Will a new webOS handset be launching soon??

[radiorob123]

I'm in the market for a new phone and I'm considering all the usually suspects, iphone, Blackberry, blah..blah..blah. I'm really interested in WebOs however, I'm concerned that I'm going to get a Pre only to have a newer, faster, better WebOs device hit stores the next day. The Pre has been out awhile now. Is there any indication that a new phone is on the way soon?

[Freshyz]

That's the million dollar question.. .

What carrier do you prefer?

[pobthemaster10]

Exactly!

[radiorob123]

I live in the mountains in Northern California and Verizon and AT&T are the only two carriers that have any sort of coverage up here. AT&T is slightly better so I'm leaning towards them and I know that the Pre Plus was just released on AT&T. I guess a better way to have phrased my question would be will the Pre Plus still stack up well against the new iPhone and Blackberry devices that are on the horizon?

[passlogix]

Wait for new Iphone announcement on June to decide what to get. And why would you want to buy old technology when there's whole bunch of new and better phones are coming out? Get the latest and the greatest, and when HP bring out better phone with WebOS, that's when you get the webOS.

[Freshyz]

If your best bet is AT&T than the Pre Plus that just hit would not be a bad choice at all.
Knowing the pattern that Palm released the Pre/Pixi at different times I suspect the 'Pre2' won't hit AT&T anytime soon as it just released on that carrier and HP/Palm has yet to release any solid info on it's next mobile device.
With all due respect, the specs on the 4th gen iFone look pretty sick... .
Do people still buy Wackberrys?

[radiorob123]

I won't be getting anything until after the 4th Gen iPhone is officially announced so I can see exactly what it's going to be. But I used an iPhone 3G that my former employer paid for and it was okay. I'm just thinking that a different OS would be nice.

I'm underwhelmed by the Blackberry OS and the only Android phone on AT&T is that stupid Backflip. I'm a grown man and have no interest in that thing.

WebOS really looks like the best OS option but I'm not sure that I want hardware that is basically a year old now.

[passlogix]

Originally Posted by radiorob123

I won't be getting anything until after the 4th Gen iPhone is officially announced so I can see exactly what it's going to be. But I used an iPhone 3G that my former employer paid for and it was okay. I'm just thinking that a different OS would be nice.

I'm underwhelmed by the Blackberry OS and the only Android phone on AT&T is that stupid Backflip. I'm a grown man and have no interest in that thing.

WebOS really looks like the best OS option but I'm not sure that I want hardware that is basically a year old now.

Verizon got nice Android phone, my wife has Droid Incredible, and it's really nice. And yes, if you get Pre Plus now, it does feel like a year old tech.

I haven't overclocked my phone and I wasn't planning to. However, after I use my wife's Incredible, damn, my Pre Plus is so freaking slow. Now I think I have to overclock my phone but I doubt it will be anywhere close to stock Incredible speed.

[cajunrph]

WebOS is better than iPhone OS or the Blackberry OS 6.0. I think that the current WebOS will be better than the iPhone 4G OS. I grew tired of Apples draconian nature with regards to what you can do with the equipment you own. WebOS is an open platform which means a lot. BB is also an open platform somewhat but a much dated one. The hardware may not be as good as the others. I'd like to know when HP would be releasing the next WebOS phone.
That being said the iPhone 4G will be expensive. May be $200-300 price range. Top of the line BB usually come in at $200. The Pre Plus is 1 cent. It seems to be the bargain of the bunch. I've had them all and I prefer WebOS over the other two. Just go to a corp store and play with them and see what you like best. The new iPhone is going to be announced in June I think.
I would all but rule out BB but their battery life is far superior to the others. I can get my BB 9700 to go 2 days without a charge and still have 40% battery left. My Pre didn't last the day. And my Android needs multiple charging per day. The iPhone would last a day if I didn't play around on it too much.
So each has it's positives and negatives. You would need to decide what you want in a phone. Just a texter and messanger and e-mail. BB hands down. The web browser is not as good as the others, and the games are no where as good as the others. There is an app store and there are apps there. But not many free apps and no where as many as the iPhone. The iPhone will be more for media and gaming. It lags in multi-tasking and doesn't have a physical keyboard. You might be the kind of person who can deal with a virtual keyboard but much prefers a physical one. For myself I can deal with apples and android virtual keyboards but much prefer a physical one. I can fly on a BB. And you have to deal with Apples lock down nature of their OS. They really don't like you customizing the phone to your preference. No customizable home screen or Icons like the other two unless you jailbreak it. The WebOS is the best of both worlds. It can message, text, play games and surf the web with the best of them. It is a truly open OS, more so than android. Easier to homebrew WebOS than any other OS out there. There are no where the number of apps for the Pre like there is for Apple. But then again out of 200,000 apps on the Apple app store how many do you think are any good. Not many. But the app count for WebOS goes up every day and the very nature of WebOS being easy to program for should lead to more apps in the future. And also Palm is in the process of being acquired by HP, the largest technology company in the world so Palm will have an 800 lb gorilla behind it when they release their next phone. And no other company can say that. Do your homework and pick the one best for you. Might want to wait a while and snatch up a cheap AT&T Pre on eBay when the show up. That way you can save your upgrade for the next gen WebOS phone. And with HP backing it should be an extraordinary phone in all phases.

