Pre matures
Digital handheld device maker Palm has been pretty quiet since its heyday a decade ago, but at this year's CES it's hoping to rise, like a phoenix from the flames, thanks to a new smartphone and mobile platform.
The product in question is called the Palm Pre (it appears to have some kind of horizontal line above the 'e') and it runs on the Palm webOS mobile platform, codenamed Nova, which has been designed from the ground up by Palm.
Ed Colligan, Palm president and CEO, said "webOS and Pre bring game-changing simplicity to an increasingly mobile world by dissolving the barriers that surround your information. It's technology that seems like it's thinking ahead to bring you what you care about most - your people, your time, and your information - in the easiest and most seamless way."
Here's Palm's own spec list:
- High-speed connectivity (EVDO Rev. A or UMTS HSDPA)
- Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
- Integrated GPS
- Large 3.1-inch touch screen with a vibrant 24-bit color 320x480 resolution HVGA display
- Gesture area, which enables simple, intuitive gestures for navigation
- Slide-out QWERTY keyboard
- Email, including Outlook EAS (for access to corporate Microsoft Exchange servers), as well as personal email support (POP3, IMAP)
- Robust messaging support (IM, SMS and MMS capabilities)
- High-performance, desktop-class web browser
- Great multimedia experience and performance (pictures, video playback, music), featuring a 3-megapixel camera with LED flash and extended depth of field, and a standard 3.5mm headset jack
- Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support
- 8GB of internal user storage (~7.4GB user available)
- USB mass storage mode
- MicroUSB connector with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
- Proximity sensor, which automatically disables the touch screen and turns off the display whenever you put the phone up to your ear
- Light sensor, which dims the display if the ambient light is dark, such as at night or in a movie theater, to reduce power usage
- Accelerometer, which automatically orients web pages and photos to your perspective
- Ringer switch, which easily silences the device with one touch
- Removable, rechargeable battery
- Dimensions: 59.57mm (W) x 100.53mm (L, closed) x 16.95mm (D) [2.35 inches (W) x 3.96 inches (L, closed) x 0.67 inches (D)]
- Weight: ~135 grams [4.76 ounces]
A key feature of the new platform is Palm Synergy, which seems to integrate all your sources of information and communication in a Unified Communications sort of way.
Initially the Palm Pre will only be available in the US through operator Sprint in the first half of this year, but will be available globally in due course.
Investors were clearly impressed as Palm's shares shot up by nearly 35 percent after the launch and were up a further 12 percent to $5 in after hours trading. They opened yesterday at $3.30.
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