mlive has a review of the Palm Pre Plus Vs. the Motorola Droid. Here are the highlights:

Just say no to the Pixi – First off, I’d advise staying away from the Palm Pixi.

Design: Advantage Droid
• Both devices have slideout keyboards. While I didn’t like the Droid’s flat keyboard, it does have the option of an onscreen keyboard. And with a bigger 3.7-inch screen, typing on the screen is OK.

User interface: Advantage Pre
The Android operating system has a strange system in which the user has a hard time telling whether an application has been closed, which keep several applications running in the background unintentionally. The Pre webOS “card” system is an elegant way to switch and close applications. Check out the video (skip to about the 1 minute mark) below to see it in action.

Overall
The first Pre was released last summer, so I didn’t expect a completely new device on the market for Verizon. But I wish they could have done more to improve the battery life. I also wish Palm hadn’t wasted their time with the Pixi (which was released in the fall), and I hope they can turn out another interesting device this year.
Both the Pre and Droid are fun and powerful devices, but battery life and apps are clear advantages for Droid.
Two more Android devices (Motorola Devour and Google’s Nexus One) are coming to Verizon in the next few months. If Palm doesn’t offer improvements, the application gap could squeeze Palm out of the smartphone market.

android · Google · palm pixi · Palm Pre · pixi · Smartphone · Verizon · WebOS

Verizon Wireless is starting a new BOGO campaign that includes both of its Android handsets – the Droid and Eris – both Palm phones – the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus – along with the LG Chocolate Touch and Samsung Alias 2 features phones. The promotion will allow you to mix and match any of the eligible handsets or even a Winmo/feature phone of equal or lesser value. Of course the buyer will be required to sign a two year contract but that’s par for the course on these types of deals.

Source: Mobile Crunch

android · Communications · Droid · LG Chocolate · pixi · Samsung SCH-U740 · Shopping · Verizon Wireless

App developers know that apps is big business with more earning potential than ever when it comes to the iPhone platform, looking at the statistics the Palm Pre only has 1,000 current apps, Google Android only has approx 20,000 and the iPhone has a staggering 140,000 plus.

Source: Phones Reviews

Add new tag · android · App Store · Apple · Google Android · Handhelds · iPhone · Palm Pre · Smartphone

Palm got another shot in the arm after an analyst said he thinks Palm can ship 600,000 webOS-based devices through Verizon Wireless in the current quarter. He also said it is possible that Palm will eclipse Research in Motion’s BlackBerry platform and Google’s Android OS in developer support by the end of this year.

The analyst, Jonathan Goldberg of Deutsche Bank, raised his price target on Palm’s stock, which was recently trading up 5.4 percent to $11.11 per share. Calling webOS a “scarce resource,” Goldberg said in a research note that Palm’s App Catalog already has 1,300 apps, more than in app stores by Nokia and Microsoft. “We think Palm has created a valuable asset in its webOS. If they can grow their installed base of users and keep the carrier momentum going, this value should become more apparent,” he said.

Read more: fiercewireless

Add new tag · android · Google · Microsoft · Palm · Palm App Catalog · Research in Motion · Verizon Wireless · WebOS

Palm info center published their experience getting the Palm Pre Plus. Here are some of the highlights:

One of the sales clerks mentioned off-hand that they had approximately two dozen or so of each webOS device in stock but were not anticipating a huge rush. Of course, it was still early in the morning (11am) but this was not an encouraging sign that Verizon is going to put the kind of push behind webOS like they have with Android. The BB Mobile sales staff seemed fairly unenthusiastic about Palm’s products, being unaware of several key specifics about webOS, such as its current lack of support for Visual Voicemail, voice dialing, and video capture. In general, our salesclerk was quick to recommend a Droid over any of the webOS devices but we refused to be deterred from our mission to acquire a Pre Plus.

The slider on the Pre Plus clicks into place with a much firmer feel and no hesitation. Much like the old Tungsten T days, every Sprint Pre I’ve used had a slightly different feel to its slider. Hopefully Palm can maintain a higher level of quality and consistency on the Plus models. Screen brightness, color saturation, and overall clarity remained superb as always. Audio volume and call clarity was very good, both on the earpiece and the speaker, especially so for a Palm product. The headphone jack worked properly but the feeble microUSB port cover is still present. I’ve really grown accustomed to the exposed side-mounted port on my Droid and wish Palm would go ahead and adopt a similar design. That said, the little cover felt a tad more secure on the Pre Plus than on the 8GB Pre I have handled in the past.

Conclusion
I just got a call from the boss and he stated that despite the steep learning curve, he’s cautiously optimistic about his chances with the Pre Plus. He likes the improved screen size and clarity over his Centro and has surprisingly even adapted to the card metaphor for multitasking. Overall he remains irked about the lack of voice dialing and lack of voicemail number customization and misses the lighting quick response of his Centro but is committed to pressing forward with a new platform. He’s still going to keep trusty ol’ Centro at the ready in a desk drawer should a deal-breaking flaw emerge within the 30-day window to return the Pre.

Personally, in just two days of usage, I feel that the Pre Plus is easily the best of Palm’s current offerings. It’s not worth a $600 unsubsidized purchase or breaking a Sprint contract, but it’s a no-brainer for someone wanting the best possible webOS experience. Whether or not it is Palm’s best-ever device is certainly up for debate and greatly depends on the usage habits and personality of the user. The Pre Plus’ hardware changes are far from revolutionary but make for a nice holdover while Palm readies a true next-generation device.

