It was a highly anticipated launch. Critics expected it to be Palm’s last attempt at fighting what they thought was an inevitable final slide to oblivion. On the other hand, Palm addicts — including Filipino makapalms who fought sleep to watch live streams of the presentation — must have prayed too hard that it would pave the way for Palm’s grand comeback.

We now know that what the world witnessed was a sweet surprise that, for Palm’s loyal fans, felt like a reward for sticking it out with their beloved brand even if most of their friends had already moved on and embraced apples and berries. In Las Vegas, cheers and applause welcomed Palm’s new OS and its first phone.

Palm webOS is for people like me — cybercreatures who live on the Net and throw their stuff in the cloud. It is “the first mobile platform to automatically bring your information from the many places it resides — on your phone, at your work or on the web – into one simple, integrated view,” says Palm. Its applications are built using standard web technologies like CSS, XHTML and JavaScript.

The lovely phone that runs on webOS — and got a general nod of approval of mobile users on the Web –  is called Pre (which rhymes with tree). It must be because both the OS and the phone, according to Palm, “are designed to be so in sync with your needs that it feels like Pre is thinking ahead for you.”

The Pre consolidates contacts and calendars from Google, Facebook, and Outlook. I just hope it could include my  Yahoo! messages and contacts.

The list of Pre’s features is like a fulfilled wish list from Palm fans and observers (and it  reminds me of Engadget’s 2007 open letter to Palm):

• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
• High-speed connectivity (EVDO Rev. A or UMTS HSDPA)
• 3-megapixel camera with LED flash and extended depth of field
• Bluetooth with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support
• standard 3.5mm headset jack
• pictures, video playback, music
• multitasking
• Integrated GPS
• 3.1-inch touch screen, 24-bit color 320×480 resolution HVGA display
• Gesture area
• Slide-out QWERTY keyboard
• Email (Outlook EAS, POP3, IMAP)
• IM, SMS and MMS capabilities
• High-performance, desktop-class web browser
• Removable, rechargeable battery
• 8GB of internal user storage (~7.4GB user available)
• USB mass storage mode
• MicroUSB connector with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
• Proximity sensor and light sensor
• Accelerometer, which automatically orients web pages and photos to your perspective
• the classic Ringer switch

The Pre weighs around ~135 grams (4.76 ounces) and its dimensions are: 2.35 inches (W) x 3.96 inches (L, closed) x 0.67 inches (D).

Its downsides, for me, are the lack of memory expansion slot and of backward compatibility with old Palm OS apps. But then again, the 4 GB microSD card currently on my Centro is more than enough for my multimedia needs, and a third party emulator may eventually let me to run Bejeweled and FunSMS on the Pre.

Pre will initially be available only to US users on CDMA networks, so Pinoy makapalms like us will have more time to save for this.

Related Posts

• It’s Palm’s time to shine again
• Palm Pre available in the US on June 6
• Palm EOS — post-Pre phone?
• What they said about Palm Pre
• Palm webOS SDK now public
• Palm Pre carriers in Europe announced
• Pre’s UK launch to be announced July 7

It’s almost midnight here in Manila, Philippines, and by the time we wake up tomorrow morning, the World Wide Web would probably be full of reports and comments on the new operating system that Palm is expected to announce at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Earlier reports from CrunchGear and other blogs say a new “iPhone-like” device running on the new OS called Nova will also be announced at the event. “The new phone will have a full QWERTY keyboard that will slide down under a portrait-oriented touchscreen,” the report says, adding that it could also play media and would of course have Palm’s calendar, email, and contact function.

I love my Palm Centro –  I got one while I training in Singapore for my new job with Yahoo! Philippines — but I wish it had WiFi capability and a better camera. It looks like “Palm’s newness” would satisfy such desires.

Mobileburn says the Palm Nova phone could also feature a high-resolution camera, which, along with Wi-Fi, is on the top of my wishlist for new features.  Hopefully, the new Palm phone would also be able to run old Palm programs and databases.

I’m one of those loyal Palm fans who would really be happy to see it on the top again with its long-overdue OS upgrade. I believe Matthew Miller of ZDNet is correct in saying there are “a ton of people that want to see Palm succeed.”

Palm is, after all, the brand that brought us the wonderful little handheld computer called PalmPilot, which eventually evolved into what I call an all-in-one device: a cellphone, personal digital assistant, alarm clock, portable MP3 and video player, digital camera, ebook reader and ‘game and watch’ rolled into one. And with the new OS, I hope Palm would resurrect Foleo.

With tomorrow’s announcement, I hope Palm could prove that it is, as I’d been insisting, “not a dying platform.” It’s Palm’s time to shine again.

Related Posts

• Palm is not a “dying platform”
• Palm webOS and Palm Pre
• Palm webOS SDK now public
• Palm Pre available in the US on June 6
• Palm EOS — post-Pre phone?
• My Palm Centro
• What they said about Palm Pre