#pre 3

The Palm Pre was a good smartphone with a really impressive operating system when it was launched back in 2009. At the time I personally considered webOS to be the most slick user interface next to Apple's iOS. Android was starting to look more and more interesting, but the polish and the hardware just wasn't there yet. So I kept my eye on the developments at Palm while I started my journey down the path of iOS and the iPhone.

Fast forward to 2011 and the lineup looked pretty good. With Palm being purchased by HP, a titan of business and innovation, it looked like the webOS devices would have the weight behind them that they needed and deserved.

Unfortunately the opposite came true.

HP gave up on the Touchpad tablet computer only 49 days after it went on sale, and the Pre 3 was released for sale in some regions one day (!) before the announcement that HP was getting out of the smartphone and tablet computer business altogether.

The swan song of the promising webOS and Pre smartphones became the HP Pre 3, to this day the last mass produced phone made for the operating system that Palm crafted. Naturally, these aren't so easy to come by these days and even more hard to find at a good price.

So given the 5th anniversary of the event where the HP Veer, the HP Pre 3, and the HP Touchpad were unveiled, I thought it would be time to take a closer look at the Pre 3. I was most fortunate to not long ago to secure one after several years searching, finally enabling me to experience webOS as it was intended all those years ago. How does it hold up? Tag along as this long-time iPhone user dives head first into the best smartphone that HP could make in 2011.

Hardware

One thing I love about the Palm Pre is the small size and pleasant shape. Described as "pebble shaped", I have always found it to fit perfectly in my hand with it's curvature and pleasant thickness.

The Pre 3 continues this tradition, but goes for a bigger display with higher resolution. Sure, compared to the insane resolutions of smartphones made in 2016, the 800 x 480 display isn't all too impressive, but it's still a nice step up from the original Pre's 320 x 480. Still very pleasantly rounded and nice to hold, the machine now packs both more screen real estate and a vastly improved hardware keyboard. The keyboard on the original Pre never "clicked" with me, but the Pre 3 is quite possibly the very best hardware smartphone keyboard I've experienced so far. It's quite amazing what those extra millimeters do, and the Pre 3 keyboard doesn't feel cramped.

Other improvements include the lack of a cover over the micro USB port. Yes, the lack of one is a step up in my book, as the flimsy cover on the original Pre served mainly to get in my way any time I wanted to plug the cable in for any reason. Not something the Pre 3 suffers from!

The better camera is also a nice touch, although its no masterpiece. Still fixed focus and all that entails, but fair enough, it gets the job done as long as you have adjusted expectations.  The LED flash does a decent job for most shots, although it has a slight tendency to make skin tones a tad on the greenish side. It might be only my Pre 3, and it doesn't happen all the time.

Material choices are also good, eschewing the glossy finish of the Palm Pre in favor of a matte black texture that can slide around in your hand but not easily slip out of it. It's almost a rubberized feel, but it doesn't grab a hold of fabrics or other materials quite as much. Quite in line with the more business focus that HP chose to push after they acquired Palm.

The distance between the display half and the keyboard half is very slim and the whole device nearly looks like a monoblock when it's in the closed position. The slider mechanism is another very nice improvement compared to the original Palm Pre, and the old "Oreo effect" is so minimized I can't even detect it, if it even exists at all. As far as sliding keyboards go, this is really solid!

Software

But let's dive into the meat of the matter and see how webOS performs on the Pre 3. Running webOS 2.2.4, last of the official versions available for the smartphones as far as I know, the basics are the same as on the original Pre. The launcher behaves in the same way, the apps start up and you multitask via the card metaphor, things just have an HP label instead of Palm. Yes, there are lots and lots of small refinements everywhere across the system, but by and large it's a very recognizable and highly understandable operating system if you are even a bit familiar with the earlier version.

One of my absolute favorite touches is the card metaphor multitasking, which I was incredibly glad Apple "was inspired by" for iOS 7, and most disappointed when they removed for iOS 9. Palm nailed it when they build webOS with this concept in mind, and the ease of switching between apps, quitting apps, and stacking apps together is easy as can be.

Gestures is still very much the central theme of how you interact with webOS, leaving more free space on screen as you don't have to have a dedicated "back" button. Just put a finger on the gesture area and swipe to the left. For those who want a bit more out of the gesture area, you can even switch on the ability to hop between your active apps by swiping from the edge of the gesture area to the opposing side. Easy, and clever.

