! They aren't needed, many are ridiculous - the key is having useful apps that are actually used. If there were a few hundred most people have more than they would ever use. If your browser functions as expected (meaning Flash support is almost a must - iPhone doesn't have it & doesn't plan it - Pre does) then the "apps" you need are the same ones you see on your PC. A much better way to go and using the web / smartphone to its best advantage.

Bottom line the basic phone (what I have it for #1) is far better on Palm than either of the others you like. The additional smart phone features are far more mature (read they actually work) on the Palm than the other two. The hardware is bulletproof. It's an easy choice. Start with Verizon for service, pick the best phone and run the things needed. The Pre wins on every front. Droid a viable option but my distant second choice. IPhone strikes out on a number of fronts but the required AT&T factor is #1 roadblock. Until that changes it can't even be considered. YMMV.

 

[Glynda]

Palm

Droid is a first generation product. Rather bulky yet doesn't feel solidly made. Pre is extremely solid, smaller overall, better keyboard, brighter screen and builds on the legacy of the one that started it all. Both are good but overall the Pre seems much more polished in many areas.

I have used both on a limited basis but haven't got my own Pre yet. As mentioned before I love the latest and greatest but I do wait until something pushes me from my already adequate and reliable product (in this case a Palm 755p that is rock solid in features as well as reliability). The WiFi could be that one extra BUT I need the Sling Box client (promised "soon") to make it all equal to the 755p. I'm also waiting for the "end of contract" bonus for one of the non-Palm phones to come up so I'll probably wait a couple more months before changing. Sometimes that can change quickly if a phone fails (unlikely with the Palms - common with others).

CNET says this: "The bottom line: The Palm Pre Plus earns its place as the top WebOS device, improving on the Pre with a better design and performance, and upgraded features. Verizon customers looking for a versatile smartphone to balance their personal and work lives will be well-served by the Pre Plus."

Couldn't say it better!

I'm using the Palm 755p now too. Not having any really bad problems with it though it sometimes freezes on me and I have to remove battery and reset.
If someone calls me when it's pulling/pushing my email, it goes directly to voicemail or they get nothing at all and it doesn't record a missed call for me to see.

 

[UWSurfer]

I too am a fan of my Palm 755p and continue to find new apps and uses for the darn thing. I've been carrying Palms for more than 15 years starting with the Palm Pilot and am a fan.

When I was at the Consumer Electronics Show there were 100 or more folks making skins, cases and covers for all sorts of mobile devices but sadly not for the Palm 755. Mine is two years old and in device years it's OLD. I'll likely have mine another year and am beginning to look around for my next device that will do at least what this little Palm does.

 

[BocaBum99]

With little fanfare (so far) Verizon has added the Palm Pre and Pixy as new smart phones for customers. The best phones with the best service - nice combination for a change! Prices looked good as well. Enjoy!

Wow, I didn't know that Verizon added the iPhone, too. Everyone knows that the iPhone is by far the best smartphone on the market.

 

[AwayWeGo]

What Good Is A Smart Phone For A Dumb Guy ?

Everyone knows that the iPhone is by far the best smartphone on the market.

I don't use most of the features on my outmoded dumbphone. Not only that, when I tried using the Alarm Clock feature on the dumbphone, it took 2 days to figure out how to shut it off.

I needed an early wake-up signal just 1 morning, but the dumbphone woke me up early 3 mornings in a row because of not knowing how to shut off the alarm feature.

I only resorted to the dumbphone wake-up alarm because I couldn't figure out how to set the wake-up alarm on the high-tech iPod-docking timeshare clock-radio. The display was too confusing & too dim to understand. Sheesh.

However that may be, based on some of the TUG-BBS testimony, I suspect that particular tidbit of knowledge about iPhone being The Best, which Everyone Knows, may not actually be true or accurate.

Wouldn't be the 1st time stuff Everyone Knows turned out to be counterfactual.

iPhone certainly has the recognition & the pizzazz, thanks to saturation TV advertising & the related family of iPod products.

In the real world of actual use, some other kind of tricky hand-held device might come out on top.

