Should I buy a Pre 2

[bob616]

I'm an iPhone Developer and I am going to start developing apps for the Palm devices (HP now). I got a coupon code from Palm for the Pre 2 however I don't want to buy a phone just for it to be outdated and not used in a couple of months. What do you guys think? Will I be able to buy a GSM Pre 3 soon to develop or should I just settle with the Pre 2 with the dev discount?

Your advice is greatly appreciated and I look forward to making apps for the Pre.

[kingstu]

Get pre2. You can start developing now and it should be upward compatible. The pre3 won't be out for many more months.

[stu5797]

I love mine!!!

[bob616]

Originally Posted by stu5797

I love mine!!!

sorry for the questions but do you guys know when the Pre 3 will come out and what are the differences between the Pre 2 and Pre 3

[protofa]

the pre3 will be released this summer. it will have a bigger screen and faster processor.

[Orion Antares]

Originally Posted by bob616

I'm an iPhone Developer and I am going to start developing apps for the Palm devices (HP now). I got a coupon code from Palm for the Pre 2 however I don't want to buy a phone just for it to be outdated and not used in a couple of months. What do you guys think? Will I be able to buy a GSM Pre 3 soon to develop or should I just settle with the Pre 2 with the dev discount?

Your advice is greatly appreciated and I look forward to making apps for the Pre.

If you want to start developing now to have apps released, get the Pre 2. There's no point waiting for the Pre 3 to come out just for the resolution change. Unless all your apps need an auto-focus camera, a compass, or a 1.4Ghz speed process (which would be lol coming from iPhone apps), the Pre 2 will be a more than adequate test bed.

[Rennat]

don't worry the Pre 2 is part of their lineup:
--HP Veer (Small)
--HP Pre2 (Medium)
--HP Pre3 (Large)
--HP TouchPad (XL)

[bob616]

Originally Posted by Orion Antares

If you want to start developing now to have apps released, get the Pre 2. There's no point waiting for the Pre 3 to come out just for the resolution change. Unless all your apps need an auto-focus camera, a compass, or a 1.4Ghz speed process (which would be lol coming from iPhone apps), the Pre 2 will be a more than adequate test bed.

I'm fine with the Pre 2's hardware. It is pretty similar to the Pre 3. What I am worried about is if HP will continue to support the Pre 2 with software updates. Such as 3.0

[Orion Antares]

Originally Posted by bob616

I'm fine with the Pre 2's hardware. It is pretty similar to the Pre 3. What I am worried about is if HP will continue to support the Pre 2 with software updates. Such as 3.0

It's a valid question but I think that's looking a bit too far ahead. We can't even be certain HP will support the Veer or Pre 3 with "3.0". If 3.0 actually ends up to be the version that's used for devices without the gesture area it may never make it on to any of these current and announced phones.

[bob616]

I see. I must have misunderstood what was said yesterday. I thought 3.0 was running on the touchpad and would be on the Pre 3 and Veer eventually. Also they said something about 3.0 emulating the old apps

[Orion Antares]

From what I read the emulation in 3.0 is meant for older apps that used the gesture area since the TouchPad isn't supposed to have a gesture area and possibly those that still use Mojo.

Like I said, it's up to them what they decide to do. They might just toss 3.o on to those devices or they might just develop versions of 2.x parallel to 3.x for those devices. We really don't know until they actually start doing it.

[marshalla99]

Originally Posted by bob616

I see. I must have misunderstood what was said yesterday. I thought 3.0 was running on the touchpad and would be on the Pre 3 and Veer eventually. Also they said something about 3.0 emulating the old apps

Yeah - and they promised that 2.0 would run on the 1.x devices too...ain't going to happen now. You simply cannot trust any "plan" that they announce any more.

[becrazy2]

marshalla99 I get that you're upset. I've been sad about some of the info that has come out too but I really believe webOS is the next BIG thing. Yes it's been a bumpy road but I believe it's a road to travel down with great reward in the end. I was considering leaving but after a few days, I've changed my mind & I'm waiting it out. Great things are just around the corner. Call me crazy, but that's my screen name.

[johnnygewitter]

for a dev, i think the much more pressing question is when the final sdk 2.0 with enyo will be available. if you're just beginning webos development, i wouldn't bother with mojo.
as soon as we have the 2.0 sdk we can develop enyo apps and test them in a browser (we don't even need the emulator, which btw gives me hope for a greatly enhanced mobileme-style palm profile)
of course, testing on a real device is still essential. the pre2 will do i guess, pre3 would be nice. i'd say let your wallet decide and how long you're willing to wait for a device to play with.

[HelloNNNewman]

OP.. don't listen to the angry posts. For some reason there is a sense of sudden entitlement in the community. Getting the Pre 2 is a great deal right now as it will get you into webOS 2.x and let you get your feet wet for developing apps. It's great that you are jumping in - early adopters get into a growing market. There will be a lot of post telling you otherwise, but my advice is to grab one and have fun. Welcome to the webOS developer community!

