I saw a video demonstrating the Pre. It was in an online article talking about how the iPhone is patented. With a patent attorney reviewing the patents it shows that Apple could not patent the touchscreen outright. Some of its gestures are patented but the pinch two finger gesture is not. The Pre also uses that to zoom. Multitouch screen technology has been around quite a few years before Apple started using it. One interesting gesture for the Pre was that gestures also work on the area below the screen. This is actually pretty cool. Even so the interface is pretty good on the Pre but not quite a fluid as the iPhone. Plus the iPhone supposedly has over 50,000 apps. I did like how the Pre used the deck of cards analogy for using programs. When a program is active it can be shrunk to a smaller card size. Then you can swipe through the deck and also discard up to close an app. The iPhone home screen method, I believe needs some work. But this is easily fixed in software updates by Apple. At this point I would say that the Pre is the best iPhone competitor to date. But since it still costs about the same as the iPhone, is missing some of its capabilities, and is very short on Applications. They have a lot of catching up to do. I think since this is a do or die venture for Palm, it probably won't be enough to save them. The Android phones will probably be the primary competitor for the iPhone in the future. But I'm thinking the Android phones will have that complex Linux type feel. Which will turn off most users. It is hard to imagine how Apple can make the iPhone much better than it already is. Of course it can increase speed and memory. But the interface is about the most it can be, with some minor tweaks down the road.
I would have to agree. In fact, that swipe feature of the Pre reminds me a lot of the dock on a Mac. Apple just has to keep innovating like crazy, and that's a good thing. With Steve Jobs back, I think Apple will shift into another gear!
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I saw a video demonstrating the Pre. It was in an online article talking about how the iPhone is patented. With a patent attorney reviewing the patents it shows that Apple could not patent the touchscreen outright. Some of its gestures are patented but the pinch two finger gesture is not. The Pre also uses that to zoom. Multitouch screen technology has been around quite a few years before Apple started using it. One interesting gesture for the Pre was that gestures also work on the area below the screen. This is actually pretty cool. Even so the interface is pretty good on the Pre but not quite a fluid as the iPhone. Plus the iPhone supposedly has over 50,000 apps. I did like how the Pre used the deck of cards analogy for using programs. When a program is active it can be shrunk to a smaller card size. Then you can swipe through the deck and also discard up to close an app. The iPhone home screen method, I believe needs some work. But this is easily fixed in software updates by Apple. At this point I would say that the Pre is the best iPhone competitor to date. But since it still costs about the same as the iPhone, is missing some of its capabilities, and is very short on Applications. They have a lot of catching up to do. I think since this is a do or die venture for Palm, it probably won't be enough to save them. The Android phones will probably be the primary competitor for the iPhone in the future. But I'm thinking the Android phones will have that complex Linux type feel. Which will turn off most users. It is hard to imagine how Apple can make the iPhone much better than it already is. Of course it can increase speed and memory. But the interface is about the most it can be, with some minor tweaks down the road.
I would have to agree. In fact, that swipe feature of the Pre reminds me a lot of the dock on a Mac. Apple just has to keep innovating like crazy, and that's a good thing. With Steve Jobs back, I think Apple will shift into another gear!
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