Spotlight: Palm Pre Hands-On Impressions
I checked one out today for some 40 or so minutes (small Sprint store, rather empty). I’m extremely impressed, especially by how fast the applications are (though it could be Sprint v. AT&T). If Palm can develop its App Store, Apple will have its first real competitor. The phone is a breeze to use and very elegant. Some impressions:
Browser: Browser is solid 50% faster than iPhone. It’s a bit sluggish after opening a few window but after loading 10 pages the first was still fully loaded! I’ve never had more than two (maybe three) windows on iPhone where the first window was still fully loaded. Coupled with the multitasking, makes it a great browser.
Multitasking: Fantastic. It’s awesome to move from Mail, to the Browser, to the Camera with a second lag instead of hitting the home screen and waiting for the app to load everytime, especially if you’re switching between a few apps.
Camera: Great for a cellphone. Not as blurry as iPhone with better colors. The shutter is also much faster. Check out this photo taken from the iPhone to this photo taken from the Pre.
Apps: Google Maps was faster, with the location selected as soon as the App opened. Directions were routed very quickly, too. And drawing areas of the map was faster.
Screen: Great - Multitouch works very well, the screen itself is bright with vibrant colors - The resolution (same as iPhone) may be too much for the considerably smaller screen, I compared some webpages on both and a zoomed in area that was fine on iPhone looked small on the Pree
Keyboard - The keys were very small, considerably smaller than a Bold or Curve (or at least it felt that way). I actually prefer typing on the iPhone though I’ve had a year to et used to that compared to 40 or so minutes here.
