The Pre's soggy debut – Updated
There were eleven customers huddled under umbrellas in a steady rain when the doors to Sprint's (S) flagship store in Manhattan's Greenwich Village opened at 6 p.m. ET Friday night — the worldwide retail debut of this week's hottest smartphone.
First in line was Alfredo Rodriguez, 37, a hospital building services employee from the Flatbush section of Brooklyn. He had been a Sprint customer for a year and a half and was ready to trade his HTC Diamond for a Palm (PALM) Pre.
The tech press has been obsessed with the Pre since it was unveiled in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where it was showered with plaudits and awards, including Best in Show. Built by a team headed by Jon Rubinstein — once one of Steve Jobs' closest advisers — it was seen as the worthiest competitor yet to the Apple (AAPL) iPhone.
But in the weeks before its debut, Palm's PR team sought to lower expectations, telling the press not to expect the hysterical employees and snaking lines that have accompanied the launch of every iPhone to date.
Alfredo Rodriguez only had to wait an hour to get his Pre. He arrived at 5 p.m. and when the doors opened he was swiftly ushered to a sales booth, where he was persuaded to buy two add-ons, a case and a wireless charger.
Palm's day in the sun — or rather the rain — may not last long. Apple is expected to announce a new iPhone some time before the end of June. Perhaps as early as Monday.
UPDATE: When we checked back Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m., there were 19 people in line and 10 customers inside buying phones. The store had opened at 8 a.m., two hours early, with roughly 20 people queued up to buy Pres, according to a customer who said he arrived at 8 sharp.
Reports from around the country suggest that this level of demand — steady, but relatively modest – was fairly typical on Saturday, the Pre's first full day of sales.
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My advice to anyone reading this is to not buy a Pre. At least not until Sprint and Palm acknowledge the numerous hardware & software issues it's been having: cracked screens, battery life, overheating and crashes.
Save yourself the trouble and either wait this out or consider alternative smartphones. If you just bought a Pre, make sure you have the insurance and treat it extra carefully. Or return it and wait until these problems are sorted out…
Pre will go down in history along with the Zune as famously failed, Apple device 'killers' becoming the butt of jokes within a few months, just as the Zune did before it.
Look at the lack of quality with the pre, it's palpable. That keyboard is worse than an onscreen one, by a long shot.
iPhone launches and quits apps so fast, there is no need for multiprocessing beyond the phone, ipod and app functions (as is already present).
Bought the Pre at 8:00am and returned it before 10. The reception on the cell was horrible. I used it side by side with another phone on the same network and the Pre was horrible in every comparison. Further. the applications had a mind of their own and appeared and disappered without prompting. The pinch didn't work and the help videos and manual are the worst I have ever encountered. No help from the provider other than a prompt refund.
I was one of the first to purchase the first gen. Palm Treo. I fell in love with the applications and ease of use, especially in a business environment. I literally ran my business from my Palm so I will always be a loyal customer. A lot of us have been anxiously waiting on Palm to unveil its Iphone equivalent, I'll likely purchase a Pre when the exclusive agreement with Sprint is up. From looking at the reviews the Pre appears to be a really good product. I just don't see many people terminating their AT&T contracts to switch over to Sprint.
"from outside the reality distortion field" — that's a laugh.
The store I went to on Friday (Palo Alto) looks better than this one, and the weather just makes that one look worse. There's so much spin on this article I'm surprised it hasn't affected the planet's rotation.
First off, this article seems to pick on the fact that there were so few customers on Friday… which was not the official launch day, but rather was an invite-only pre-launch event. An update does address this, sort of, but doesn't explicitly correct it. Secondly, the Pre has not been advertised as heavily as the iPhone, so it's naturally not going to have the insane lines and crazy crowds – this is a good thing, because the supply is rather limited right now.
