Palm to arise from the ashes: Meet the Palm Pre!

Ladies and gentlemen,

Meet the Palm Pre.

This is Palm's answer to their old and frail Palm OS and line of Palm-based smart phones that have been overshadowed by the mighty iPhone. So far, at least according to all of the recent chatter, this new handset is poised to become the iPhone killer. We'll see.

I want one. Now.

Before it was even announced, I was making plans to get an iPhone once my contract was up with Sprint this May. Currently, I'm a happy owner of a Palm Centro, but I'm kinda bored with it and want something new as a true gadget geek does on occasion.

I'd consider myself a fairly heavy mobile user as the Centro has become a useful tool for my day to day adventures. Having a high speed data connection available in your hands wherever you go has gotten me out of trouble, and well, into trouble too :)

I knew Palm was planning something big, I mean, they seriously have to hit a home run here if they're going to survive in an iPhone world. So far, and with everything I've seen about this new phone, they've got a hit on their hands.

There isn't much I can say about the phone that hasn't been said already. Here are a few expectations with my current Palm Centro in mind:

- Laptop tethering: The convenience of plugging my Centro via a USB cable into my laptop for instant data access anywhere is critical.

- GPS: I currently use a 3rd party GPS app on my Centro. To have this built in would be a plus.

- Google Maps with My Location: My most used app on the Centro.

- Document viewing/editing: Not super important but needed for email attachments.

- Hardware keyboard: The Pre already has this. I simply cannot get used to the on-screen keyboard of the iPhone/iTouch.

- One handed navigation: I have to keep at least one hand on the steering wheel while using the phone :)

- "Cloud" based or wireless synchronization: USB sync is sooo yesterday.

- Messaging and chat across all platforms (TXT, Facebook, Google chat, AOL, etc.): I hardly ever talk on the phone nowadays.

- Decent camera: Good for those spontaneous photos. The Centro is good at this.

- Support for Palm-base applications: A big question mark on the Pre.

- Streaming Media support: Knowing that Pandora is developing an app for the Pre makes me feel all mushy inside.

- Pleasant web browsing experience: The iPhone is great at this. The Centro and it's clunky Blazer browser? Not so much.

For those of you looking for all of the Palm Pre features known to date, Mobile Crunch has kindly summarized it for us here.

I've been a Palm user for many, many years going all the way back to the original Palm Pilot. I wasn't quite ready to give up on Palm, but the temptation to break my contract during the initial release of the beautiful iPhone was excruciating to say the least. I'm glad I held back, because the Pre looks to be everything I've been looking for in a mobile device and more.

Now... how about that release date Palm?