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An article posted at iPhone Nuts focuses on several features only Palm Pre fans can look forward to. The author states that Apple has missed their mark in releasing wireless syncing to a wide audience, which is just what the Pre is poised to do. Wireless charging is also a feature that you get right out of the box with the Pre (with an optional, pebble-like charger that you set your Pre on to soak up the juice without wires). This feature is noticably absent from Apple's latest offering. And doing away with the dock connector?

That lint trap they call the 30 pin dock connector could be done away with as well. If it charges and syncs wireless there is no need for the dock connector. That could free up some internal space for a front facing video camera and bigger battery

This seems a little hopeful, and we doubt Apple will do away with the trusty but proprietary 30 pin connector that has adorned their devices for so long. Looks like you'll have to fumble with those little rubber covers if you want your iPhone internals dust-free; wireless charging for the may be little more than a 'wish list' right now. But not so for the Pre, which has these features from birth.

See the full article here.

Feb 12: Tech enthusiasts continue to post praise for the Pre, with Michael from Tecurious dubbing it "The One", and "Legs up over the iPhone can be seen almost right away".

"I actually do plan to get this phone if it lives up to the previews and demos that have been shown - I'm so excited about it that I've switched to Sprint already."

Check out his post here:

Looks like internal documents at Sprint are too tasty to stay hidden. The Boy Genius Report states that the much-anticipated release of the Palm Pre may come sooner than many would expect. According to End of Life (EOL) documents, which are sent to Sprint employees with target in-stock dates for new model replacements, the Pre shows up with a date of 3/15. It is listed as replacing the Palm 755P, which reaches its EOL in late May. Meanwhile, the Treo Pro is listed as replacing the 800W just days from now, with an EOL in April. So if they stick to the schedule, the Pre would be in our hands in just over a month. According to BGR:

As for the handsets on the list that are not yet released, the EOL dates represent the target death of the EOL handset (in the warehouse, existing store inventory will still be sold) and the target in stock-date at Sprint’s warehouses for its replacement. In other words, these replacement devices are projected to be in stock by the dates specified so a release on or around said date is most likely a safe bet. 

Should Apple start biting their nails yet? Probably not. The stock dates may be premature, but at least now we have an idea of the game plan Sprint has for their smartphones. 

Get the scoop here.

 

UPDATE: Computerworld states that a Sprint spokesperson would not comment on the Boy Genius Report, but stated the Palm Pre would indeed ship in the first half of 2009:

"We are still stating availability in the first half of 2009," she said. "This is what we have said all along and we have not changed our desire to bring the device to our customers when it is fully ready."

 

For the complete EOL list, see below: (Palm's latest is in bold)  

EOL List

1.      Sierra Compass 597 USB - Early February - Sierra 598 USB

2.      Motorola ic602 - Early February

3.      LG 160 - Mid-February - Samsung M220

4.      LG Rumor (blue) - Mid February - LG 265 Rumor II (target in-stock 2/15)

5.      Motorola i325IS - Mid February - Motorola i365IS

6.      LG Rumor (green) - Mid March - LG 265 Rumor II (target in-stock 2/15)

7.      Franklin Wireless U680 USB - Early April

8.      Palm 800W - April - Palm Treo Pro (target in-stock 2/15)

9.      LG Rumor (black) - Mid April - LG 265 Rumor II (target in-stock 2/15)

10.  Motorola i615 - Mid April

11.  Samsung M520 Lumina - Mid April - LG LX370 (slider)

12.  RIM BlackBerry Pearl (red) - May

13.  LG LX400 - Late May

14.  Palm 755P (blue) - Late May - Palm Pre (target in-stock 3/15)

15.  Sanyo 6750 Eclipse (pink) - June

16.  Palm Centro (berry) - June

17.  Motorola Q9C - Mid June

18.  Sierra 597E - July - Sierra 2-in-1 Aircard

19.  Palm Centro (green) - July

20.  Palm Centro refresh (black) - July

21.  Motorola VE20 - July

22.  HTC Touch Diamond - July

23.  RIM BlackBerry 7100i - August - RIM BlackBerry 8350i

 

Zatznotfunny posts a few mobile strategy tidbits from the Sling Media crew behind the SlingPlayer Mobile application.  Among them are their thoughts on webOS:

As has been pointed out, the actual development information hasn’t been released yet so it is premature to be talking about development. From what we have seen it looks like webOS is an all-new environment, so it would need an all-new SPM which would not be a small task. At this time we’re taking a wait and see approach to webOS. When it ships we’ll watch the adoption rate and decide if it warrants developing SPM for webOS or not. Keep in mind it has currently been announced for one device (the Pre) on one carrier (#3 and currently falling) so it remains to be seen if and when it appears on additional devices and carriers for the worldwide market and achieves a significant market share.