If you talk to people who HAVE a Pre (such as myself), we are generally very happy with our phones, and enjoy showing them off. It's not without its issues, but can you truthfully say you've ever seen a smartphone launch entirely without incident? Palm seems very responsive about addressing these concerns, and hopefully the Pre will continue to shine ever brighter as updates are released. While I don't consider the Pre an "iPhone killer" as many people bill it (and I don't think it was ever really expected to be from an internal standpoint), I think it can hold its own against the iPhone, and that there is room enough in the market for both (and the fact that their feature sets are somewhat complementary supports this even better).
Love the i phone but the 50 bucks a month extra is hard to swallow. I am shocked you have to pay extra for texting! Sprint's plans are hard to beat!
I've had Sprint for 6 years. Moved to Red Bank, NJ 3 years ago from NYC. Coverage has been terrible with no apparent sign of improvement. Calls are regularly dropped. Nothing quite as frustrating as watching everyone else on the train into NYC sending email while I get a no-signal. This has been across 3 different treos so it's not a phone issue.
Not only is the Palm Pre the 1st Smartphone in the world that can run many mobile applications at the same time, it turns out that has built in turn-by-turn GPS navigation! Sweet.
It's not about how many people line up for this smartphone, it's about what this smartphone can do for you. And if you read between the specs and make your comparisons, you'll know why the Palm Pre is the latest top of the line smartphone device in the market.
Gotta get mine at BestBuy soon.
ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS: LINUX WEB OS, FASTEST DATA NETWORK, SYNERGY, DIGITAL CDMA TOWERS CAN HOLD MORE CUSTOMERS PER TOWER RATIO 4:1 TO GSM. FACT CHECK, NO OPINIONS BECAUSE OF SUBLIMINAL SUBCONSCIOUS BIAS ATTITUDE. YOU TALK ABOUT A COMPANY LIKE THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO IMPROVE? OR CONDEMN THE COMPANY BECAUSE THEY ACTUALLY GOT BETTER. LET ME ASK THIS QUESTION: "HOW MANY APPLICATIONS ON THE IPHONE CAN YOU RUN SIMULTANEOUSLY?" AND IF YOU HAVE NOT TRIED NOR TESTED TO COMPARE, THEN DO NOT RESPOND WITH FALSE INFORMATION. ON THE PALM PRE', I RAN 8 APPLICATIONS AT THE SAME TIME(SIMULTANEOUSLY) WITHOUT IT CRASHING OR EVEN BECOMING BOGGED DOWN. THE APPLICATIONS I RAN ARE THE FOLLOWING: FACEBOOK, MYSPACE, PANDORA, CNN.COM, SI.COM, GOOGLE.COM, SPRINT NAVIGATION, AND SPRINT TV. I RAN THOSE OS RESOURCE HEAVY APPLICATIONS JUST TO SEE HOW STRONG THE PHONE REALLY IS. LINUX DID WHAT IS DESIGN TO DO.
David, I joined AT&T last year and that was a big mistake. After 3 phones in less than a year, many hours over the phone with their useless customer care I decided to end my contract. The only good thing AT&T has going on is the rollover minutes and the Iphone.
I switched to Sprint over a month ago and I couldn't be any happier.
The reason I would never go back to Sprint? Fraud. Plain and simple fraud.
When the iPhone originally debut, my contract with Sprint was thankfully up. I had customer service reps calling me to "renew" my contract and offering me all sorts of new gadgety phones (all pieces of junk compared to the iPhone I had my eyes on) I informed the Sprint employees that I would be leaving Sprint as soon as the iPhone came out.
So time passes, I get my shiny new iPhone and am happy as can be.
Then out of the blue comes a bill from sprint for over $1,000 bucks for canceling my "NEW" contract (that they decided to renew for me despite what I told them numerous times) and not returning my 2 "NEW" phones (never received)
Luckily I have a family member higher up at Sprint who took care of the blatant fraud and I received many letters of apology from Sprint and notice that the customer service reps had been terminated.
