Verizon Pre 2 rumor watch: Walmart + January Launch? 52
Sure, we've seen the Verizon Pre 2 appear on Best Buy's internal systems, but there's nothing like a public-facing link at a store to get the bloog pumping. Enter Let's Talk's portal for WalMmart, which shows the speedy webOS wonder right now, though it's naturally unavailable. Product details are as you'd expect - we're happy to see that Mobile Hotspot is still going to be on board. Yeah, we dig the default wallpaper for the device, for what that's worth.
Meanwhile, Phonearena claims that a tipster has made the Verizon Pre 2 hunt even curiouser: they suggest it will launch later this month but will only sell for a very short amount of time before HP replaces it altogether. They suggest a grain of salt on that one and we have to agree. Then again, anything's possible - at this point the Verizon Pre 2 hunt is starting to feel like a snipe hunt.
Source: Walmart, Phonearena; via: PocketNow
52 Comments
It has my bloog pumping! - Thanks Dieter
why would I care? I'm just hoping they have a better phone for sprint coming soon.Better then the Pre 2.
Meh, can't care about all of them, but I guess the part that you would care about is that Phonearena suggests it will only be available for a limited time to make room for other hardware from HP, and that hardware is bound to be better than the Pre 2 (why take a step back, right).
Big deal. Nobody cares about the Pre 2 anymore. I would definitely take one as a replacement, but I would never use an upgrade to get it.
Honestly, with new Palm phones on the way they should just give the Pre 2's away for free to loyal Palm customers that have sticked with 'em.
I have an alternative plan. They should sell them to Sprint Pre owners for $25, provided they add 6 more months to their Sprint contract. Sprint makes a few pence on the deal, and HP wins a lot of good will. (Oh, and let's get Classic back in 2.0, while we're at it.)
or they use them as cheap (if you read this, thats just the opposite of what its now, palm) "starter-devices", aiming for not-yet-smartphone people who dont want to carry a huge phone with them but still have most of [sic...] the functions of a modern smartphone.
since this week, a new unlocked QWERTY Pre- can be bought for 149€ (200$) in germany, switzerland, austria and france
http://www.pearl.de/a-GLD9357-4090.shtml
they should be giving those away since they Y and Z are in the wrong place on the keyboard :)
Does anyone who owns a pre plus really even care to get the pre 2?
It doesn't offer a better camera, higher resolution, bigger battery, or bigger screen. So what's the point!?
You can have 1GHz without voiding your warranty. Oh, and you're the first one to get 2.0.
I trust the homebrew developers and the precentral community so I'd rather void my warranty and overclock than pay an early termination fee and $100 for the phone just to get 2.0 early.
It does have a better camera - 3meg vs 5-megapixel.
a pointless spec bump without auto focus or macro mode.
no. if released it will tank. And the bad press is not what's needed now.
The form factor almost makes up for the short battery life. Almost. And I really want a gyroscope like the iPhone 4. Having one opens up a whole new world of useful apps...
I guess this will be Palm's announcement at CES. The Pre 2 will launch on Verizon, in "the coming days". I sure hope there's more to look forward to at CES.
I find it interesting that on the Walmart site, it has "No" for Threaded text messaging when the Pre Plus for ATT on the Walmart site has it listed as "Yes"...
Prepare to have that web page pulled until VZW makes their CES announcements in 3. 2. 1....
that phonearena piece said the new web os phones will be sold as HP And not Palm.
RIP Palm? I hope not
That doesn't mean necessarily that HP is dropping the Palm name. It is generally accepted as fact that the Pre 2 was the last device Palm was working on before being purchased by HP. Had the merger not happened, the Pre 2 would have more than likely been released in June. HP Palm probably decided to just go ahead and release the Pre 2 since all the manpower had been used in its development, and as introductory hardware to get webOS 2.0 out to developers. Any handset released from here on out will be under HP's banner, but we have yet to see what those product lines will be called. Technically, you could say that HP produces its own line of compact economy PCs, but they are still badged "Compaq." I don't see why a similar branding couldn't happen here, i.e. the HP Palm Pixi; HP Palm Pad (or whatever other product names they come up with). For that matter, go to palm.com and you'll see the "HP Palm" branding in the upper left corner.
I don't see any link to actually order one...
That's cause they aren't yet available.
Same as with every other leak of phones. Rarely can you actually purchase one through these sellers before they become available.
They should just keep this as an online thing and keep it out of stores. Whoever wants one can order it. Unless they aren't planing on releasing anything else, there is no point to it.
cool
Am I reading it right, that the mobile hotspot is included...I don't mean the app, but the service? I know I have it for free, but I figured that was something Verizon did to placate us poor VZ Pre Plus folks since they crippled our GPS experience (unintentionally or otherwise). I didn't expect them to continue to offer it for free. Isn't it normally about a $45/month fee? But there is no indication of needing to purchase this as a separate item.
