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Jewish World Review
June 19, 2009
/ 27 Sivan 5769
A tale of two Smartphones
By
Mark Kellner
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Even before the confetti from the June 6 launch of Palm's Pre smartphone had been
swept away, Apple, Inc., came along to pop the last remaining Pre balloon. Two days
after Palm sallied forth with its presumptive "iPhone killer," Apple cut the
price on a similar-memory-sized iPhone to $99, or $100 less than the Pre after a
$100 rebate. Apple also announced a new revision of the iPhone's operating system,
due this coming Wednesday, a free upgrade.
And, come Thursday of this week, smartphone aficionados are expected to have the
iPhone 3G S with which to contend, starting with 16 Gigabytes of memory
(twice the Pre's storage) at $199 and jumping to 32 GB (or, 4 times the Pre) for
$299, or the Pre's list price.
Is that whimpering I hear out there?
Let's start with the software. The new iPhone 3.0 software will answer some of the
complaints about the iPhone, such as lack of cutting/copying-and-pasting
capabilities, lack of a horizontal layout for e-mail and typing, You'll also be
able to record voice memos, connect to a Bluetooth stereo device, such as headphones
(and perhaps car stereos), search the contents of your phone for a keyword or name,
and have an enhanced stock tracker, if your GM shares are ever worth something.
Couple the new features with the new iPhone model, and you'll also be able to
shoot and send short video clips, have a 3-megapixel camera at the ready (versus 3.2
megapixels on the Pre) and have that camera focus and zoom with a tap, among other
features.
New applications coming for the iPhone include a GPS application from TomTom that
should offer turn-by-turn directions, with voice prompts, as well as an optional car
kit to hold the iPhone for hands-free viewing, even in landscape mode.
Now, it may seem unfair to tar Palm's Pre with the two-plus-year-old iPhone's
brush: the Pre is brand-spanking new and the iPhone's been out there. But Palm's
new CEO, Jon Rubenstein, is an Apple veteran, after all; he was on the iPod
development team. And the world has seen what Apple has done with both the iPhone
and the iPod, as well as with the App Store, which has made it easy to
purchase iPhone/iPod apps via iTunes.
The success of the App Store model speaks to why T-Mobile's Android phone using
the Google-developed operating system, as well as Research in Motion's BlackBerry
platform both have similar "stores" out there in cyberspace, each launching with
more than the handful of applications Palm deigned to bless the Pre with at its
launch.
And one more thing: the Android, the BlackBerry Storm, and, yes, the iPhone, will
each work outside of the United States. The Pre won't, and yet Palm imagines this
device will effectively compete against the iPhone. As you might imagine, I'm a
tad skeptical about that.
It's not that the Pre isn't adequate as a smartphone: as I noted last Wednesday,
its applications are quite good, and there's plenty of potential. However, the
notion that this device is as likely (or more so) to knock off the iPhone ranks up
there with the latest theories of alchemy as ways to make vast sums of money.
The Pre remains a work in progress. There's no telling when additional
applications will be available, no ideas, yet, on accessories. Yet almost within
minutes of the new iPhone announcements, there were news releases saying this or
that accessory would work with the 3G S model, or is being designed for it.
The reason, of course, is the vast popularity of the iPhone: millions and millions
have been sold. No media report I've seen suggests a similar surge for the Pre,
and unless Palm gets moving, there may not be one.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Mark Kellner has reported on technology for industry newspapers and magazines since 1983, and has been the computer columnist for The Washington Times since 1991.Comment by clicking here.
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