NOTHING in the world would make me return to Sprint. EVER.
Ummmm Sprit's Flagship Store is not that sad looking one in the picture. It is in fact the ground level of the Flatiron building–big difference. Obviosuly whoever wrote this article was trying to make the Pre launch seem sad or does not live in NYC and didn't do any research,.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/infiltrators/3346629061/
ex ped: According to Sprint PR, the Village shop is considered their flagship, for "sentimental reasons"
How do some of you know how bad Sprint's coverage and customer service is, if you're on another carrier and haven't used Sprint in years? Let me guess: a friend of a friend has Sprint, and they said it sucks, right?
They may have had problems in the past, but they are better now. I have a Verizon phone at work, and use Sprint for my personal phone. Neither one is any better or worse than the other. And I travel frequently, so it isn't just my city.
If you're considering this phone, don't base your opinion of Sprint on someone who doesn't even use them. Just a thought.
I currently use Sprint and I can't wait to switch to anybody, I can not longer bear the pain that sprint is inflicting in my life. I shall not fall for the palm pre. Does anyone remember the overrated Instinct from sprint?
I'm patiently waiting for the next iPhone, then I will rush to cancel the family account I have with sprint and proudly paid the $400.00 cancellation fee.
For those current sprint customers,please be aware that the discounts sprint is offering you, applies to new customers and those who have had their old phone for at lease 22 months. (see sprint E-mail below) Otherwise you have to pay the full price of $542 dollars. Yup! they didn’t tell you that! I was so upset at the store,I got home and E-mail sprint. $600 for a phone (w/tax)?? no wonder palm is failing.
In fairness to sprint, they did offer me a discount of 150 bucks but it still was not enough for me.I will just have to wait for the current hype to die down and purchase it online.
A word of advice for my fellow sprint friends. Always buy the phone on line!!!! and use their email system for any concerns or questions.You get a lot more discounts this way.
Sincerely,
Raul-Very Sad and Depress customer….for now….
Email from Sprint
Thank you for contacting Sprint. I am happy to assist you with your
query regarding the Palm Pre Price.
Sprint Phone Upgrade Program allows the current Sprint customers to opt
for a phone Upgrade at the same price as the new customers. To qualify
for this offer, the existing phone on the account should be 22+ months
old. Sprint customers with current devices older than 22 months receive
all the discounts and rebate offers listed on the Sprint website for the
new customers.
The current Samsung M300 Phone on line 646-228-**** was activated on
your account on January 31, 2008.
Therefore, your subscription number 646-***-**** currently does not
qualify for the upgrade at the offer price listed on the website. These
upgrades offers will be applicable on your account on November 01, 2009.
Regular Price for the Pam Pre is $549.99. However, the discounted price
of Palm Pre is $199.99 with 2-year subscriber agreement.
To purchase the Palm Pre at a discounted price of $199.99, please wait
till your line 646-228-**** becomes eligible for the same (November 01,
2009).
We value your business and appreciate the opportunity to address your
concerns. Visit Sprint.com/mysprint if we can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
***********
I have had Sprint for almost 10 years now and have not had many problems others have had. I live in the Denver area and have crystal clear call quality unlike any other provider. The price of the plans is great and if a call is dropped, they reimburse you. Many people forget that Palm had touch screen technology way before the iPhone and I am excited to try the Pre and its wireless electromagnetic charger.
Posted By Ryan, KingstonHe was persuaded to buy a “wireless charger” ? I didn’t know wireless charging was possible now
It's been possible for, well, ever. It's called "induction" and is fundamental electrical effect where a current in one wire induces a current in a parallel wire. Induction charging has been a mainstay for recharging sealed devices, like electric toothbrushes, for years.
The Pre's induction charger is called "Touchstone" and the company that makes it will soon produce versions for numerous other cell phones. Since it requires a replacement phone back for the induction loop, the iPhone is excluded since the back is non-removeable by standard users.
