Back in the old days (the late 1990s), the Palm Pilot was a revolutionary computing device. The Pilot crammed what seemed like a whole lot of computing power into a tiny package capable of easily fitting into your coat pocket. But technology has moved on significantly since those days, and the increasing popularity of smartphones soon made the Pilot looked like a dinosaur.
But Palm is planning a big comeback in the shape of a new mini computing device known as the “Pre.” The Pre features a touchscreen (of course), a slide out keyboard, and tons of other bells and whistles to help it compete with the most popular smartphones on today’s market: the iPhone and the Blackberry.
But after being “down and out” for so long, can Palm regained some of their former glory with the introduction of the Pre? Last week the company revealed the beta version of the Pre, and critics were mostly very impressed. So impressed, that Palm’s stock on Wall Street has soared to over $10 in the course of one week.
So there is little doubt that expectations are high for the Pre, and some analysts believe it is Palm’s “last stand” to regain the cutting edge reputation they enjoyed in the 90s. But will the Pre be enough?
So far, the answer is: maybe. The Pre does seem to have a lot going for it. Other than the usual cell phone, camera and media player features you’d expect from any smart phone these days, the Pre also uses the WebOS operating system, making true multitasking a real possibility.
For example, phones as such as the Apple iPhone can not run two open applications at the same time. In theory, the Palm Pre can. It can also connect to several different e-mail accounts simultaneously using the WebOS operating system. And the Pre features a large-format touchscreen, eerily similar to the Apple iPhone, right down to the finger brush zoom capability.
But even though it has plenty of features and the potential for true multitasking, the Palm Pre also has plenty of competition. Besides the ubiquitous iPhone, and a whole range of Blackberry devices, Nokia, Erickson and other mobile smartphones are constantly raising the bar, including more features for less money. The Pre will have to be very good indeed in order to find a solid place in the market. First results seem promising, but we’ll have to wait and see what consumers think when the Pre is officially released on June 6.
