Pre-release Pre 2 devices in the works for SFR reps in contest? 42
Looks like in addition to outing the Palm Pre 2 on their own site, SFR France and/or Palm is making allusions to giving SFR sales reps the chance to be one of 400 "Palm VIPs" to exclusively receive the new Palm phones before they are released. This from www.palmlecontest.fr which all those promotional materials behind the recent leaked photo are related to.
Our French ain't what it used to be, but the gist of the contest from the rules on lepalmcontest (pdf link) definitely says that first 400 SFR reps who sell 10 Palm phones will get a chance to receive a sneak preview of the new Palm Phone - aka the Palm Pre 2.
The contest ends on October 31st, so a November launch isn't crazy now, is it?
big ups to pavvento in our comments for the spot!
42 Comments
I was just checking the same thing. Saw the poster in the background and went to the web site.
At O2 UK store in the Millenium Dome. I asked the sales rep when the next palm device is coming, he told me there will be a Palm event happening at the store on wednesday its a whole day thing who knows mayb a O2 launch is right around the corner.. going to check it out anyways.
What about us poor saps on Sprint? My launch day Pre has been abused and not sure it will last until March....
HP marketing in motion. HP is also heaving pushing Palm phones on college campuses (so my daughter the android user tells me).
I predict these won't be the only 400 Pre 2s to be given away for free.
lol
I'm just hoping that beauty comes to Sprint.
Not a major revamp? True. But 1ghz w/512ram and new webOS 2.0... so far no webOS fan has had the pleasure of running webOS like these specs/device will. I don't care how you're overclocking your device.
This phone will rock. I'm getting one if possible... Sprint or VZ.
... and being able to get a day out of the stock battery. I'd love to have my riverstone-shaped Pre back. If the processor is twice as power efficient there's a pretty good chance (the better CPU along with some WebOS 2 power improvements).
For that I'd be pretty much ready to jump on the Pre2 bandwagon. The allure of a big screen is hard to resist but, ultimately, the best phone is the one you're happy to carry around and I'm not sure an EVO-sized phone would be that phone for me.
Day 1 Sprint Pre owner (3 replacements phones):
Why would I want to buy this? Is webOS 2.0 ONLY going to work on the Pre 2? Maybe I'm living in a fantasy world - perhaps HP/Palm will GIVE us (or make it dirt cheap) the new Palm 2 phone (to run webOS 2.0) - to keep us on-board UNTIL the new HP webOS SuperPhone comes out? Why would I waste my upgrade and $ for a spec bump?
Give me a free transition phone till the monster is release in 2011
Do you *really* think webOS 2.0 would be limited to new phones? if you do, you're really dumb.
why wouldn't it be only for new phones? iPhone and Android have both done the same thing, so it's actually not a dumb thing to think...
You're wrong about the iPhone--I have one and know. Android does that because there are so many devices that it is difficult to test compatibility with older phones. Palm went for the iPhone model -- tight ecosystem allowing older devices to receive updates.
Also, the whole idea of "over-the-air updates" breaks down if only new devices get updates. Although it took a while, all devices eventually got 1.4.5, but that probably had more to do with carriers than technical problems.
Finally, if this is a simple spec-bump as people think, it would take some mighty incompetent engineers to design an update that cannot work on previous versions of the same device that differ only in minor ways.
QED
" Why would I waste my upgrade and $ for a spec bump?"
What else would you do then? Use your upgrade and $ for a lower spec phone?
"Give me a free transition phone till the monster is release in 2011"
Yeah, I don't see that happening.
I'm assuming that he is saying he will wait until the superphone rather than buy this one.
I agree 100%. Give me a free phone or I'll leave. They own it to us.
While I'm at it, I'm going to demand a free 2011 CX-7 since the one I bought in 2007 was a first gen, and they've made some minor spec bumps there as well. Same with my tv. I paid $1800 for a 50" plasma 4 years ago, 1080I, and now they have 1080p for even less? They should actually give me a free tv AND a refund of some of my money.
Moronic post.
It's good that HP/Palm put a training manual on the site as well, so that sales reps will know how to show customers how to use the phone. The Verizon reps are clueless.
It seems like this is not coming to the US or at least going to be a while. They dont seem to be caring about any of this in the US. No ONE that none of this wasn't leaked from US people if this was in the US already....
Am I just crazy or is that a Pixi in the picture?
you're not crazy, it is a Pixi.
hey, instead of the Pixi 2 why not rebrand it as the H|Palm VIP. nice ring to it. though not intended, looks sleek in that VIP contest image. Very Important Pixi, heh heh.
