Interest in Pre Still Holding Strong 25
According to a recent number crunch by Compete, interest in the Palm Pre is holding steady, despite a lack of meaningful news of late. Beginning with a flurry of activity following the CES announcement, traffic has dipped but maintained consistency as speculative release dates have come and gone. The unique visitor trend is strikingly similar to the trends observed following the initial announcement of the Apple iPhone in 2007, until its commercial release in June of that year. While the Pre's numbers are slightly lower (an impressive feat given the competitiveness of today's smartphone market versus 2007), the similarity to the iPhone is encouraging.
So, are you still as interested in Pre as you were following CES, or have you started to look elsewhere in the absence of any news? I know I'm currently rocking a Blackberry Storm (go ahead, laugh) to hold me over until the Pre launches.
25 Comments
I'm still interested. The only other phone worth considering for me would be the iPhone and that's simply not an option for me for many reasons. My 755p will hold me until...whenever.
No way to maintain the level of excitement I had at CES, but I'm still more excited about this than I've been about in phone in a long time. In fact, I'm so excited that I'm getting a Treo Pro to try to help me through the wait. :)
Still incredibly interested, but the lack of new info is a bit of a concern. I assume Palm knows how to manage the hype train and is also trying to make sure they get firmed up the final set of features that will be ready for Pre v1.0, but damn it would be reassuring to hear a bit more each week.
I am still very interested and will purchase one, but my 700p is getting old and I have been looking. I have looked at the Treo Pro and the HTC Touch Pro. Can't seem to make up my mind and have thought about using the 30 day trial with Sprint and testing both, but keep coming back to wanting the pre and not wanting to have to learn windows and then move to web os.....having palm os programs, switching to windows and then switching again to web os just doesn't make much sense, but wish the pre would come sooner than later.
I'm still interested and can't wait to hear more. Palm certainly does need to keep the Pre in our eyes and hearts. Don't let the dust settle down Palm. Throw a bit more crumbs our way if you're not going to give us a release date. Please?
I feel there's plenty of room to divulge new (however useless) information to maintain the buzz. A new walk-through video, individual app details, sample app code, anything.
I'm aware that palm is busy working on getting it out the door, and they don't want to say something to send their stock tumbling. However, maintaining the buzz will be rewarded by a successful product launch. I'm sure there are well paid, intelligent marketers that could provide new details without harming Palm in the process.
Funny you mentioned the BB Storm. I was very excited about that phone. I thought it was going to be the replacement for my Verizon Treo 700p. Unfortunately, after a couple of test drives I realized it wasn't for me. It was hard for me to type on and difficult to find applications. I expect this would be the same with the iPhone. Then came along the Pre! With its physical keyboard and global search - plus wi-fi and gps. Just what I wanted. I know I can't afford it right away but I will definitely get one.
I'm also still interested in it. It's only a matter of time. :)
Very interested, but c'mon Palm, give us something! :)
Can't wait forever... so it better be released soon or I'll have to look to iPhone or Android to replace this piece of crap BB Storm that I am using right now.
apple sold 1 million iphones in the first 74 days. count my purchase of the pre in. i don't think pre will beat that figure, but close would nice and a success.
btw, i'm "rocking" an out-of-contract sprint treo 650 old school. I'm so ready to upgrade.
I was more excited about the Pre months ago. I was excited about the storm before it came out waiting to jump on verizon but we all know how that turned out. The Pre looks to be very promising but there's 3 things that I've been thinking about as I use my iphone everyday. Screen size is a major factor for me, why oh why didn't they make the screen atleast as big as the iPhone. I do a lot of reading and research using my iPhone when away from home and the size of the screen comes in handy and makes constant reading perfect! Even though a small reduction in size it's very noticeable. My second issue is that cramped keyboard, I don't have extremely big hands but damn I tried typing on the centros keyboard and it was a lost cause! I don't know what's with you guys and physical keyboards unless it's landscape like the tilt but I can burn emails out on an iphone wayyyy faster than on a bold or curve. Does anybody feel on this one? Last thing I will complain about that I'm so spoiled with the iphone on AT&T is the fact of being able to stream data and talk at the same time. I know many of you don't use that but there's so many times I'm on speaker phone or using ear buds talking while looking up info, downloading music, sending emails with attachments, BIG pain in the butt to have to hang up the call just to do any of that! Other than that the Pre is desirable especially with sprints lovely everything plan. Sorry so long but this is my first time posting but I gotta get this off my chest for the record.... iTunes app store sucks!!! Unless your into buying nothing but games the programs are so repeatative and 99% useless! I'm done :)
I can rock out texts and emails faster than sh*t on my Curve. People wil hear me typing and ask me what the hell i am doing. Mashing key they ask? No typing text or email I say. The Pre keyboard will not be nearly as small as the centro keyboard. Plus keys are spaced out on the Pre where as the centro is all in a row right next to each other. And I like your thoughts on the itunes app store. First person I heard of saying that.
