Palm which is known for its simple to use PDA’s (personal digital assistants) has come out wild with a phone which can challenge iPhone head to head and beyond. Palm has been doing badly for few years now. Palm Pre might be the ray of hope for the company.

palm pre front slide closed

Palm Pre is a phone which run’s new operating system developed by Palm based on Linux. It has all features modern smartphone should have including

• Navigation capability using GPS,
• WiFi connectivity,
• multi touch,
• Camera,
• Full Web browsing,
• Email,
• Wireless charging (unique feature)
• and more …

It runs a new operating system called as Palm webOS. Phone is expected to be released first excusively with Sprint network in US which is a CDMA operator. Later, 3G UMTS/GSM model will also be released. The phone has already got awards like CNET’s Best of CES 2009, Best in Show, Best in Category: Cellphones & smartphones and People’s Voice.

palm pre front slide opened

Specification:

• Operating System: Palm webOS
• Processor: OMAP3430 – ARM Cortex A8 + ISP (Image Signal Processor) + PowerVR SGX 530 2D/3D Graphics Accelerator + IVA2+ (Imaging and Video Accelerator)
• Network: 3G EVDO Rev A
• 3.1 inch touch screen with a 320×480 HVGA resolution
• Physical QWERTY keyboard
• Microsoft email with microsoft direct push technology
• POP/IMAP
• Integreted IM, SMS, MMS
• built-in GPS
• 3 MP camera with LED flash and extended depth of field
• Ambient Light Sensor
• Accelerometer
• Proximity Sensor
• Audio Formats: mp3, aac, aac+, amr, qcelp, wav
• Video Formats: mpeg-4, h.263, h.264
• Image Formats: gif, animated gif, jpeg, png, bmp
• 802.11 b/g with WPA, WPA2, 802.1x authentication
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo bluetooth support
• 8 GB of user storage (~7.4 GB usable)
• USB mass storage feature
• Bluetooth tethering (Using phone as internet gateway/modem)
• microUSB 2.0
• 3.5 mm stereo audio jack
• Palm touchstone charging dock (wireless recharging)
• Width: 59.5 mm (2.3 inch)
• Height: 100.5 mm (3.9 inch)
• Thichness: 16.95 mm (.67 inch)
• Weight: 135 grams (4.76 ounces)

Features:

Connected calendars and contacts: Pre uses the Palm® Synergy™ feature to bring your Outlook®,2 Google, and Facebook® calendars together for one logical view of your day. And if you have the same contacts in different places, Pre can link them together, making it easy to find the information you need.

Notification Bars: Things like text messages and calendar appointments appear as notifications at the bottom of the screen. You’ll know what’s going on without being completely interrupted or losing your train of thought.

Universal Search: Simply start typing to begin searching your contacts, applications, Google, or even Wikipedia. Universal search narrows down the possible results as you type, so it’s easier to find what you need.

Email, Wi-Fi and GPS: Check email from Outlook® or personal accounts like Gmail, AOL, and Yahoo!. Take advantage of Wi-Fi hotspots. And look up directions or nearby points of interest using GPS. It’s everything you need, everywhere you go.

Multiple Activities: Keep multiple applications open and move easily between them—email, maps, photos, websites, whatever. Pre thinks of your applications as “activity cards”, and lets you flip through them, move them around, or throw them off screen.

Web-connected Applications: An incredibly fast browser brings you full websites the way they were meant to be seen. Plus, the applications on the phone are connected to the web and constantly updated, so you get the latest information without having to work for it.

Combined Messaging: Thanks to Synergy, all your conversations with the same person are grouped together in one chat-style view. (Even if it started in IM, for example, and you want to reply with text.) You can also see who’s online right from contacts, and start a new conversation with just one touch.

Slideout Keyboard: Slide out the keyboard for faster and easier texting. Close it up and rotate Pre for music, websites, photos, and videos in full widescreen glory. You get the best of both worlds in one beautifully designed phone.