SYNC or swim?!. . .Did you know that the new Palm Pre. . .

[NewtonMP2100]

. . .can sync with iTunes . . .like it was an iPod or iPhone. . .?

. . .now you know. . .


Palm's new smart phone synchronizes with iTunes

. . .Palm Inc.'s much-awaited new smart phone, the Pre, can connect to Apple's iTunes software and download music and photos just as if it were an iPod or iPhone.

The feature might be unique for a device not made by Apple Inc., though third-party software is available that lets some digital music players masquerade as iPods in iTunes.

Palm Inc.'s new phone goes on sale June 7, with Sprint Nextel Corp. as the exclusive launch carrier. It will be $200 with a two-year contract and a rebate, competing with Apple's iPhone in the market for high-end smart phones. . .


CONNECT four. . .?

[lazydays]

That is what stopped me from buying an android phone. It's worthless without sync. So far this is the only good news I have heard about the PRE. Personally I hope it is successful, Apple needs some competition.

I read recently in usa today that the iphone will most likely come to verizon in 2010. I'm just waiting...

[ztirffritz]

Apple is really good at crushing competition. They'd rather cannibalize business from themselves than let other take it from them. As a result they have often killed products that were selling well, even at the top of their game because they realized it was in a tenuous position. Think of the iPod Mini with the harddrive. It was selling very well, but they realized that the market they were serving was not well suited to having a mechanical harddrive based device (ie jogging, biking, etc). They killed it before someone else could swoop in and take the business. They replaced it with a similar device that was flash based and had more features. Apple's strongest competitor is usually...Apple.

[GeneL]

Saturday June 6th is the release date.

I'm going to the sprint store today to ask for a "reservation" to get one asap to replace my %$&#@ Treo 755P. The Treo is marvelous as a PDA, but completely sucks as a phone.

My Treo resets in the middle of phone calls all the time, calls in areas with plenty of signal don't go through, sometimes a call goes through and I can hear the other person, but they can't hear me. The list of problems goes on and on.

I'm hoping that the Pre is a lot better as a phone. It sure has an impressive list of features.

Palm Pre Pre-view (from Treonauts website) http://blog.treonauts.com/2009/05/palm-p...ce=tnemail&utm_campaign=email&utm_medium=daily

Official User Guide, Fact Sheet, Features Guide, Getting Started Guide & Full Videos For Sprint Palm Pre Leaked

As we get closer and closer to the official Palm Pre release date of Saturday, June 6th it should not be too surprising that more and more leaks are appearing almost daily.

The last two most interesting leaks include on the one hand the full PDF versions of the Official User Guide, Fact Sheet, Features Guide & Getting Started Guide while on the other hand someone with access to a Palm Pre emulator has provided us with 22 in-depth videos of this amazing smartphone in action.

Palm Pre Fact Sheet
Here below you’ll find an overview of the features, capabilities, battery life, what is in the box and accessories for the Palm Pre.

Features – Activation: Supports Hands Free Activation

Features – Hardware:

Vibrant 3.1-inch touchscreen, with 24-bit color, Resolution: 320 x 480 HVGA and User-adjustable brightness
The first Palm smartphone with a much welcomed rectangular screen instead of square which should make it that much easier and more fun to work and play. At the same time, unlike the BlackBerry, the Palm Pre has a full touchscreen which has now been enhanced with “capacitive” technology.
Size: 3.9 in. x 2.3 in. x 0.67 in. (100.5mm x 59.5mm x 16.95mm) 4.76 ounces (135 grams)
Small, light yet powerful – the perfect combination…
Sprint Mobile Broadband with Power Vision Rev A
There’s no point having an always-connected smartphone if you can’t have a great 3G data connectivity. Sprint delivers with its ultra-fast wireless network.
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g with WPA, WPA2, WEP, 802.1x authentication
It’s now a given that high-end smartphones must include WiFi and the Palm pre is not the exception.
Full QWERTY keyboard Touch Screen navigation
Time and time again I have said that the biggest flaw of the iPhone is its lack of a physical keyboard – a flaw that the Palm Pre resolutely does not suffer from.
Sensors for Ambient light, Accelerometer, and Proximity

