Today Palm_inc and Sprint announced that the Palm Pre will be released on June 6th. It should be available at Sprint stores, Best Buy, Radioshack, and some select Walmarts.

I have have two things to say:

One, I highly advise all web professionals to keep an eye on the Pre. There is potential for a App Store like goldrush only this time even inexperienced HTML/CSS/JS people can do it. I call it here and now that this phone will be an instant success.

Two, the release date. The sixth day of the sixth month ? So this is the phone from hell eh? Tare the competition apart.

Today I was having a very interesting conversation about the Palm Pre with Mobile tech enthusiast Jordan Sheckman.  I copy the conversation excerpts below…

Jordan Sheckman
the new bb facebook app is tight man
Evan Samek
you trying to grab a beer sometime soon?
Evan Samek
yeah man
Evan Samek
it is awesome
Evan Samek
downloaded everyones photos in my bb
Jordan Sheckman
right, thats tight shit
Jordan Sheckman
i really hate that about the iphone, that an app like that could never fly cause they restrict all the proprietary apps from third parties
Evan Samek
yeap
Jordan Sheckman
although i think third party apps can change address book photos
Evan Samek
why not?
Evan Samek
it will be better with iPhone 3.0
Evan Samek
its just apple needs to stop limiting shit
Evan Samek
in general
Jordan Sheckman
actually ya, i have an IMing app that links to the address book and changes the photos.. but not from facebook, from their buddy icon
Jordan Sheckman
oh, youd be proud of me.. i spent like a half hour defending the pre yesterday to a friend of mine
Jordan Sheckman
he read articles about how it’s not going to succeed and will tank palm
Evan Samek
ehhh
Evan Samek
yano who knows, but i dont think so
Evan Samek
i think it will be a success
Evan Samek
it kinda already is
Jordan Sheckman
and how the only buzz for it is among technophiles and the general public will never drop their iphones and blackberry
Jordan Sheckman
but i said i think there is a market for it… for people who want a fun smartphone (like the iphone) that does great productivity (like the blackberry)
Jordan Sheckman
a lot of people (at least people i know) have stayed away from the iphone solely because they need to write emails all the time and the blackberry is the best keyboard for the job
Evan Samek
exxactly
Evan Samek
i think the new iphoen will have a QWERTY tho
Evan Samek
if they were smart they would do it
Evan Samek
when can you grab a beer man to catch up?
Jordan Sheckman
ya but theyve been sooo insistent on how great their touchscreen is
Jordan Sheckman
adding a keyboard would make that look bad
Jordan Sheckman
i think palm’s biggest problem now is being confined to sprint… on one hand it will help because the tried-and-true sprint customers that cant leave will finally have their smartphone (like you!)… but on the other hand sprint is waning as a company, and it’ll be harder to get anyone to switch to sprint than it was for the iphone to get people to switch to at&t
Jordan Sheckman
haha… how bout we grab that beer when you buy the pre!
Evan Samek
haha
Evan Samek
that cuold be in a month or two
Jordan Sheckman
really whenever man… if you can make it into the city… just so hard for me to get to CP, especially during the week
Evan Samek
i can easily make it into the city
Evan Samek
your just busy with amanda all the time
Jordan Sheckman
just give me a day and we can meet after work
Evan Samek
k
Evan Samek
il ler you know
Jordan Sheckman
cool
5:16 PM
Evan Samek
the thing about the pre is this
Evan Samek
they need to release it soon
Evan Samek
very soon
Evan Samek
the longer they wait, the more it hurts them
Jordan Sheckman
absolutely
Evan Samek
unless its truly going to be PERFECT when it is released
Jordan Sheckman
and they need to start marketing!
Jordan Sheckman
all they have is that one tv ad that shows it at the end for a split second
Jordan Sheckman
the average joe wouldnt even know that was the pre
Jordan Sheckman
people all over the world know theres a new iphone coming in a couple months
Evan Samek
there is actually 3 tv spots now
Jordan Sheckman
most non-techies havent even heard of the pre
5:21 PM
Jordan Sheckman
but ya, their main hope is to get a leg up on the iphone before it comes out
Jordan Sheckman
and then they really need to get more phones out there running webOS
Jordan Sheckman
a company cannot survive on one phone alone
Jordan Sheckman
it worked for apple, but their not a phone company, they (were) a computer company
Evan Samek
well its definietly going to be on other phones
Jordan Sheckman
i know that, but that needs to happen soon if webOS will be popular
Jordan Sheckman
look at where androids at
Jordan Sheckman
people barely give a shit about it anymore
Evan Samek
i wouldnt be surpised if they added webOS to other phones within the month that the pre is released.
Jordan Sheckman
cause the g1 sucked, and nothing else ever came out
Evan Samek
yeah
Jordan Sheckman
i dunno about a month, SOMETHING would have leaked by now if that was the case
Jordan Sheckman
i’d say maybe by the holiday season
Evan Samek
but it will blow up this year too, because andriod is open, it is going to get huge and fast
Evan Samek
but PALM has been more secretive than apple!
Jordan Sheckman
android?
Evan Samek
yeah
Jordan Sheckman
it’s had like 8 months to get huge
Evan Samek
yeah but with only one handset
Evan Samek
as soon as 3 are available, it will start to grow
Evan Samek
no doubt
Evan Samek
i played with it once, and its really really sleek
Jordan Sheckman
thats their problem tho dude, they waited too long
Evan Samek
yeah
Evan Samek
and we dont want to see that happen to the Pre.
Jordan Sheckman
right now, developers want to develop for the iphone cause its hugely successful, and they want to develop for webOS cause its easy, exciting and new
Jordan Sheckman
who wants to develop for android right now?
Jordan Sheckman
they needed to capture those developers waaaaay early in the game, and because their single offering sucked, they didnt
Jordan Sheckman
ive been reading more and more how its the developers that make a platform successful
Jordan Sheckman
the app store is single-handedly responsible for the majority of the iphone’s revenue over the past years
Jordan Sheckman
*year
Jordan Sheckman
it was a revolution, that only now everyone has caught up to with their own stores
Jordan Sheckman
apple’s amazing man… they have such a great understanding of their market its uncanny