Notifications are another thing I'd say webOS did really, really well far before anyone else did. They just calmly appear in the bottom of the screen, and you can dismiss them quickly and easily, they never really get in the way of whatever it is you are up to at the time. The customizability of these notifications are very small, but there are ways to change and improve on that.

Aesthetically I think webOS holds up quite well still today, not being too deep in the skeuomorphic designs of earlier versions of iOS, nor giving overboard with any gimmicky use of drop shadows, glowing edges, or gaudy color selections. It's just a reasonably minimalistic approach that get its own unique look and feel, and it serves the system well in my mind.

But all the software you want of course can't be built into the device from the start. That's why the app stores of the various systems were created, right? Naturally, there is one on webOS as well, but that's where things get quite different from all the others.

The official App Catalog was terminated nearly a year ago, and you can no longer get apps that way. Here is where the true strength of webOS starts to shine. Enthusiasts have taken it upon themselves to keep the spirit of webOS going, and still to this day apps are getting updates, new apps are being made and made available, and features of the core system is being changed, tweaked, and made to work in the modern world. It's all through the wonder of PreWare and webOSQuickInstall that you can keep getting goodies for the system that others have long since given up on.

I have seen very few other communities manage to continue going this long after the official support from the manufacturer stop, and what has been done is nothing short of astonishing.

The one thing nearly everybody has commented on when I have showed them the Pre 3 is how smooth the user interface is. Truth be told, it wasn't all that smooth when I got the device, but after installing a few tweaks and patches, restarting the user interface, called Luna, it's buttery smooth.

Browsing the web can be a bit of a pain with all the crap web pages love to toss out at the visitors these days, but for the most part the Pre 3 keeps up and displays what you expect. Most services work, and if you are insane you can even let the option to enable Flash stay on. Yes, you read that right, webOS 2.2.4 has Adobe Flash built in, and I would strongly recommend anyone to leave it off, simply because it's old and Flash has had more holes than a swiss cheese over the years.

So far, so good? Naturally, just playing around with a phone for a while isn't enough to truly test its mettle. Thus, I'm going to make an attempt at using the Pre 3 as my main phone for one months time, and see how it goes. I'll be documenting my way through the experiment, and see what works and what I need to improve, if I can. Given that I come from the iPhone 3GS as my current daily driver, I have reasonably low expectations, but some things I really need to have working before the Pre 3 can replace it.

Given the somewhat unusual way both webOS works and what you need to get into it in the year 2016, I'll write up the process I went through to get my Pre 3 into usable shape. Might not be particularly useful as there aren't all that many Pre 3 devices around anymore, nor do I imagine that too many people will be getting one any time soon. But, hey, I'm into documenting my path down odd paths, and why not do it with this machine too?

Initial impressions of the Pre 3 has left me convinced that if HP had given all the 2011 devices a proper chance, pushed them to both companies and individuals, the smartphone landscape would quite likely look a bit different right now. The concepts are sound, the execution is very good, and it saddens me that webOS is no longer around on modern hardware. Don't get me wrong, the Open webOS ports are insanely impressive. I just lament that there is no new device build with webOS in mind, and vice versa.

Once again the state of webOS is hanging by a thread of some new take-over. However, this time it is a change in CEO, and not a buyout of Palm. HP has hired you, Mrs. Whitman, as their 3rd CEO in just under 18 months. You are coming into a huge company at a crucial time of transition, and I would just like to voice my feelings of how this effects my favorite mobile platform.

WebOS was ultimately sent to the back burner by your predecessor, Leo Apotheker, with the decision to stop making webOS hardware. You have the chance to do a great thing and try to regain mind-share in the ever growing mobile space. To do this you NEED webOS! I feel with a few resurgent moves, you can bring webOS back into the game.

First, make the announcement that the Personal Systems Group(PSG) is not spinning off from HP. Enterprise is a solid revenue for you, but the PSG is the HP that the general public knows and associates with your logo. You need this image to go forward and stop the downward spiral Apotheker started back in August.

Release the Pre 3. I have been using this device as my daily driver for over a week, and, by far, this is the best webOS phone ever produced. It is fast, and has the larger screen everyone has been dying for. The build quality of the phone is superb. Maybe the Pre 3 can't go head-to-head with some of the newer Android phones with outrageous specs, but it is on par with the iPhone when it comes to user experience. This phone should make it to the hands of the consumers who were waiting for it.

