Lucid Digital Media

The new Palm Pre is the latest device from the beleaguered consumer electronic company Palm.  If you're thinking we haven't heard a lot from Palm recently, its because we haven't.  They haven't had a truly worth while product on the market for a long time now, and with the launch of the iPhone and Blackberry bringing out strong products, it looked rather like the game was up for Palm.  That was until they announced the Pre at the CES show in January.  Since then, everyone has been eagerly anticipating the launch of what some people are calling the iPhone Killer!

Since the Pre hasn't been launched in the country yet, we have to turn to the states to get an idea of whether Palm have pulled it off, or whether they've simply developed another "me too" device which falls just a little bit short of greatness.

Design

In terms of design, it looks like Palm have created a very attractive device which feels good in the hand and is comfortable to use.  Its footprint is smaller than the iPhone but its thicker, no doubt due to the slide out keyboard (the iPhone utilises an onscreen keyboard).  There does seem to be some criticism about how well built this part of the phone is, and also the way the physical, slide out effect of the keyboard, seems to interfere with the touch screen capabilities of the rest of the device.

Operating System

The OS of the phone (WebOS) is getting rave reviews.  Its functional, good looking and apparently works at least as well as the iPhone's OS which is considered the best of the market.  Many are also saying WebOS also succeeds in area's where the iPhone falls short, high praise indeed!  Of course the iPhone's new OS upgrade is due at the end of June so whether WebOS is still able to compete at that point is another question, but for now its clear that Palm have a solid product.

Browser

Also gaining high praise is the built-in browser on the Pre.  Since the applications on the Pre are built around web standards, it follows that the browser on the device should be top quality, and by all accounts it lives up this expectation.  General opinion puts the Pre's browser on a par with the iPhone, the iPhone does a better job of rendering, but the Pre is much faster.

Conclusion

So in conclusion it looks like Palm has a winner on its hands.  They seem to have generated enough publicity and hype that the device has entered wide spread public consciousness and they dont seem to be let down by implementation problems in the same way the Blackberry Storm was.  Its pretty clear that the Pre is going to do well, and in doing so it might well resurrect the fortunes of what was once a great and innovative company.