Eve in Houston – I have both ATT and Sprint, and have seen an increase of coverage in Sprint over the last year orso, especially in the Houston area. I still get some dropped calls here and there, but my ATT Ericsson does too.
I wonder how many people with a negative outlook of Sprint haved used the service the last year or so?
I'm waiting a couple of weeks to get my Pre. Hopefully it will still be in stock!
All this hype for what? A smartphone is a smartphone. It's not enough that we've been able to buy phones with perfectly quick browsing capabilities, e-mail functions, video, etc., for a couple of years now. Since when is everyone so ADHD about herding themselves to the next cattle call of "must have" illusion. I casually upgraded to a Blackberry Storm a couple months ago, way after it was "released". It works fine. I've been using Verizon for over 10 years. I will likely continue to be. Apparently I can get a theme that mimics the iphone, or even the Pre, for my Storm. Why? Really?
While I am a Palm fan (currently sporting a 755) and my current phone is on death's door – there is no amount of money you could pay ME to switch to Sprint – especially not in Houston where calls are dropped EVERYWHERE. I am just going to hold on and hope that it really is coming to Verizon in 6 mnths as has been indicated in several news stories.
There seems to be alot of negative comments about Sprint. I will not be switching to the Pre, I have a Blackberry at work and is connected to our servers. For us Sprint is a great company. They provide us with a support team, both for sales and tech issues. We have monthly in person meetings with them. They have also provided us 24/7 tech support on a upper tier. I'm not sure how this stands up to a personal account with them, but the corporate support could not possibly be beat. As far as coverage, it is much better than ATT which I have for my family. I do know this is more of a location thing though, most carriers are getting better on a day to day basis.
I was one of the customers standing in front of this particular store in the Village and I have to say that it was worth the wait.
As a former iPhone user, the Pre rocks and is,IMO, way better & more stylish. No regrets and I've been showing and telling people about this phone since I got it in my hands Saturday morning.
Go Palm – now you just need to advertise the heck out of this product.
All I can say is that I believe the PRE will build in sales. I have nothing in this fight. But I am watching multiple techies that are responsible for the IT Security for some of the countries largest companies changing to the PRE. Interestingly enough many are carrying the I PHONE and had to figure out how to get out of their lousy
ATT contracts. As far as Sprints Service the network is great!!! Faster than ATT and definitely more affordable. The customer service still takes some effort but is improving. I carried phones from both carriers until recently and got tired of all the billing problems with ATT. As far as Simply everything is just that simple one price and no surprises.
He was persuaded to buy a "wireless charger" ? I didn't know wireless charging was possible now… I guess Rubenstein really did bring some apple voodoo magic with him…..
People who think they are getting excellent service by switching to Sprint need to do some searching on google for stories about Sprint and then read the feedback comments their are just too many nightmare stories and people you couldn't pay to return, not that won't return, but that you couldn't pay to return. It is the only company that I have ever worked at that I cringed when someone asked me where I worked (not in customer support).
I can't WAIT to short PALM in the coming weeks ….. love it. The Apple WWDC will COMPLETELY over shadow the Pre …
short, short short … and I've never shorted a stock before but this looks too good to pass up …
I have to love comments like this one by JS:
"What they did was convert me from an Apple 3G user into a Pre owner. After using a friend’s Pre I was smitten with the phone. If you hate Palm or anything that competes with Apple I wouldn’t even come close to this phone because it will most probably convert you, like it did to me. Apple definately has its hands full and in the short run there will be nothing it can do."
You are right, talk is cheap but professional shilling costs money. There is no way that an iPhone user with any amount of apps would switch over from a GSM carrier to a CDMA carrier giving up access networks around the world and access to tens of thousands of apps and games available on the iTMS app store for a handful of glorified web widgets written with Javascript. If you want web widgets, get Yahoo widgets for your computer. Apple had javascript based web apps before firmware 2.x and the official SDK. Don't expect to see 3D games like Need for Speed underground or Assasin's Creed on the Pre anytime soon. I cannot believe that so many Pre fanboys in the press are giving Palm a free pass for not having a native API in C/C++ with OpenGL support. Javascript is for web designers, not application/game developers.