While that may be true, we should remember that the iPhone is currently one device (well, two if you count 2G and 3G) on one network (currently #1 largely due to the iPhone), but right now it's the #1 mobile application development platform.  Dave Zats then goes on to (rightly) point out that there are other factors to consider besides device count and carrier:

I understand the business case MZ is making, but it’s also critical to look ahead and predict a successful platform… and region. (ie: The dev cycles spent producing UIQ support probably hasn’t paid off.) While there’s no guarantee Palm will succeed with WebOS, they’ve got a ton of buzz, a ton of investment, and a positive track record in this space. If I were Sling, I’d be banging down Palm’s doors for an opportunity to collaborate.

Read the full article here.

Many sites have published articles and commentary on the Apple vs. Palm patent debate.  Here's a quick summary of all the headlines, sorted by date:

TG Daily: Apple's A-bomb against Palm: A 358 page iPhone patent - This article gets into the nuts and bolts of Apple's patent application for the iPhone, with technical diagrams detailing the way gestures are implemented. It also goes into a bit of the history of multi-touch, and reiterates the conflict and back-and-forth between Palm and Apple over the Pre's technology. (Jan 27)

Engadget: Apple vs. Palm: the in-depth analysis - An excellent article with analysis of the patents assisted by a patent attorney.  Reveals that that Apple's patents aren't as far-reaching as much of the media has made them out to be.  Palm holds a number of patents that could be applied almost directly to the iPhone.  Concludes that Apple is the most likely to fire first, but that neither company move due to the risk of losing their respective patents. (Jan 28)

Gizmodo: Dissecting Apple's "Multitouch" Patent: Can It Stop Palm? - A follow-up article in which a professor of patent law takes a deeper, more technical look at what exactly is required to violate a patent.  Discusses how Palm could implement something very close to what has been covered in Apple's patents without actually violating the patents.  Paints the picture of Palm as having its back to the wall and being the only one desperate enough (or having enough of a patent arsenal itself) to potentially risk a patent battle with Apple. (Jan 30)

So far, the marketing strategy behind the launch of the Palm Pre and webOS has been brilliant.  The timing of CES 2009 was just right, and the follow-up via social media such as Palm's Twitter and Facebook pages and corporate and developer blogs made the community feel as though Palm was really listening to their needs.

Palmwebosblog has now found evidence that suggests social marketing company Blast Radius is behind Palm's most recent marketing strategy.  From their company credo:

This magic happens when a brand becomes a forum for sharing interests and passions (check out EA's Madden Challenge). People get interested. Customers turn into fans, and fans turn into advocates who spread the good word, doing more for your brand than any ad ever could.

The web is not just another channel to push polished messages.  It's about brands inviting people to engage around a cause—which is to say a passion or a mission. Together brands and consumers create content, tools, services and other useful stuff that serves the cause. This may sound lofty, but we promise you it's not. This is what we do every single day.

This sounds a lot like Palm's strategy and it appears to be working very well.  Let's hope they continue to devote resources to engaging and listening to the community as the momentum around the webOS platform continues to grow.

According to Softpedia, the Palm Pre is capable of taking photos in rapid succession, without the usual painfully long delay between shots found on most camera phones.

The handset allows for the pictures to be taken either using the onscreen shutter, or the QWERTY’s spacebar key. In addition to that, it can snap photos fast enough to capture stills so as to be able to create stop motion animation of the subject. This would be an impressive feature of the webOS, although it hasn't been talked about until now.

This capability may be due primarily to the Pre's speeedy Texas Instruments OMAP3430 processor, although that remains to be seen.