[glamisfanatic]

I would wait for the next gen webOS device. Who knows when that will arrive though. I think it would be smart to announce it before the evo goes on sale because it will make a lot of people wait until it comes out. But seeing as they haven't done so I am willing to bet it will be a long while before it makes an appearance.

[passlogix]

WebOS is open and got homebrew, but if you actually look at the patches in homebrew, they should've been included by WebOS. In a way, without Preware, WebOS is crippled. Homebrew apps, I haven't found anything useful. Iphone and Android phone got so many junk apps, as well as Pre apps store too. Only difference is, Iphone and Android got way more useful and cheaper or free apps available.

HP bought Palm, which is great news but that's for next generation phone, not the current Pre. So since you are buying phone now, ask yourself, do I want the phone that released last year, or the phone that came out now with better technology.

[darktanone]

My advice is to consider what comes with the phone. You can buy a phone with one or a dozen features over other devices, but outside of that what can you expect? Are you getting a device with questionable hardware or an advanced OS that look and feel like a beta? What about customer service? How easy is it to find solutions to problems if and when the device malfunctions? What about content? What's available, how do you find what you want and how easy is it? How do you back up your content such as apps, movies, music, books, contacts, podcasts, etc? What about the company, do they lead or follow? A phone is not an entity all to itself. You need solid support. After all, it's your money and you need to feel confident in your decision. My advice is to wait for the next iPhone and then make your decision.

[Complex Pants]

I don't expect to see a new WebOS phone on any carrier until late fall at the earliest. I think most people would agree that the next great WebOS phone will not come out this summer either.

As said above, wait for June 7th and check out the iPhone OS 4 and then go to all of your carrier stores and play with their phones. The Pre+ is not a bad phone by any stretch of the imagination, but at the same time it isn't exactly cutting edge. Realize that if you buy a Pre+, you are buying it for the OS, not the hardware.

Just in general when buying any smartphone, I would make a list of your needs and your wants. Which ever phone satisfies the most on your list is probably the best phone for you. Cheers!

[barkerja]

We pretty much already know what's coming with the iPhone 4G.

- Multitasking
- Front facing camera
- Probably the new chip that is used in the iPad (incredible battery life..)
- iTunes cloud (ability to access your entire music library from anywhere)
- Possible new carrier(s)
- And other possible unannounced stuff.

[MiguelATF]

Originally Posted by radiorob123

I won't be getting anything until after the 4th Gen iPhone is officially announced so I can see exactly what it's going to be. But I used an iPhone 3G that my former employer paid for and it was okay. I'm just thinking that a different OS would be nice.

Each of us have different needs and responses both to different software and hardware. If you thought an iPhone 3G was "okay" - remember that "okay" isn't the same as GREAT. Whatever phone/OS/hardware combo you get - make sure you really ENJOY it.

Originally Posted by radiorob123

I'm underwhelmed by the Blackberry OS and the only Android phone on AT&T is that stupid Backflip. I'm a grown man and have no interest in that thing.

If you use Blackberry's for a long time - and I did - what you wind up really appreciating about them is the email system. It rocks. And if you like hardware keyboards, Blackberries pretty much have the best. Their OS is clunky and at times oldfashioned. Their browsers tend to be slow, kludgy and too small screenwise. But if all you really care about it email apps - they are outstanding.

I have to agree with you about the Backflip. It's stupid. Other Android phones have some appeal for some people. It's worth playing around with them a little. I did quite a lot - and ultimately for me they feel clunky and duct-taped together and inconsistent. Both Pre's and iPhones have a much more easy-to-use - streamlined - and intuitively logical "feel" to them IMHO.

Originally Posted by radiorob123

WebOS really looks like the best OS option but I'm not sure that I want hardware that is basically a year old now.