How do iPhone & the competing smartphones shake out in Consumer Reports ?

( Just wondering. All those devices are obviously way too advanced for me. )

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[timeos2]

Mass appeal isn't quality

Wow, I didn't know that Verizon added the iPhone, too. Everyone knows that the iPhone is by far the best smartphone on the market.

Not according to the independent CNET "The bottom line: The Palm Pre Plus earns its place as the top WebOS device" ,among others.

Selling many doesn't mean selling the best. Ask the veterans of VHS vs BETA, VW Bug vs Mercedes, etc. And in this case the best doesn't even cost more and comes with far better service levels! And the Palm is actually an excellent phone (what a concept) as well as smart. The iPhone is very nice, very successful but flawed and far from the best in far too many ways to count. Doesn't mean it can't do what many may want and are willing to put up with (such as AT&T). But the best? No way.

And guess what? Tomorrow there will be new contenders and one of those may take the top spot. It's not likely to be iPhone as they are now tied to legacy designs and, again, aligned only with AT&T which seriously limits services and performance. Thats before you look at the hardware issues such as no replaceable battery, fragile construction, no real keyboard and more. Hardly the makings of the "best" unit. They can all be improved but some need more than others.

 

[Transit]

The problems with the Palm is the lack of mass appeal. Without selling great numbers developers won't touch apps for the Pre. Blackberry has taken a stronghold among business users. I played with the phone and thought it was very nice. It's reviewed as a excellent phone but without sales it's dead in the water and so will Palm if it's latest flagship sinks on Verizon.

 

[Ken555]

I only resorted to the dumbphone wake-up alarm because I couldn't figure out how to set the wake-up alarm on the high-tech iPod-docking timeshare clock-radio. The display was too confusing & too dim to understand. Sheesh.

I feel your pain. FWIW, the iPhone (and many other newer devices) offer a simple alarm clock. It's extremely easy to use.

 

[Ken555]

It's not likely to be iPhone as they are now tied to legacy designs and, again, aligned only with AT&T which seriously limits services and performance. Thats before you look at the hardware issues such as no replaceable battery, fragile construction, no real keyboard and more. Hardly the makings of the "best" unit. They can all be improved but some need more than others.

Your points are well put, and understandable. However, I suggest that you consider the following.

1. Apple always updates its hardware and software over time to improve performance. Legacy designs in this case is a three year old (well, 2.5) physical unit, even though that's also changed slightly in that time period. If history is any guide, there will be a new iPhone in June (along with new software, I believe).

2. AT&T vs Verizon is a never ending discussion which will hopefully become moot one day. By and large, both providers get the job done and their service is much more of a commodity than ever before. AT&T is now beholden to Apple since the vast majority of the data transferred on their network is from iPhones, and they earn ~2.5x the revenue from each iPhone than any other handheld. Apple's agreement to have the iPad default to service on AT&T (though not limiting your ability to switch to another carrier) will only increase AT&T's reliance on Apple. I wouldn't be surprised to find a closer relationship of Apple and AT&T in future, though I also hope they explore opening the device to other carriers (at this point I don't expect that until 4G is prevalent but hope I'm wrong).

3. Replaceable battery. I've had a few iPhones, and we support hundreds in the field. We haven't had many battery issues to speak of at all. The few that we've had Apple has dealt with quickly and easily (typically by replacing the phone). As for extended battery life, there are a number of very inexpensive accessories available today to plug into the phone which charges the internal battery and allows you use it while connected (I use one of these ~$8 units on flights now and then). This is really not an issue for many iPhone users.

4. Fragile construction. Huh? It's a phone, and not meant to be dropped... so, yeah, it's good to put it in a case. But I wouldn't exactly call it fragile.

5. No real keyboard. This is a legitimate issue for some people who aren't comfortable with a virtual keyboard. In my experience, 95% of those who try an iPhone for more than a day end up using the iPhone just fine. It is admittedly difficult to make this decision by only using it for a few minutes before deciding which phone to buy. But, it's a lot easier than some make it seem.