Go forward with Touchpad Go. A 7-inch device has a chance in the growing tablet market. It gives a strong alternative to the larger screens and could compete nicely with the Amazon Fire and Nook Color as an e-reader. The compact design and rumored built in GPS could offer consumers a great on the Go tablet device.

Last, get a smartphone on Sprint. This is where your die-hard webOS users have championed the platform from the beginning. They waited, and waited, and waited for a device to replace the original Pre, and they are still waiting. It would be outstanding to get the often rumored 4-inch slab phone we've all heard was in the pipeline in the hands of Dan Hesse. The evangelists of the webOS community deserve to have this made right as promised. I don't care if you just sell an unlocked CDMA model of the Pre 3 that could be activated on Sprint's network, but it needs to happen.

I was hoping that the Touchpad and Pre 3 would take off, but without the full support of HP, it was just a amazing shell of an OS with no 3rd party app support. WebOS still to this day has the best multitasking and notification system in any phone OS.

Sad to see it go.

UPDATE: Rumour confirmed :( 

IGN got a look at an internal Verizon document that appears to show the carrier's upcoming handset roadmap.  There are plenty of Windows Phone 7 and Android Devices, but missing is any mention of HP webOS based handsets, namely the Pre 3.  Many of you have indicated that you'll be waiting until the handset is finally released, but if you're a Verizon customer and the above document is correct, you'll be waiting for some time until it's released on Big Red.  

I have been following the new HP Touchpad and it’s development for the last few weeks since being released on July 1st, and again on July 17th. The launch of HP’s first tablet has been reminiscent of past launches by Palm, full of headaches and missed steps. Even with these slips, the Touchpad does seem to grabbing some attention. The app development has increased and produced some high quality applications for the platform. Unfortunately, as much as I want a Touchpad, I want a new smartphone more.

HP appears to be taking a reverse strategy from their counterparts at Apple and Google by banking that the tablet sales will bring more people to webOS and strengthen the platform. I applaud HP for taking a different approach, but it may be the wrong one. People are not attached to a tablet. So far, the tablet market is still very much a niche one. The average consumer still doesn’t understand the need for a tablet much less want one. They do, however, want or already own a smartphone.

The webOS platform has huge potential in both markets, but HP, you have to release new phones. I know the Veer is out and the Pre 3 is coming, but we need new form factors. I’m not saying flood the market with 50 phones in 6 months like Google, but have a nice line of 3 to 4 devices. 

The portrait slider should stay in the line-up for the entry level device, and continue with the Pre namesake. The Veer is a failed experiment. It is just to tiny. If it’s to small to have a headphone jack, it is to small. The Pre 2 is a solid device and small enough for people who don’t want a large smartphone. Maybe marrying the size of it and the Pre 3 with 3.5” screen is a nice compromise for the Blackberry converts of the world looking to try webOS.

Next up is the landscape slider. These are very popular with the texting addicts coming from mid-level multimedia phones such as the enV line from Verizon. I think the landscape slider could occupy the mid-level device for HP’s phone line-up. Phones like the EVO Shift and the MyTouch Slider have proven that this form factor is selling in the smarthphone world. Having similar specs and screen size to the upcoming Pre 3 would make for a nice addition to the webOS community. Now on to the one we have all been waiting for, the slab!

HP you HAVE to release a slab, keyboard-less, smartphone, and soon. This is the device that your users from the Palm acquisition have been literally screaming for, and I do mean literally. Every time you see a webOS blog post on some of the main tech sites, the commenters are always highly anxious to see a slab phone for the platform. They are dying to have their iPhone or EVO running webOS, and it’s not just the Palm faithful. The entire smartphone market shows that slab devices are the most popular. This trend should not be overlooked.

I'm a bit behind on my rumor coverage as of late, mostly due to being a tad too busy with other things in life. This is one rumor I just couldn't let pass by.

Should Mr. Blurrycam have caught an actual prototype of the Pre 3 lacking a physical keyboard on photo, I think it makes the WebOS platform look quite a bit more interesting. I still haven't been able to play around with a Palm... Sorry, HP Pre, but the keyboard has always looked pretty dreadful and almost all I have heard about it has been complaints. If that is lost and we instead have a monobrick design going all touch screen, I'd be happy to at least consider it when I'm hunting for a new phone.