It is marketed as being hotspot capable on VZW and Rogers.
Of course, it still requires the service.
And it wasn't offered for free because they're limiting aGPS. Officially, they aren't even doing anything to limit aGPS. They did the free Mobile Hotspot because they wanted to sell the excess Pre+ quantity.
Does this mean a lower wally mart price point? aka: They are going to flood the market with lots and lots of cheap WebOS devices to help get share #s up?
Even than I probably still won't get one Im so tired of waiting for palm that I just went out and got an evo my old Sprint pre was about dead so I had to go out with a new phone after going through like 8 pre's
Hey the way I look at it is that Ima hold out till June and by then I will be out of contract.. Get the phone @ retail and have the felixablity of leaving Sprint whenever I want.. Muah ha ha ha ha (P.S. Im not really going anywhere Lmao)
I don’t get it... Why are they waiting so long to release the phone with carriers in the US... And what about the rest of the world?... It’s going to be outdated in a couple months, if it isn’t already.
I think very few people is going to buy the phone from HP directly, is way too expensive.
They might as well bring out the Pre 3 asap (pre 2 with better screen, better camera and more storage would do it for me), and give us 2.0 for the time being
C’mon Palm, get your shit together once and for all, this is ridiculous
P.S. I read somewhere that HP won’t be announcing any new products at CES... Instead they will do so in a private event taken place between CES and that other event in Barcelona, in order to catch as much attention haz possible
Good question about whether the Pre 2 is worth burning an upgrade on Verizon if you already have the Pre Plus. Initially, I thought that I might use an upgrade to get the Pre 2 because my Pre Plus is starting to get pretty loose and the keypad has never worked well. I like the glass display on the Pre 2 and I'd appreciate better hardware.
But, if there is more coming from HP, it may be worth holding off to see what they will have to offer. I agree with an earlier poster that current Pre users should get the Pre 2 at a deep discount just to say thank you for not bailing out on Palm and HP.
Also, there are still a couple things about Web OS that bug me (no pun intended) like the inability to open forwarded exchange e-mail files. If that is not fixed in OS2, I will need to think about whether HP is really going support WebOS as a business platform.
Ok - I hope I don't get any rants for this: my position on staying long on Palm/HP has changed.
For months - I've been anxious - saying that if HP/Palm doesn't have some sort of super phone launch at CES - I'm gone. I can't wait anymore. That was my mindset for quite some time.
Then - over the holiday break - I spent a long time playing with my son's new IPOD Touch and my sister's EVO - and I can say in all honesty - to me - they both suck big time in their own way.
Now before you jump down my throat-let's me say that I do love all those bells and whistles in terms of cool apps, etc. Can't deny it. Lots of room to add functionality - coupled with a lot of silliness as well.
BUT - I don't need 5 farting apps. I use the PRE for work and to help me keep certain parts of my life organized (i.e. calendar, contacts, tasks, directions, etc.) As a day one Pre owner -(after playing with the others) I was kind of shocked to see how much I've grown to depend on the true multi-tasking and user interface that the PRE provides. It just feels like your information is all connected and I still need it. I use my PRE for work all the time...and I can honestly say - while I'd love the hardware to improve and the app development to equal IPHONE and Android....in terms of my day to day activity - for me it's still webOS and the functionality in managing my life with multi-taking and etc is more important.
So - for now - no more rants. I don't think CES will be anything big for HP/PALM -I will wait to see if HP can jumpstart things within the next few months - and/or wait to see if any of the recent Palm departures can improve other platforms to be more like webOS....
What you're saying is after trying the ipod touch and EVO for a few days, or hours (heck even a few minutes) you're saying they can't compare to webos which you've used for years?
What do you think a seasoned iphone user or android user would say of webos if they used it for a few minutes, or days?
I'm just sayin......
I know from experience that an iPhone or Android user would not understand the advantages of true multitasking or Synergy available with webOS because they are not used to using a phone that offers those characteristics. They would try to use it like they do their own handset and not see any advantage at all. I always have to explain how these things and other aspects of the OS make it more fluid and intuitive to use, and they still don't really understand it. WebOS is something that is best experienced over time. People are used to using what they've been using. But I guarantee if they use webOS for a week, they would at least be able to understand the advantages of it over the other stuff.
Jberm455, I'm with you. The Pre 2 may not cut it as a big-screen entertainment device or as a short-term ego boost, but it is a fantastic productivity tool with the perfect size and form-factor for me.
What has Pre2 changed that make it such a great productivity device?
The Pre1 took all the greatness of Palm PIM and ignored it completely.
I found this the most frustrating part of the Pre generation. What has changed with Pre2?