.
So the contest ends October 31st, prize will be awarded starting November 1st and the salesperson will retain their VIP status until February 28th.
...and there's a two smartphone max limit per winner :) So... some should find their way to Ebay I guess !
Wait, why would they encourage them to sell as many of the old phones just in time for the new one to arrive? Wouldn't that eliminate all those customers as potential Palm pre 2 customers?
10 * 400 = 4000 new contracts. This is less about a sales volume push than an effort to educate the sales reps and win their support. If they are happier with a webOS phone than the Android and iOS offerings, they'll steer customers in the direction of webOS. THAT is where the money is made.
I just realized that it doesn't say if they are selling Plus devices or Pre 2s to these customers. It just says "Palm devices."
ok so 2 phones that arnt really different than the 1st ones.... They better have some mind blowing phones and tablets at wats that thing in jan? Ces is it? W/e it is they better bring the noise
Thats a pixi plus plus. Yeah now with Wifi!
Don't know French? Try Google Translator.. translate.google.com
This contest seems like it will be quite a challenge, considering SFR already stopped the sales of Pre+ online. I would think consumers in France would be aware that something greater was just around the corner. Not to mention that the salespeople will have to do their best not expose their knowledge of how outdated the Pre+ will be a few weeks later.
I am all over this new device, and it will be a great phone!!!! I AM ALL IN. Sign me up!! It also appears that I will be getting a PalmPad as well... HP/Palm have refined the design of Palm Pre 2 and I am expecting the new hardware to be sturdy and screaming fast with the 1Ghz processor upgrade, memory bump, and most likely increased hard drive storage.
I am guessing there will be other form factors, and we will eventually get to see a front and back facing camera but business folks do not really want people chatting while at work so this would be a welcome development for business users. WebOS 2.0 and the new screaming speed will allow the Pre to get back in the game. Front Facing Camera will most likely target high end consumers, business owners (not users), and techno geeks like all of us on this site, but for regular folks and company employees, this phone WILL FAR EXCEED THEIR EXPECTATIONS!!
Yeah, how are reps supposed to push soon outdated phones on people? That just seems like a very odd tactic; almost like they are preying on a consumers lack of new technology news. If I bought a Pre Plus from them and they timed the launch of the Pre2 past the 30 day trial I get, I'd be stuck with a sub par phone with the carrier contract method (who pays full price for these things?) for 2 more years. I think we may have missed something in the translation... This doesn't seem kosher.
Same reason people opted to get the iPhone 3GS after the iPhone 4 came out.
The carriers simply want to get rid of their old inventory. Most people don't know about the tech rumors and there haven't been any big official press releases. The cost of pres and pixis is very low (0 dollars in HP website) so you're not getting screwed financially. With webOS 2.0, even stock pre's and pixis will be faster, more functional, and hopefully stable. That's fine for most people- not for tech enthusiasts who are few in number.
Think about the people still cheerfully sporting around centros, treos, bb's. All obsolete but functional. Or the dumbphone users. Some people could care less what they use as long as the phone works.
This is interesting. Looks like they're trying to get rid of all the Palm phones they have in stock by telling their salespeople they'll be put in a special Palm VIP program if they sell 10 phones, but only the first 400 people to sell 10 phones will be VIPs. I guess SFR has a pressing need to get rid of 4000 phones by October 31st...
Actually, since it says 2 phones max per employee, it seems that they must have 8000 in overstock.
I think your math is a bit off. 400 reps sell 10 phones each to customers, and each REP can get two 2nd gen. hardware devices. 4000 old phones + 800 2nd gen. phones.
From what it looked like they have a chance of getting one phone for every 10, up to 2 phones, which would mean selling 20 phones.
super phone,lol sorry,everytime I hear that name I can't help but laugh,lol look,up in the sky,its a evo,no it's a pre,,no it's SUPERPHONE!!!
wat is this shit? give me the 2.0 update and shove that up HPs ass for this garbage!
yes, I just hope Sprint gets 'A' new model by next Spring, so I can move up in July
meh...not really impressed with this interim device. Why would I even bother if WebOS 2 will be available on the Pre? I sure hope WebOS2 fixes the janky battery frustration. I have never had a phone that won't turn on with less than 10% battery left WHILE PLUGGED IN. WTF? It should be able to be used while plugged in even without a battery.