If they upgrade, they can sell their old phone on http://www.buymytronics.com. I used them last time I upgraded my phone.
**consumers are being used as pawns in a marketing campaign**
I got to the Best Buy on Broadway and Houston (New York) a few minutes after they opened today. There were already about 10 people in line. For the next 45 minutes, I watched a single employee sell two phones, moving with a kind of Tai Chi -like slowness that would have been funny if it weren't wasting my Saturday morning. Only after overhearing two people at the front of the line and then confirming with a direct question to the employees did I learn that the downtown Manhattan store had only four (4) phones for sale to begin with. Even though they could see that there were many more people than that standing in line, they did not bother to say anything. I then walked over to the flagship Sprint store pictured in this article. Similar story. The large store was empty inside (and open), with the long line of people kept outside the store for everybody to see. I waited in that line for about 15 minutes without seeing it move at all. The Sprint Employee guarding the door said she didn't know how many phones they had but that she thought there would be enough. At the rate that the line was moving, that might have been technically true, but I wasn't going to ruin the day to find out.
It is clear to me that Sprint and Best Buy and probably Palm are using their customers as advertising pieces, much as nightclubs sometimes keep people waiting outside the velvet rope.
Excepting for those who hate AT&T's network, it's amazing, ok, downright sad, that commenters below are comparing the 2009 Pre with the 2008 iPhone when the 2009 iPhone is within days from being announced.
In the world of computing and electronics, one year makes a huge difference in what's possible, both in capability and in price.
i like the iphone. pre sounds interesting. samsung omnia lets me use verizon. i wouldt switch off of verizon (have had att, sprint and verizon at different times) even if the device cooked me breakfast and pleasured my body.
I don’t care how better the Pre is then the current iPhone. Sprint customer service is the worst. You cant pay me anything to line up to be screwed by Sprint. Seems foolish and premature to be getting so excited about the Pre when Apple will be shortly revealing something likely to be equivalent or highly probable of being more revolutionary.
Those of you who want to buy Pre, go ahead buy it and enjoy it. I'll enjoy my Iphone, and we all can live happily ever after.
Talk is cheap. The proof is in the pudding. I have to take back everything I have said against Palm. What they did was convert me from an Apple 3G user into a Pre owner. After using a friend's Pre I was smitten with the phone. If you hate Palm or anything that competes with Apple I wouldn't even come close to this phone because it will most probably convert you, like it did to me. Apple definately has its hands full and in the short run there will be nothing it can do.
I did everything conceivably possible to get a Pre on Friday. I even bribed the manager at the closest Sprint Store to my house in San Diego to pay $500 in cash but she wouldn't have it. She indicated that I would have to wait until 8 am on Saturday. So I don't see how anyone other than the few that were invited to select stores were even privy to its availability.
On another note, an acquantance of mine who works for Sprint indicated that he had received two dozen phones and that they were all spoken for, however he did mention that he could possibly get me a phone the following week.
This person is a writer for apple…of course they will try to downplay the launch of the pre…propaganda!!! lol
ex ped: I'm a writer for Apple? They must be sending my checks to the wrong address.
Apparently its true, I got my Pre without being invited, but then again I sort of got into the event with a friend who uses Sprint and was invited. Its also true the PR around this device wasn't Apple like, but I am all too happy to switch from my iPhone to the Pre. Since I am spending nearly 30% more on my iPhone then I will now with my Pre all the better for me. 