Bluetooth wireless technology 2.1 + EDR with A2DP (stereo Bluetooth) support Profiles: HSP (Headset Profile), HFP 1.5 (Hands Free Profile), PAN (Personal Area Networking), stereo audio streaming (A2DP, AVRCP) Voice dialing: over Bluetooth wireless.
Thankfully the Palm Pre delivers virtually all great wireless functionalities that Bluetooth provides.
Autonomous and Simultaneous GPS using Sprint Navigation for turn by turn directions, and points of interest searches
Having built-in GPS is not only ultra-convenient but with Sprint’s Everything Plans it also happens to be completely free…
Speakerphone
Whether it’s to speak handsfree or to listen to music a speakerphone will always be most welcome…
Dual-band MSM6801A processor TI OMAP 3430 processor
I haven’t yet had a chance to properly play with a Palm Pre but all comments thus far point to an ultrafast experience supported by this high-end processor.
Camera: Built-In 3.0 megapixels (1600x1200), LED flash with extended depth of field, Autoexposure, Auto-white balance, Geotagging
We’ll have to wait and see what picture quality is like but nobody can deny that have a 3.0 MP camera with flash as well as geotagging is a rather robust solution.
8GB (7GB user available), USB mass storage support and No MicroSD Card Slot
It’s true that I would very much have liked to have a microSDHC slot on the Palm Pre – particularly as it “only” has 8GB – but overall it’s not too shabby.
Removable rechargeable 1150mAh Li-Ion battery provides up to 5 hours continuous talk time in digital mode and 250 hours stand by time that Charges over USB
It may seem pretty obvious that your smartphone should have a removable battery but again this is something the iPhone doesn’t offer. Additionally, 5 hours of talk time is at the upper end of my expectations.
microUSB connector with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
I really like the fact that Palm has forgone the use of proprietary connectors and instead chosen to use a standard microUSB format for which you can easily find cables and chargers.
3.5mm Stereo Headset connector
There was a time when having a 2.5mm connector was considered standard but thankfully the Palm Pre opts for the much more convenient 3.5mm.
Features – Software:

Palm webOS

Document Viewers (DOC, XLS, PPT, PDF) that allows you to view Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint Word
Phone As Modem capable Via Bluetooth (Only special pricing can add PAM attachable)
Downloadable Applications from the Palm Application Store
Customizable Ring Tones
Customizable Photo Caller ID
Calculator (basic/advanced)
Calendar
Contacts
Camera
Messaging; Email, SMS, MMS and IM
Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync® capable
Sprint Navigation (Autonomous GPS & Simultaneous GPS used with a voice call)
Sprint TV
Amazon Music Store
Image Formats GIF, JPG, BMP, PNG, XBM, WBMP, MP3
Video Formats WMV
Audio Formats WAV, WMA, MP3
Ringer Types Supported MIDI, QCELP, MP3, AAC, AAC+, Video Ringer & Voice
System Requirements:

Windows XP Service Pack 2,
Windows Vista (32-bit version only)
MAC OsX
Capabilities:

Digital Dual Band
PDA/Palm WebOs
Power Vision (High Speed Data) / Vision (3G Data)
Camera (pictures only) with MMS support at launch
Multimedia
Downloads (Palm App Catalog)
WLNP = Y
MMS, SMS, IM
GPS-E911
TTY
Battery Life
IMPORTANT NOTE: Battery life depends on individual use. Consumption factors include signal strength, speakerphone use, and use of wireless features. In addition, talk time is slightly lower when roaming on the cellular 800 MHz band.

What is in the box:

Palm Pre
Removable Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) Battery (1150 mAh)
AC travel charger w/adapter
MicroUSB sync cable
Carrying Case
Stereo Headset
Features Guide
Get Started Guide
Palm Pre Videos



If you just can’t wait to experience what it might feel like to own a Palm Pre then you will be delighted to be able to take a rather nice in-depth video tour of the device split in 22 chapters. Among others you’ll be able to see how the Browser, Universal Search, Google Maps, Messaging & Copy/Paste work.

Sources:
Palm Pre Documents for All (via http://www.sprintgurus.com/forum/hardwar...s-all.html)
User Guide, Fact Sheet, Features Guide & Getting Started Guide
Palm Pre Videos (via http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=PalmPreForumDotOrg&view=videos)

[vision63]

I'll be ordering my Pre as soon as it's available. I love the little Palm Centro that I have now so the Pre should only be better. I'll still use my Touch for iPod junk.

[davester]

Although it can sync with iTunes, I bet it can't play iTMS DRM tracks.

[gabester]

Of course it won't be able to play DRM'ed tracks. That's the whole point of DRM, after all - to prevent media playback by unauthorized devices!

That said, this makes me want a Pre quite a bit; although I was disappointed to learn that it does NOT have any kind of memory card slot and is thus not expandable. That said, I refuse to get an iPhone because of AT&T.
g=

[bhaveshp]

Better yet... Verizon Wireless says they will carry the Pre after 6 months. Now I know what my wife's next phone will be ;-)

[MGS_forgot_password]

You have been able to do it with Nokia phones for a while:
http://europe.nokia.com/get-support-and-...a-transfer

[sekker]

The only reason to believe this will be a good product is because they are betting the company on it.

That hopefully means NOT using the engineers that allowed a series of Palm products out the door (i.e. Lifedrive.)