The universal search feature on Palm Pre, searches not only on the device but also sites like wikipedia and google (and I believe twitter too). This is not the same as spotlight on the iPhone.

My perspective is “let’s just wait and see”. I waited in line for the first iPhone and the 3G iPhone, so don’t be thinking I’m not a huge fan of the iPhone. That said, the Pre did catch my eye and I’m really curious to see if it holds up to the hype they’re creating.

There are lots of really nice design innovations that they’ve created (like the gesture support in an off-screen touch-sensitive area). And also, it looks like the UI in general is way more responsive (For instance, when tilting the phone horizontal when viewing a picture or webpage and boom it auto-rotates instantaneously, not with the iPhone lag we’re all used to).

I agree Apple’s push notification system is going to be a welcome addition, but I can’t imagine how annoying it’s going to be if I have a dozen different apps pushing notifications to that stupid little blue popup that comes up and keeps me from using the screen till I dismiss it. Apple needs a way better paradigm for notifications than that popup. The Android OS of all things has a pretty nice way of gathering the notifications into a little slip that you can call and dismiss.

And what’s all this talk of Apps not existing or not being native? Palm isn’t telling people to make mobile versions of their websites. They have an SDK and you can write native applications that can access the }re’s native APIs. They work when you’re not online and behave like regular apps. All the apps on the Palm Pre OS are written in the Web OS SDK.

Anyway, the Pre is pretty compelling and even if it doesn’t make a huge dent in the iPhone user base, maybe it will snag a bunch of people who don’t want to move to AT&T. Either way, it is really good for the market to have the Pre here. This is the first time, in my opinion, that Apple’s getting challenged to do better in the design and thoughtful innovation departments. And that’s a great thing.

Also, just because it uses Web languages doesn’t mean it’s not native. The code could be compiled and/or pre-rendered prior to installation into native bytecode. Who knows? We haven’t seen the SDK yet. But that sounds right, seeing as the apps demoed so far (Fandango, Pandora, etc.) look to be really powerful and useful and harness device capabilities (such as the notification bar) without a stutter.

Push technology? Been there for years. Apps? They’ve had it for years.

I recently read an article that posted the 10 hottest selling handheld devices. iPhone was #2 behind the Blackberry 8300 series, and ahead of #3 the Blackberry Storm, #4 the Blackberry Bold, and #5 the Blackberry Pearl.

4 of the top 5 selling devices, including #1, are Blackberry’s. I’d say that they have officially killed the iPhone. Not that Blackberry was ever gunning to kill the iPhone; I think the iPhone has been after Blackberry’s market.

The Blackberry is an iPhone killer. In all measures of comparison except the number of available apps… but with Blackberry’s late-to-come AppWorld… iPhone is running out of magic to compete.

One of the aspects of iPhone 3.0 which I think is huge and totally overlooked is the ability for hardware vendors to interface directly with their own custom software… to which the pre doesn’t seem to have any comparable option. I think it’s floating under the radar now but will be a total game changer since vendors can make all sorts of hardware without ‘brains’ and use the iPhone as basically a plug-in computing unit.

I’m not sure if that means that someone can make a hardware keyboard along those lines but I’m quite sure that bluetooth keyboards will be supported before long, which could easily be made in a case/snap-on form factor or small fold out whatever for those who really want them.

I carry a Treo. Any cool-factor associated with this brick wore off years ago, but it does things TODAY like Copy and Paste. No waiting for OS 3.0 or even the fabled Pre. I can globally search the entire device, in all applications, for any occurrence of any word, name, company name, etc. In fact, there is a HUGE list of productivity related functions that iPhones don’t deliver and still won’t with the next OS, which my years-old Palm powered antique Treo does deliver.

Oh, and this talk about battery life… consider this hypothetical: If the iPhone gets 12 hours of heavy-use performance and my Treo (or the new Pre) only gets 9 hours of similar performance (though I doubt that the disparity will be that great in the end) I just whip out my extra Treo (or Pre) battery and pop it in the phone. I’m good for another 9. – I know that actually seeing the inside of an iPhone and looking at the battery itself might seem a bit pedestrian to an iPhone user, but I can live with that.

AT&T has the WORST call quality all across central Florida. I can’t tell you how many times my iPhone-toting friends change the subject when discussing phones, if the topic of “phone calls” actually enters the discussion. I suspect I am not alone in my contention that AT&T, regardless of phone model, is the worst network available for simple phone calls. But your article and my comments were about the iPhone vs. the mythical Palm Pre, so please pardon my tangent.

I tried an iPhone, and I now happily own an iPod Touch. It’s a brilliant music player! Plays cool games too. Great photo viewer. Apple certainly makes great, clever, COOL technology. No question. — Data input is slow and clumsy. Productivity software is limited. For instance, 3rd party solutions to improve Apple’s weak on-board calendar app are non-existent because Apple won’t allow someone to harm/change (improve) their calendar. Task and other time management apps are all very weak in comparison to the years-old Palm technology offerings. 3rd party apps aren’t allowed to trigger alarms so having a task with an alarm reminder is a no-no in Apple’s world. Guess we gotta write all our TASKS in Apple’s calendar too.

For the record, both you and Wired might want to check your sources. That whole “We Can’t Afford to Sell the Pre to the Wrong Customers” bit is part of a SPRINT internal publication about the Pre. NOT a Palm pamphlet. I would imagine the goals of SPRINT (who carries a few different phone offerings) might be a bit different than Palm.

If it’s a battle of which phone is COOLEST, Palm hasn’t had a contender in that fight for years. With the Pre, they seem to be changing that a bit, but that really remains to be seen. Apple might just retain their “cool” title after all is said and done. Oh, and the iPod music player stuff… that point goes to Apple too. — If the battle is based on productivity, time management functionality, data input speed and flexibility, or those pesky phone calls going through, the iPhone doesn’t have a player in that space yet. I’m not willing to call the Palm Pre an iPhone killer, but I DO call the iPhone a productivity killer.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna watch Grey’s Anatomy on my iPod Touch.

The iphone for anyone who has bought it and has used extensibly (bar say those owners who have it purely for bragging rights) know that it is an indispensable piece of kit. Nothing out there matches it. To be honest I’ve heard killer this, killer that and most of the time these authors post obituaries on said killer product/service/company some 8-18 months later normally very quietly.

Like other posters I want Pre to succeed, if just because it will accelerate Apple’s pace in terms of adding features.