I felt the same way at first coming from Palm OS, but I could never go back now. I'm still using a launch-day Sprint Pre and consider it a great phone*, but I'm looking forward to the Pre 2 improvements.
(*Your mileage may vary.)
Just switched to a competitors phone. Maybe when Palm/HP comes out with hardware that will compete with the EVO or iPhone I'll come back. Like WebOS, hate the hardware.
I love webOS, hate the hardware, hate the way Palm has strung us along the most. I feel sorry for people here who have so much invested in this company and their empty promises. I think it's far worse to be pimping this Pre2 than to have remained silent all these months, with a slew of new form factors waiting to be released eventually. This is just a sign IMO, as well as no big presence at CES, that they are not going to wow any time soon. Well, except in 2011 "some time." The Pre2 will not wow anyone but hardcore Palm fans, which isn't enough to get developers interested.
My bloog is a pumpin'.
If the Pre 2 had come out for Sprint for a limited time I would have definitely got one. If they decided to stop selling a month later I wouldn't care. I'm all in with webos and the latest and greatest I will have. I could care less about using up my upgrade only to replace my phone in a few months. I sure hope that there is something coming soon because my Pre minus is falling apart fast. Let's hope that when HP decides to release their next phone there is no exclusivity period and everyone on all networks get to have a little webos fun. Yes including T-Mobile.
the samsung epic or the Windows 7 phones are looking prettier as the days progress, I love windows new UI and I'm very fond of Epics Qwerty keyboard, all I know is palm WebOs UI but I don't mind going to either of those platforms.
I'm sure another phone company would like my money seeming as sprint and HP are doing a horrible job at keeping Palm fans in their corner...
WP7 CDMA phones can't get over to Sprint soon enough.
Anything having to do with Android is a non-starter. It should be relegated to Virgin Mobile and then banished forever.
sure hope they give us something other than the pre2
I'd be excited if there are big announcements at CES or at an independent HP/Palm release, but for now I'd be more than happy with the pre 2 & I'm hoping it's out within a few days. The way I see it, I've had an iPhone, Evo, BB, and even the old Windows phone, but have progressively grown weary of the spec-race. Specs matter to a point, and beyond that become shallow marketing tools. I have a feeling the average consumer will grow tired of it (at least with smartphones) once they realize that 8mp camera with HD video & 6-inch screen hasn't made their life any more efficient. But, like I said, upping the specs IS important to a degree, and I think the pre 2 reaches that threshold for me: it has a faster processor, a durable screen, rubberized back, and webos2. Anything more added is incremental, and doesn't impact the experience much more. *my 2 cents*
I'm totally waiting to see what comes this week. But to be fair, the Pre 2 sounds to be my Pre Minus with the lion's share of the hardware gripes fixed, plus a happy boost in specs that matter (2x processor and RAM) to me.
In my book, that's a more well-tested design in a form factor I already very much like. A shame they can't seem to get the damn thing out the door, but I might still end up preferring it over what comes. And I (Sprint boi) may never have the option.
Now back the other way, I'm actually less concerned about hardware this week and more about the ecosystem. HPalm, please demonstrate some commitment to making the *platform* succeed this year. I can't help but feel that the only rock-solid support I have is the fantastic but (comparatively) few folk of the homebrew community, and that doesn't bode well in the long game.
apple changed everything for the worse,before Iphone every company wanted to make as small as possible devices(portable & light) and now everyone want to make bigger screens.
Pre 2 size is good and Pixi is excellent better than a BB.
HP has no interest in selling phones. They are setting Palm up to fail so they can focus on WebOS. Now watch HP comes out with a super tablet/pad/whatever that's gonna blow the competition outta the water....
Hi all,
I look at this as a good thing, in fact a GREAT thing....
It gets webOS out there with more people knowing about it, buying it and using it...the more webOS users the more Palm/HP will roll out new products...
Keep in mind Walmart is the largest store chain in the country, (while I don't shop there, lots of people do)! That's lots of foot traffic learning about webOS! That is very good for all of us...even if you don't want the Pre II.
Take care, Jay
I used to want the Pre 2, especially since my Sprint Pre was dying. I was even prepared to switch to Verizon to get one.
After I got tired of being strung along, I did a Pre Plus conversion and now have a Sprint FrankenPre Plus, all for ~$30 in parts.
Now that I have 16GB of storage and the UberKernel, I don't care about the Pre 2 anymore.
HP has already announced new families of notebooks and desktops. I'm sure they will do the same thing for smartphones, but not at CES (but I wish they would).
PCs and Notebooks are an enormous part of their customer and revenue base, so I guess it got an earlier date on the calendar.
well off topic..... Where did precentral go? Im a junky and they have not updated this site in awhile.... hope they are travelling to CES or something....