[ijip]

yeah, i think HP did the right thing by no longer supporting legacy devices. the only thing that does suck is that new pre3 wont be out till about june.... so now u have that gap. in the end though they are looking to grow the user base. the original pre quite simply does not have enough user base even for HP.... its a punch in the face, but after the swelling u come out stronger!

[marshalla99]

Originally Posted by HelloNNNewman

OP.. don't listen to the angry posts. For some reason there is a sense of sudden entitlement in the community.

Not entitlement - betrayal. Promises were made and not kept. Trust was abused.

It would have been better if Palm had said nothing about Flash and HP had said nothing about WebOS 2. As things stand there are 3 outright lies that they still haven't dealt with (they haven't even properly apologised) :

i) Flash available in 2010
ii) WebOS 2 available for 1.x devices
iii) Not announcing new devices until they are ready to ship.

I am now questioning their ability to succeed in the market - their share is already too small to be economically viable for most developers, and their strategy is not doing anything to help. They have alienated a large chunk of the existing user base who were the "easy sell". As for the rest of the market- look at what happened to Osborne, a company with a great product who used a similar strategy of announcing products too early.

WebOS 2 can have no significant user base until "summer" of this year (whatever that means) - and developers outside the USA have no easy cost-effective way of getting access to it either. It's too much of a gamble, IMNSHO.

[HelloNNNewman]

Originally Posted by marshalla99

As things stand there are 3 outright lies that they still haven't dealt with (they haven't even properly apologised) :

i) Flash available in 2010
ii) WebOS 2 available for 1.x devices
iii) Not announcing new devices until they are ready to ship.

Lots of anger over a phone...

Your examples are as follows:

i) Flash available in 2010

this wasn't Palm. Flash is a product of Adobe, so if you want to blame a company for a 'broken promise', blame them not Palm.

ii) WebOS 2 available for 1.x devices

Palm spent several months and a lot of resources on 2.0 for legacy devices. Yes, they could have brought a solution, but in the end it simply wasn't a good product for those 2 year old devices. That's the key... they are TWO year old pieces of electronics and are simply not powerful enough. I have a 2 year old printer that they stopped supporting with new drivers for Windows 7. The company started to do it, but ended up stopping. I don't feel betrayed or lied to because they started and then stopped supporting the product. It's also TWO years old - which is ancient in electronics in today's terms.
Palm worked hard on the software for legacy devices, but in the end, they simply had to admit it simply wasn't cost effective for those older devices (like mine). Completely understandable.

iii) Not announcing new devices until they are ready to ship.

This one I may be willing to give you if they don't hit actual shelves within 8 weeks. HP's chief did make the PR statement that they would get devices to market fast and not announce them until they were 'ready' to ship (which never means they will be on the shelves instantly, but weeks away). Eight weeks is usually an accepted time-frame for shipping and distributing products. So this one is a wait-and-see for me.

I'm not sure what you want a "proper apology" about and how you want it. As I mentioned, Palm worked long and hard on legacy devices but it simply was simply like trying to install Windows 7 on a 800mhz computer. Even Microsoft had a compatibility check to see if your system could meed Windows 7 requirements.

[EvilKell]

Originally Posted by bob616

I see. I must have misunderstood what was said yesterday. I thought 3.0 was running on the touchpad and would be on the Pre 3 and Veer eventually. Also they said something about 3.0 emulating the old apps

No, you're correct. The Pre3 will get webOS 3.0 according to what I've read, and that statement killed my desire for the Pre2. Based on HP/Palm's history, you can't trust a single statement they make. They're the biggest liars in the tech industry. HelloNNewman, no offense, but nobody forced HP/Palm to make statements.

The only phone HP/Palm has ever significantly supported was the original Pre. The Pre+ on Verizon was abandoned in less than 6 months. The Pre+ on AT&T was abandoned in less than 3 months! The Palm Pre2 is going to be sooo different, though. HP really wants to keep the Pre2 around because it doesn't have an HP logo on it. The Pre2 is around right now because it's a test mule for the Pre3. The moment the Pre3 is released, there is at least a 50% chance that HP completely abandons the Pre2.

[bob616]

Originally Posted by HelloNNNewman

OP.. don't listen to the angry posts. For some reason there is a sense of sudden entitlement in the community. Getting the Pre 2 is a great deal right now as it will get you into webOS 2.x and let you get your feet wet for developing apps. It's great that you are jumping in - early adopters get into a growing market. There will be a lot of post telling you otherwise, but my advice is to grab one and have fun. Welcome to the webOS developer community!

Well I am going to pick up a Pre 2 and hopefully it is supported along side the Pre 3. Does the Pre 2 support apps that are written with Enyo or only Mojo?