For those of you that haven't seen or played with the Pre you need to get your hands on this I think you will be impressed. You may not switch, it may cost you too much(near term)… but then again like I said I will be saving a bunch. The iTunes App store is probably about the only thing I will miss, but with the Motions Apps Classic View application I can use 1000's of Palm apps already out there and i am pretty confident it is only a matter of time till these apps are refreshed for the Pre. The WebOS is extremely easy to develop for from what I have been reading so I am crossing the fingers. The new iPhone sounds inticing (like all Apple releases) but ATT's network absolutely sucks in my area and I am fed up! Does anyone else find that to be the case, just kidding I have read all the reports about this. My friends using Sprint have raved about speeds they get on the network and so far so good. Anyways if you get one enjoy!
What is it, that makes Apple Inc so dear to the people that posted below?
They try so badly and cinically to insalt a small and struggling company that launched a product that is crucial to its survival and all its "crime" is that this product competes with Apple's iPhone.
Your right, its not an I-phone killer. However, I'd rather have a great phone on a superior network, than the best phone on a terrible network.
1. Manhattan Greenwich Village Flagship Store.
2. 8 Million People in NY
3. Less than 15 people in line for a Premier Event – Is that all you could find?
WOW Sprint, we know your bleeding subscribers but this is just SAD!!!!!
I really expect tomorrows lines and locations to be better reflected in the Press than this. If not Palm better kill what ever Exclusive extension it just made because Sprint is going to take you down with them.
One Word: TITANIC
Can't wait to get the Pre tomorrow. I saw at least 2 demos on YouTube that show the Pre's browser is faster than iPhone in both 3G speed and WiFi. Web surfing is superior over the iPhone from what I have seen. Also, I have seen that nearly 4,000 apps that are in the iPhone app store will convert over directly to the Pre w/o any modification. That should give the Pre's app store a great jump start.
Pre-release or not. Palm blew it on this one. The only thing most investors will remember into next week is 11 people. The iPhone debut in manhattan drew at least 10 times that, rain or shine. Within 2 weeks Apple will have announced a new iPhone and possibly new software available immediately. Add the possible return of Jobs to the stage and no one will even remember what a pre is. Lousy PR on Palms part.
I just bought one at my local store and had no "premier invite."
I will return it after a few weeks becasue it is slower than I was lead to believe, but Sprint is selling them to ANYONE tonight (Friday)
The demand at one store one day before official launch in no way correlates to the quality of the phone. I don't buy a phone based on what other people think. I base it on my own judgment. I've seen the Pre in action and there's nothing like it on the market. And I'll take Sprint's 3G network over AT&T's 3G network any day of the week, and you'll find nearly all experts in the field agree with this assessment.
Look at your facts!!!!! The PRE releases tomorrow… They were invitation ONLY!!!!
ex ped: pre-ordered, not pre-invited.
Now wait a minute Phil. I have to call you on this. What did the Palm CEO say people were going to do with their iPhones when the Pre came out? That needs to be in your article. 11 people…
ex ped: I think you mean Elevation Partners' Roger McNamee, a major investor in Palm, who said this to Bloomberg about the upcoming Palm Pre relative to the iPhone: “You know the beautiful thing: June 29, 2009, is the two- year anniversary of the first shipment of the iPhone. Not one of those people will still be using an iPhone a month later.”
Eleven, eleven? That's NOT a line, that's group therapy!
Wow! How exactly is this worthy of a story line again?
@ Brian…can you play music on the iphone 3gs while browsing the web? Can you watch Live TV on the iphone 3gs? Does it have turn-by-turn navigation? Is AT&T data speed just as fast as Sprint's data, have you tested that? No one has a one track mind, you're using your exchange email account to send/receive business information while listening to your music and surfing the web for that article or what have you…all on your phone while driving, in between flights, train…This can be done on the Pre. Also the physical keyboard is great because on the iphone if you're running too many apps (if you can) then the UI response time for on-screen keyboard will become slow, thus possibly missing key entries and ultimately having to retype or just send it anyway and pray that the recipient knows that you do know how to spell, lol