The new kid on the smartphone block, the Palm Pre, has received plenty of hype, and for the most part lives up to it, thanks to the impressive record of Palm mobile phones. A lot of thought has gone into the Pre – for instance, it not only possesses the typical touch screen, but also a full pull-out QWERTY keyboard.
Several mobile phone reviews have commented that its styling might not be as sleek as some of its competitors, but it still looks good, and what’s really important is whether it can do the job; not to worry, the Palm Pre really delivers. It can multi-task easily, and its three megapixel camera with LED flash takes crisp pictures. Being new, there aren’t too many apps available in the Palm store, but that will undoubtedly change quickly. Search is a very strong point with the Palm Pre, and accessing both calendar and contacts is simple, and it puts all the information together easily and quickly, while access to Google. Twitter, and Wikipedia can all be managed from a single page – a real time-saver – and the pinch-to-zoom facility can be an eyesight saver.
On the downside, the keyboard is small, so anyone with larger fingers will find typing on a Palm Pre a bit of a task. The touch screen isn’t quite as intuitive as with other smartphones, but it still performs perfectly well for most tasks, and responds both quickly and smoothly. Taking time on the development of this new phone has paid off for Palm, and the new Pre is outstanding.
