Can't get out of my Sprint contract yet, my thoughts on the Palm Pre

Counting down. Three months and Nineteen days left til my Sprint contract is up.

I'm still leaning towards switching to AT&T for an iPhone. Although the Palm Pre, whenever it comes out, is really interesting. But here's my concerns:

Software - The card system is very interesting. But what about 3rd party apps? No one can match Apple, but will it whither like Android? Okay, whither is a bit strong, lets just say, no coverage from the press. If Palm can even come close to Apple's 3rd party apps, then I will definitely buy.

Hardware - 3 MP camera, wow! Did you know that Blackberry already beat you since 2007? At least I'm pretty sure. I saw a 3.2 MP camera on a Blackberry Pearl. Didn't that come out in 2007? No matter what, Palm is once again, releasing soon to be outdated technology. The LED flash is a nice touch though. The camera on their current gen of phones really need that. The keyboard is nice, though over the years, I have broken more keyboards than anything else. They just stop responding. In fact, my current Treo 755p has a non-responsive "Z" key. That's definitely one problem that a software keyboard doesn't have.

Design - Lets not go there. No one can beat Apple. Period.

Right now, my main concern is not that the Palm Pre has soon to be outdated hardware. Its the fact that I'm trapped into another 2 year contract on a phone that has lackluster 3rd party apps AND a hardware refresh cycle that, compare to Apple's, will feel like a lifetime. That really would suck.

I guess I have nothing to do but wait in the meantime. I can just see imagine what happens if I don't. I buy the Palm Pre the first day it comes out, and 2 months later, Apple releases the iPhone 3Gv2 (or whatever they want to call it), with 4 MP camera, LED flash, and get this, cut/copy and paste. That will totally trash Palm Pre... and that's exactly what happened to me when I got the Treo 755p.

So what can Palm do in the mean time? Have really strong development support, not just from independent 3rd parties, but major apps developers (all the ones that use to make apps for Palm) and apps of popular sites (Flickr, Yelp, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google). Okay, kidding on the last two. Although they better develop an awesome GPS apps that will at least match, if not out do iPhone's Google Maps app ( w/ feat. like turn by turn, photo w/ GPS coordinates metatags, send calls to V/M base on speed - for driving, AKA driving mode, location base reminders - pop up to remind you to get milk if you walk by your grocery). Also add in banking support. I notice Chase has really gotten up to speed w/ mobile banking app for iPhone and Android. Palm should make it easy for Chase to create an app for them too. In addition, please be working on a Hi-Res version (VGA screen, better camera) once the hardware is finalized in this current model. The only thing more important than the new hardware is the software updates to fix the bugs that will be spotted once the phone is release to the public. But both should be done simultaneously so that we can see a hardware refresh in 2010.

That's all the ideas I got for Palm. Not that I'm anyone important that they have to listen to, other than being a loyal user since the Treo 600. And they tend to implement features that I suggest (link google maps to address book, although they still didn't put in the "who I'm nearby" which reference your contact list to see any person/business you're currently close to base on your GPS coordinates), whether they actually get them from me or not, just that they usually implement them 2 years late.

My plan: wait until the Google G2, the 3rd gen iPhone, and the Palm Pre to all come out, and maybe a month after that, just to get a good gauge on which one to switch to. I'm done being a guinea pig, let others take to the bleeding edge.

Comments

[Mala]

When will that happen, your plan, when do all 3 come out?

[Kylee]

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