Palm Pre Smartphone on Demo
The Palm Pre Smartphone was on show at D: All Things Digital, Palm Executive Chairman Jon Rubinstein showed off the Palm Pre and talked about several features of the smartphone for the first time.
The Palm Pre can search Amazon’s MP3 store and download songs directly to the smartphone, a feature mentioned at the Palm Pre’s unveiling at CES in January. The Palm Pre also include a "media sync" feature that lets users grab non-protected media files directly from Apple’s iTunes without any special software. In addition, the universal search feature will not only search Google and Wikipedia, but also Twitter.
When asked whether iTunes maker Apple will be unhappy with the feature. Rubinstein said "They’ve gotten much more open" and "They’ve gotten rid of the DRM."
Rubinstein did acknowledge that the Palm Pre is going after the Apple iPhone, along with the BlackBerry devices from Research In Motion.
"Clearly the primary competitors are Apple and RIM," Rubinstein said of the Palm Pre.
Despite all their success, Apple and RIM have just two points of market share in the global mobile phone business. "We are at the very beginning of a massive transformation," he said. "There was a lot of white space that Palm could step into."
He noted that later this year there will be a GSM version, but declined to confirm a report that Verizon will start selling the Palm Pre Smartphone in six months time.
Palm Pre Smartphone Specification:
General
- Dimensions (W x D x H) 2.4 in x 0.7 in x 3.9 in
- Weight 4.8 oz
- Built-in devices Camera , Digital player
Telecom
- Email protocols supported POP3 , IMAP
- Data services MMS , SMS , E-Mail , WAP Push 2.0
- Cellular enhancement protocol GPS
Operating System / Software
- OS provided Palm webOS
Screen Display
- Display type 3.1 in TFT active matrix
- Color support 24-bit
- Max resolution 320 x 480
Expansion / Connectivity
- Wireless connectivity Bluetooth, 802.11b/g Wireless LAN
Messaging / Data Services
- Internet Browser Yes
- Mobile Email Yes
- Supported Email Protocols POP3 , IMAP4
- Messaging / Data Features Mobile blog , XHTML Browser
- Messaging Services MMS , AOL E-Mail , Yahoo! Messenger , AOL Instant Messenger Service (AIM)
Cellular
- Cellular technology CDMA2000 1X
- Service Provider Sprint Nextel
- Band / mode CDMA 800/1900
- Phone style Slider
- Call Timer Yes
- Antenna Internal
- Wireless Interface IEEE 802.11b , IEEE 802.11g , Bluetooth 2.1 EDR
- Speakerphone Yes
- Polyphonic Ringer Yes
- Additional Features QWERTY keyboard layout
Digital Player / Recorder
- Digital player supported digital audio standards AAC , AMR , MP3 , WAV