Jordan Sheckman
hardware and software aside, they know exactly the right models to employ to get everyone to play nice with each other, and to create a great end-user experience… itunes, app store, even their sdk

Awesome points made by Jordan.  Just thought I would share with you.

Info about Jordan Sheckman:

Jordan is a web developer/designer with Reingold Inc. based in Georgetown in Washington DC.  His website is http://portfolio.j2sheck.com/ and his twitter account is @j2sheck.  Always on top of wireless tech news, he is the ideal guy for strategy in regard to marketing for such products.

With the release of the new Palm Pre, Apple, Andriod supported phones, and no name brands are still in awe of just how Palm released this thing with not only no leaks, but also wow’ed us all with some “new-ness” as they Palm calls it.

While the keynote for the introduction of this phone was quite impressive, it left a lot of open ended questions.  Here is what I, and you all, are wondering.

How well does Javascript apps hold up?

In comparison to the iPhone, the palm pre will have all of its apps built with HTML, CSS, and Javascript.  But how can javascript be so powerful?  If we look at the iPhone, it is built with Objective-C programming.  Not an easy language to develop for, but still very powerful and reliable since it is all compiled code.  Scripting languages are notorious for being slow with Object Oriented programming, but looking at the Palm keynote, it seemed that all their apps ran smoothly, and in some cases, smoother than the iPhone.

As it has been said, the Pre does not support gaming.  Maybe in the future, but JS just doesn’t  hold up well for intensive games like the iPhone.  So that poses the question what about apps that are as intensive as games?

Is there a screening process for apps?

While it is definitely harder to develop apps for the iPhone than what it looks like for the Pre, the Pre’s app development with HTML CSS and JS should cause an explosion of apps to be developed for the phone.  But that is actually a BAD thing.  Apple’s process of screening apps, while it is usually something of annoyance, is good for quality control.  This explosion of apps that comes from large amounts of developer’s, we need to have some kind of system in place to monitor the apps.  Palm has not announced anything about this yet.

Flash?

Ok, this one I am really really waiting to hear about.  Will there be Flash support in the webkit browser?  If Palm incorporates Flash they will have a significant lead over the other smart phones.  Given that Palm said there is a processor in that little thing that can power a laptop, I would assume that Flash Lite is a possibility.

Price Point, Sub-$200?

While the Palm Pre looks like a must have for most enthusiasts, the question must be asked what is the price point of the phone?  It needs to be under $200 in order for the average consumer to even think about it.  So far, I have read prices in the 300 and 400 dollar range, and that is just no-good.  Palm, in order to win, you must take a hit on the price.

Missing Partnerships with Google and Yahoo?

The one thing about the iPhone that I loved, was that it included very nice apps from both google and yahoo.  Palm has not shared any information with us about having Google or Yahoo apps pre-built in.  Now I understand what your thinking, who care as long as they have OEM apps that work.  Well, its about marketing my friend.  If Google or Yahoo advertise that they have their apps built FOR and ON the Pre, it will be instant press and credibility on the integrity of the phone.