Hardware
Apple iPhone 3G: At this time there are only vague rumors of new hardware coming from Apple this summer, but the iPhone 3G and original iPhone (along with the iPod touch) will be upgradeable to the new 3.0 OS. It seems that the original iPhone will not get MMS or Bluetooth A2DP, but everything else should be supported. I believe we will at least see a 32GB iPhone 3G device, if not something more substantial. I would love to see a 3.2 megapixel or better camera and maybe another button to quickly launch a wireless communications manager for quick wireless radio toggling.
The iPhone 3G has a 3.5 inch 480×320 resolution display. It weighs 4.7 ounces and is 4.5 inches x 2.4 inches x 0.48 inch deep. There is a single button on the front that works with a press and hold mode too. There is a volume button, ringer switch, and sleep/wake button. There are integrated stereo speakers is an integrated mono speaker (thanks for the correction by one of my readers) and a 3.5mm headset jack.
Quad-band GSM and tri-band HSDPA are supported, along with 802.11 b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, and GPS. You will also find a proximity sensor and accelerometer in the device.
The iPhone 3G comes in 8GB and 16GB capacities in white and black colors. There is only a 2 megapixel camera on the iPhone with no flash or video recording support. It is a decent enough camera for a mobile phone camera, but I would prefer to see a 3.2 version with video capability.
The iPhone 3G feels great in your hand and the glass display appears to be quite durable and a pleasure to use with no “squishy” feel seen on other mobile devices. It is a solid device, but is a bit big for a shirt pocketable cell phone.
Palm Pre: The Palm Pre is the first device running the WebOS and it has been shown at CES and then on a webcast so far. I should get a chance to see it up close and personal next week at CTIA in Vegas so I should get a much better feel for the device size and build quality.
The Palm Pre has a 3.1 inch 320×480 resolution display. It is also a capacitive display like the iPhone and works with touch. It weighs 4.76 ounces and is 3.9 inches x 2.3 inches x 0.67 inch deep. There is a single button on the lower middle front of the device. There is a top button that serves as a ringer switch and can be used for airplane mode. A 3.5mm headset jack is also present.
The Palm Pre differs from the iPhone with the removable back cover and battery.
The Pre will run on Sprint’s EV-DO network with a 3G GSM version most likely coming to Europe soon after the Sprint launch. The Pre also has 802.11 b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and integrated GPS receiver. A proximity sensor and accelerometer are also present in the Pre.
The Pre is limited to the 8GB memory (7 GB for the user) and there is no larger capacity model or one with a microSD card slot.
A 3 megapixel camera with LED flash is provided, but video capture has not been mentioned in any materials so far.
The Palm Pre has a physical QWERTY keyboard that is revealed when you slide the display upwards. It appears that this is the only text entry method for the device so you need to be a QWERTY keyboard fan to enjoy the Pre. It will be a bit cumbersome to have to rotate back and forth between portrait and landscape to enter URLs if you are surfing in landscape mode and it will be interesting to see what people think of this design.
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