Here's the thing about both the AT&T & Verizon versions of the Pre hardware - though the design is a year old, the hardware is actually much more solid - for a lot of small reasons - which all boil down to QC/Quality Control. But, yes, you're right, the design is not a "new" one.

My serious suggestion to you is to either hang out with friends who have Pre's - or go to both Verizon and AT&T stores and spend a good hour or two playing around with them - to really try to get a feel for the OS. If you LOVE WebOS....then buy the phone. If you have doubts....don't. I did exactly what I'm suggesting you do. I spent quite a bit of time playing around with Pre's - iPhones - and different Droid models - and trying to compare them all to my old familiar Blackberry. I was blown away by the feel and style and utility of the Pre's OS - so I made the decision on Operating System only - partly because I was sick of the BB/Blackberry's antiquated OS - and wanted something which felt much more intuitively well designed to me.

Good luck with your decision.

Miguel

[fernandez21]

Well, i just got the pre plus on at&t (replacing my iphone 3g), and I gotta say it doesn't feel like old tech at all. Sure the 600mhz processor is slower than the newer 1ghz snapdragons, but the 512mb ram its still above all other phones (most have 256mb), it has 16gb storage, the screen nice, and webos is a really nice os. Just wait till the next iphone comes out and head to the store and compare them side by side. Really webos or iphone os are head and shoulders above the rest and you can't go wrong with either.

[bdog421]

Originally Posted by radiorob123

WebOS really looks like the best OS option but I'm not sure that I want hardware that is basically a year old now.

It's true the hardware is getting a bit dated. However, webOS is only just beginning to reach maturity and with some big improvements coming via updates in the next few+ months(maybe 5), that dated hardware is going to run like a whole new phone. Also if you find you need more from the pre, you have an amazing homebrew community and community in general here at precentral.

You've tasted iphone and you should give the pre a go as well. Also the price is right on the pre+ old or not, nothing comes close to the power of the pre+ at it's current prices. If price is no issue, I'd say you may want to wait a month or two and see what at&t has coming(iphone,android,blackberry,palm?).

As others have said it all boils down to, what phone meets your needs? Good luck!

[darktanone]

Originally Posted by cajunrph

*Palm is in the process of being acquired by HP, the largest technology company in the world so Palm will have an 800 lb gorilla behind it when they release their next phone. And no other company can say that. Do your homework and pick the one best for you. Might want to wait a while and snatch up a cheap AT&T Pre on eBay when the show up. That way you can save your upgrade for the next gen WebOS phone. And with HP backing it should be an extraordinary phone in all phases.

While I respect your opinion, I must call you out on the fact that Apple is a much larger and more innovative company than HP. It is second only to MS and the third largest American company and still growing. Exxon/mobil holds the top spot. Apple is the most innovative tech company period and is considered the R&D for the computer industry. While there's enough hate going around for Apple and its closed-system business model, we must not allow ourselves to distort the facts. Now while many phones have basically copied Apple's iPhone technology and improved upon or added a few features here and there for their devices, the iPhone is still the one to beat and is considered the best smart phone. To be honest, none of the other phones come close to matching how the iPhone hardware and software work together. Not the Pre or any Android phone. Other phone manufacturers stress features, but Apple stresses ease of use and the user experience and they do it better than most. Too often these phones are brought to market half baked, with poor hardware and glitchy, slow and underperforming OSes and other issues. And quite frankly, they disappoint! Apple is the best because, while not perfect, they take the time to implement features correctly before releasing them on their devices. Users were complaining about cut-and-paste on the iPhone and now it's considered the best implementation on any handheld device. Multitasking will be enabled on the next iPhone and I believe it will be the best. Again instead of rushing it out the door, they came up with an implementation appropriate for a handheld device that won't drain the battery. This still has to be proven though, but I'm betting It eclipses the others. I don't agree with everything they do, but if I had to bet my money on any company, it would be them. The next iPhone will indeed have features that are already present on some phones, but more importantly is, what new features and tech will be revealed? We were already treated to a preview of iAds and Game Center and there are rumors of video chat. * * *

[passlogix]

Current Pre hardware is solid if you compare to the smartphone from a year ago. But you can't possibly compare our phone to the current phone like Incredible, EVO, or even 3GS.
WebOS is good but I can't say it's the best OS. Yes, it has potential to become best OS, but not right now. I think it's still in baby stage, which is great thing.
Buy something else now and wait for the phone that HP makes in the future with perhaps WebOS 2.0+

[Cantaffordit]

I don't believe there will be new models before the end of this year. I also think my pre plus (hardware and IS) trump anything else out there.

I recommend the pre plus to you and anyone I show it to.