Palm went into a deep research and development phase for a few years. Now, it's coming up for air. It's unveiling the long-awaited Palm Pre at the International Consumer Electronics Show today in Las Vegas.
This new smart phone was engineered from the ground up to handle the Internet and all the complexity it brings. We'll see if it will save Palm. The Pre takes a few ideas from the iPhone and has a gesture-based interface. You use your fingers to navigate the 3.1-inch screen and its very simple user interface.
What follows is a live blog of the launch event:
Jon Rubinstein, executive chairman, is introducing the Palm Pre.
The applications are organized as objects called Cards. You can rotate a carousel with your finger flicks and find what you want. And you can keep multiple Cards open at the same time.
With an instant messenger or text message conversation, all of the threads are integrated. If you're talking to one person, you can chat with them easily, regardless of the way they contact you.
When a text message comes in, you can see it appear at the bottom of the screen. When you see something you like, you can tap on the gesture area at the bottom of the screen and pull it up. After you read the message, you return to the application that was interrupted.
There is also a really neat charging pad accessory that lets you charge the device without wires. You just set your phone on top of it (left) and it charges.
Sprint is the exclusive cell service provider for the Palm Pre at launch, which will be sometime in the first half of this year. The company expects thousands of developers to quickly begin making applications for the platform.