I believe the keyboard style will be a bit more like the last treo. Which of course, still isn't huge by any means, but it at least is larger than the centro's keyboard.
I agree tho, I almost bought the centro, but I didn't because I felt like the Keys were gonna be to small, also because I fell into that category of people who felt the palm OS was out-dated.
So instead, I'm rockin' the BB pearl... I actually love it. Not as much I love the pre tho... Grin.
Agree with most of what you've said, apart from the bit about the app store. There are a lot of amazing apps out there, and it's only going to get better after 3.0.
I absolutely agree with you about the iPhone's keyboard. It rocks! So, yeah, I feel it.
the pre screen size is smaller, but has higher pixel density because the pre's 480 x 320 screen, im no expert, but that might make for equally cabable online reading device. maybe someone more techy, can comment.
your point about data and voice is well noted. the pre is an internet device, ala "Web"OS, therefore its quite feasable that it might be online when a call comes.
what does the pre do?
a) close the app(s),
b) save the page as is and ask me if i want to take the call, or
c) send incoming calls straight to voicemall followed by an alert, like my treo 650.
does anyone have an answer?
I'm still very interested. I've been following limo devices for awhile and wasn't really impressed with the Android. At least not enough to switch away from Verizon to T-Mobile. I'm currently sporting a Blackberry Storm and less than happy, but still a fun alternative to iPhone (Sorry, but I use my cut and paste a lot:) - If you need to know your share of the bill - there's an app for that, If you need to level your bookshelf - there's an app for that, if you need to cut and paste - uh, better get a blackberry). Sorry about the iPhone rant. So the Pre by far is the best phone I've seen in ages. I am anxiously awaiting it's release, and even considering switching to Sprint for it. I'll take the whole family :) Linux on my computers, linux on my phone, life is good in the open source world.
except webOS isn't exactly open source... sorry. You left yourself open on that :)
I've been using a Sony Ericsson for the past 3 years. I've always wanted a smartphone. The Palm Pre absolutely sold me on the idea, but like most others, i learned of its existence too early. To keep me occupied and to dabble in Palm products i bought myself a brand new unlocked Palm Centro. I love the phone from day one and am anxiously waiting for the Pre. I cant wait for the 3g connection and full browser experience. Blazer is meh.
I have the storm and i'm making the switch, the pre seems very fast, and multi tasks nicely. and oh yea it has a keyboard without being a bulky phone !!, i don't believe any of these touch screens out there can beat an actual keyboard.
I am still interested but swapped my 700P for a Centro on the Verizon network. I am happy with that until Pre comes to Verizon.
I am still interested in the Pre, but Sprint and Palm websites are the last place I go for information before it is released. I am going to feed my need for Pre info on sites like this one.
I currently have an iPhone and was interested in the Pre when it first was announced, but not any more. Much as I like the idea of multitasking and synergy, there are too many negatives. and now that iPhone 3.0 is on the way, many of the iPhone's shortcomings have been fixed. I also have no need of a physical keyboard.
Apart from really loving the iPhone, here are the main reasons I won't be getting the Pre:
* the screen is too small
* It's too thick
* It's too big when the keyboard is opened up
* There's no landscape keyboard
* The keyboard doesn't look particularly versatile - it's two thumbs or the highway. No laying the device flat on a table to jot down the odd word with a tap of the finger, and hard to lay back in bed and type stuff with the device above your head.
* No iTunes integration
* Still big question marks about its media capabilities
* 3rd party applications will be quite limited in power and performance
* Sprint network
* No simultaneous voice and data
* No real momentum behind the platform. Sorry to say it, but the iPhone is where the action is at the moment, and that's only going to grow after 3.0. As Dieter said in the recent Precentral podcast, the sky's the limit for the iPhone.
* Won't be able to use the phone in Europe or elsewhere
* Sorry to day it, but it does look a bit girly (I think Dieter was the first one to mention that!)
From Ars Technica - As a dedicated iPhone user, I experienced something very strange and quite unexpected while watching Palm demo the new OS: my iPhone suddenly felt old and played out.
That quote dates back to January, so perhaps, like me, he's changed his mind since the initial hype from CES.
Look, I'm not knocking the Pre, it looks like a terrific device and will please a lot of people; but in the cold light of day there are several things I don't like about it in comparison with my iPhone. And, now that Apple has plugged a lot of the gaps, I think it meets my needs more fully than Pre - and that's before any hardware upgrades which are expected in the summer.
How is the Sprint network a negative?