6. More. Ok, what else? Do tell.

For myself, I know a major inconvenience for business is the lack of full integration with a Windows network. One of my staff has the Palm Pre and really likes it, another has a Windows Mobile device, and some are better at integrating with office environments than the iPhone. But, it all depends on your needs. If you want a great phone that works for millions of people and has all sorts of applications, then the iPhone is a great choice. The little technical differences between these commodities are exactly that - little differences. In the end, if you like the way the iPhone operates, if you like the great user experience Apple has created, then you will really enjoy using the phone regardless of the other perceived problems.

'Best' is a relative term for me. I think the iPhone is best for me, but that's because I like the unit and am comfortable with it (having used one for 2.5 years). I think the market has determined that the iPhone is best in terms of sales, and that's one way to consider success of a product... certainly that's how many people judge products. The absolute 'best' phone hasn't been invented yet, in my opinion. But that's another discussion altogether.

Also, if you're considering the purchase of an iPad, then the there's even more of a reason to buy an iPhone, since the applications you purchase for one will be usable on the other (at no additional fee, from what I understand, since they will both be associated with your account).

 

[AwayWeGo]

Bell Verizøn & AT&T.

AT&T vs Verizon is a never ending discussion which will hopefully become moot one day.

AT&T was -- i.e., that's all in the past -- was the corporate parent of Verizon & all the regional Ma Bell telephone companies that were part of the old pre-breakup Bell Telephone System.

(BTW, Steven Wright points out it's a good thing the telephone was not invented by Alexander Graham Siren.)

However that may be, before Verizon renamed itself that & went national, it was Ma Bell's regional Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company. Then it became Bell Atlantic. Then it bought out GT&E & renamed itself Verizon -- a meaningless corporate brand name obviously purchased from some business consultancy that spent who knows how many thousands of dollars consumer-testing & focus-grouping meaningless names. (Side Note: For a while the banking industry went through a spate of that also. SigNet Bank. CreStar Bank. SovRan Bank. They mostly got over that and went back to bank names that sound more or less like financial institutions.)

I still like to refer to Bell Verizon & make phone bill checks payable to Bell Verizon, etc., just as a subliminal reminder of the local phone company's Ma Bell roots.

Meanwhile, AT&T shrank down to a shell of its former self & ultimately I believe got swallowed up by 1 of the other regional phone companies that were spun off from Ma Bell in that great court ordered break-up, mox nix that AT&T formerly owned 'm all. Sic transit gloria mundi, eh ?

On TV, those duelling AT&T - Verizon Wireless commercials are just about the most comical national advertising rivalry since the Macintosh - Windows duelling TV commercials -- makes Coke - Pepsi seem tame by contrast.

While AT&T & Verizon are each claiming their wireless networks are the bee's knees, what about Sprint PCS ? Or is Sprint such a distant 3rd that there's no need even to mention them ?

Ditto Cricket ?

Ditto T-Mobile ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[UWSurfer]

While their corporate ownership & branding are the same, don't confuse operating companies which run the cell/wireless phones and the land line (public switched network) as one and the same.

Alan noted the mix-up, shakeout and jiggering of phone companies very well. Here in SoCal there were basically two phone companies: GTE & Pacific Telephone. GTE became Verizon out here and to this day the old east coast Bell phone company and west coast GTE operate fairly separately while being part of one large network.

Pacific Telephone was the Bell operating company for us in the west forever until divestiture where AT&T and PacBell broke apart. Later SBC picked up PacBell and renamed it SBC...then later picked up AT&T and renamed SBC to be AT&T. That company operates several divisions based upon these older origins: local & regional phone service, LD & wireless. There's a newer offering in the telco's known as Broadband. AT&T calls it U-Verse & Verizon brand is FIOS.

Very recently, AT&T has petitioned the FCC calling for a structured, coordinated shut down of the analog plain old telephone service (POTS) and the underlying Public Telephone Switched Network, citing that the migration away from land line phones has shifted the cost structures such that it takes money away from universal broadband offerings in this country. AT&T requests a defined sunset and transition target set by the FCC much in the way analog TV signals were (finally) shut off earlier this year.

To view the AT&T filing go to http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=7020354032