The smart phone wars have heated up over the past few days with the release of Palm’s new Pre and Apple’s announcements of a new iPhone, a cheaper price for its existing phone and a new operating system for users of all iPhones.
The Palm Pre, which hit stores on Saturday for $199 after rebate (and a two year contract with Sprint) is a very worthy competitor for Apple. Unlike the iPhone it has a physical keyboard which, while a bit small, is quite good. But it also has a touch screen that you can use to launch programs, zoom, shrink or move windows and dial the phone, although there’s no onscreen virtual keyboard for entering text.
One of the things I like best about the Pre is that you can synchronize it over the air. Rather than connect it to a PC or Mac to move over contacts and calendar items, you simply sign in to your existing accounts and it brings over all the data via the Sprint network. It works with Google’s calendar and Gmail, Yahoo and other web-based services as well as for businesses with Microsoft Exchange servers. Apple does this through its $99 a year MobileMe service but Palm does it for free with a variety of services.
Like the iPhone the Pre has a media player for video and music and it does come with a cable to move music and video files from a PC or Mac. But rather than write their own synchronization software, Palm encourages users to synch their media files with Apple’s free iTunes software. When a Pre is connected, iTunes thinks it’s an iPod or iPhone. I’m not sure what Apple’s legal department will have to say about that, but if Palm can get away with it, it makes life easier all around.
I also like the way Palm organizes windows. The device’s Web OS operating system is multi-tasking so you can run several programs at once but to make the most out of the Pre’s small screen, each program runs in a “card” and all the cards become visible when you press the Pre’s physical button below the screen. You then use your finger to flick from card to card and just touch the card you want to make full screen. To close a program you simply flick the card up and away.
You can dial the phone by punching numbers on the onscreen keyboard or typing them from the physical keyboard but you’re more likely to just start typing the name of the person you want to call so the phone can look up and dial the number for you. That’s also the case with the Blackberry, iPhone and most other smart phones.
I like the Pre a lot but I do have a few complaints. It’s a little sluggish – not terrible, but enough so I notice slight delays. And while it’s relatively user-friendly, it’s not as friendly as the iPhone. I find myself having to think about what to do and occasionally having to type “help” to bring up the cheat sheet, whereas with the iPhone I don’t recall having hardly any learning curve other than getting used to the iPhone’s virtual keyboard. Except for typing on the screen (which I’m still not 100% comfortable doing), it just seemed to be obvious right out of the box.
There are some things I like better about the Pre than the iPhone and the opposite is also true so, on balance, if you had to buy a smart phone today, I think the Pre and the iPhone are pretty much neck and neck. But wait – Apple isn’t sitting still. Not only did the company on Monday announce a new iPhone, it also announced free software that will upgrade existing models.
The iPhone 3G S (which I haven’t yet tested) is said to be faster than the existing 3G, have much better battery life and come with a 3 megapixel camera that can also record video. It will come with twice the memory for the same price: $199 for 16 GB and $299 for 32 GB, up from 8 and 16. The Palm Pre comes with jut 8 GB. Also, Apple reduced the starting price of its existing 3G phone to $99.
Apple says that the phone will load applications faster and take advantage of upcoming planned speed improvements in AT&T’s 3G network. Apple also says that the new phone will have better battery life including up to 5 hours of 3G talk time or 12 hours if you’re on the 2G network. The new phone’s 3 megapixel camera will also have autofocus and an automatic macro mode for close-ups. The big news is that it will record video with software that will let you easily send or post the video. Though lacking in the Pre, video is pretty common on phones but the new iPhone lets you edit video from the phone which is very cool.
Catching up with the Pre (and most other smart phones), Apple’s new operating system, which comes out on June 17th, will upgrade all iPhones with cut, copy and paste features.
Simply based on memory configuration, the iPhone hardware is now less expensive than the Pre, but it might cost you more to use it. Sprint has some pretty aggressive pricing, including a $99 “Simply Everything” plan that covers unlimited voice, data and texting. AT&T bas a $99 “Nation Unlimited” plan for voice but you must also pay $30 for the data plan plus an optional $20 for unlimited text messages. Before buying a phone, check out the carriers plans to see what makes sense for your usage patterns.
Unlike the Pre, Blackberry and most other phones, the iPhone doesn’t have a removable battery which is a problem for existing phones that sometimes run out of juice during a single day. If Apple delivers on its promise of better battery life that will be less of an issue but I still like being able to carry extra batteries just in case.
The new iPhone will be available June 19. Expect long lines at Apple and AT&T stores. The Palm Pre is available now. There aren’t long lines at Sprint stores, Best Buy or other retailers, but there are shortages.
Be the first to comment