Add new tag · android · Handhelds · Palm OS · Palm Pre · Palm Pre Plus · Verizon · Visual Voicemail · WebOS

PreThinking has a comparison between the Droid and the Palm Pre, here are some of the highlights of the comparison:
One area in the phone department where the Droid takes an edge, is on the amount of time you have to wait to actually get into a call. For some reason the simplest app on the Pre, the ‘Phone’ app, seems to have quite a bit of lag. The Pre’s phone app takes 1-2 seconds longer to load then the Droid and it takes longer to switch between screens such as, recent calls, the dialer, and the contacts list. Also the Pre is lacking a favorites list which comes in handy when you have hundreds of contacts. When scrolling through the contacts list on the Droid it feels much smoother and has virtually no lag or skips. The Pre’s contacts list within the phone app has quite a bit of lag and skips often. The Pre isn’t completely out of it in the phone app though. There is nothing more rewarding than sliding out the Pre’s small keyboard in portrait mode and typing a name to immediately get results within any part of the phone app. With the Pre you can basically start typing any time when in the phone app or on the home screen. When using the Droid you have to be specifically in the contacts list and either slide out the big keyboard in landscape or hit menu then tap search. Other than that the phone apps work as they should and both offer excellent quality calls as long as you’re in a decent coverage area.

The Pre and Droid both have the TI OMAP 3430 which is also seen in the iPhone 3GS and have 256mb of RAM and 512MB of ROM. Other than their processing chip the Pre and Droid are two very dfferent beasts. The Pre comes with a 3.1 inch screen that is displayed in a colorful 24bit 320×480 resolution HVGA display. The Pre, because of its smaller screen and high color density, actually looks better than other phones with similar resolutions like the iPhone and G1. The screen is a plastic capacitive multitouch screen which has a bit of roundedness to it. The Droid has a 3.7 inch WVGA display at 854×480 Resolution. The Droid has a glass capacitive screen with multitouch (YES IT DOES HAVE MULTITOUCH) and is completely flat with a bezel around the screen that has about a 1mm lift. There is no doubt the Droid has better quality video playback when it comes to videos you put on the phone itself as well as videos streamed from YouTube. The colors are more accurate, sharp, and the videos are always nice and big due to the large screen size.

Both phones have a hardware keyboard which sets them apart from the all-powerful iPhone. So which keyboard is better? It really all depends on your personal preference. The Pre has a portrait slider that can seem a little cramped but once you get used to it you can fly. The Droid has a landscape slider that can seem a little too spread at times but once you are used to it you can fly. Neither keyboard is the best at what it is. For example the portrait keyboard the Blackberry Bold/Tour has is the one to beat in the portrait department. As far as landscape QWERTY goes, the Droid’s keyboard is not nearly as good as the TouchPro 2 slider and personally I don’t think it’s even as good as the G1 keyboard. Though Motorola did away with the chin that the G1 had, there is still a 4 way directional pad to the right of the keyboard which causes your right thumb to stretch farther than your left while typing. Both keyboards require a little bit of attention while typing because there isn’t a whole lot of difference in feel between the keys. I find myself being able to type just over 40 words per minute on both keyboards which is just fine for me. The Droid has a bit of an edge because it also has a virtual keyboard in both landscape and portrait mode. This keyboard is NOT a better alternative to either the Pre or Droid’s hardware keyboard but it is convenient and useful when making quick notes or a text.

Conclusion:

WebOS and Android are so similar and so different at the same time it really is hard to tell which is better. They both have their strong points and they both have their weak points. WebOS is easier to use and a bit easier on the eyes when it comes to the UI. Android allows you to do a lot more customization and tweaking but is a little bit less user friendly. Android has behind it the fact that it is an open source operating system and there are multiple manufacturers working on putting out the best Android devices possible. Palm is working on getting its WebOS into customer’s hands and only has two devices. There is room in the market for both platforms. If I had to recommend a phone to someone just joining the smartphone community for the first time, I would feel obligated to recommend the Pre because of how easy it is to use. If I was recommending the phone to someone who loves customization and is coming off another platform, I might recommend the Droid.

android · iPhone · Open source · PalmPre · QWERTY · Smartphone · WebOS · YouTube

The column that was the first to report that Verizon will indeed get the Palm Pre in early 2010 despite rumors to the contrary, reports that the same source that gave them this exclusive information more or less confirmed that Verizon will get the iPhone in 2010 – most likely in late June or early July

android · Apple · Handhelds · iPhone · PalmPre · Smartphone · Verizon · Verizon Communications

One serious flaw that the WebOs has and many will probably attest to is the fact that there’s a memory storage cap on apps, and this applies to both webOS-enabled device – the Palm Pre and Pixi. Android doesn’t have one and even more so the iPhone. However, this may soon change once webOS 1.3.5 hits the scene. This webOS firmware update is the solution every Palm Pre users out there has been waiting for which will finally lift the storage limit on apps. As to when this will be released, nobody knows for sure, but given that Palm webOS 1.3.1 is out and about already, it should be just around the corner.

Source: PMP Today

android · Firmware · Handhelds · iPhone · Palm OS · PalmPre · Smartphone · WebOS

They tried it before with Windows Mobile, but now Phandroid asks should Palm go all Android:

With the explosion of interest in the Android Operating System and the new influx of Android powered devices could it already be too late for WebOS to catch up? It is not without precedence for Palm to open up their devices to other operating systems (they have let Windows Mobile on earlier devices) – so why not do the same thing with Android?
Right now developers are faced with the choice to produce their applications for either the App Store, the Android Market, WebOS Market or for the Blackberry Market – at least so far as who to produce their application for first before potentially porting it over to another store. Obviously the App store has been given a head start, but with the controls Apple has placed on their market and with the continuing saturation of their market, more and more developers are turning their sights to the quickly growing Android OS. With the App Store and the Android Market dominating, WebOS appears to have become the loser in this equation. The solution would be to use their solid hardware but add Android to their devices.

android · WebOS