RUMOR:Palm Pre 3 To Launch At CES 2010 On Verizon?

[AKITAYO]

RUMOR:Palm Pre 3 To Launch At CES 2010 On Verizon?

Holy hell, how's this for some New Years news; Bright Side of News has just reported that Palm will be revealing the third iteration of the Palm Pre next week at CES 2010. Palm has already sent out press invites for a conference on Thursday, January 7, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. It's not entirely clear exactly what this conference is about, but the most obvious answer is the Pre 3.
BSN* claims that the Pre 3 will launch on Verizon's network.

We've heard rumors of a Verizon Pre for a while now. In fact, earlier this week we heard that the Pre and Pixi (aka Pre 1 and Pre 2) would be coming to Verizon. A new, updated version of the Pre is very much due. I can see Big Red selling the Pre 1 for $99, giving the Pixi away for free with a contract, and charging $199 for the Pre 3. That would give Verizon an impressive phone platform to compete with the new iPhone and the Nexus One.

CES 2010 will start on the 7th of January 2010 and lasts until the 10th. Of course CES news is already pouring in. Stay up to date by reading our CES 2010 section.

http://www.i4u.com/article29560.html

[AKITAYO]

When Palm launched its Pre smartphone on CES 2009, a lot of questions were put forth, such as the length of exclusive contract with Sprint. Now we know that the exclusive contract was based upon 12+6 month base, but also that "Palm Pre 3" [Pre was "Pre 1", Pixi is codenamed "Pre 2", Pre 3 is well, "Pre 3"] is about to launch.

On Thursday, January 7, 2010 at 11:00AM, Palm will host a press conference where the company will introduce Palm "Pre 3", a next-generation smartphone. The interesting bit is that the launch network is Verizon Wireless and that the hard launch will happen prior to Apple's introduction of iPhone 4G.

It seems to us that Verizon is doing its best to knock AT&T and Apple off the top spot - first tapping the market with aggressive campaign for Motorola DROID, and now with Pre 3. The goal for Pre 3 is to grab those first generation customers who didn't sign off their soul to get iPhone 3G and to capture those users that haven't upgraded to the iPhone.

Furthermore, marketing campaign will be driven to address all the limitations of iPhone in congested areas such as big cities. Does this mean Times Square will be plastered with ads for Verizon-backed Pre? Only time will tell… and that time is drawing near.

As far as we know, Skype will also be a topic at Pre 3 launch, but we have no idea in what way. Could it be that Verizon plans to suggest that Skype is better for voice com than the regular network? After all, Skype is purely digital and actually loads the network less than a voice call.

As a European, it is good to hear that America is finally moving forward with high quality devices and data usage - after all, I am quite used to download about 1-2GB of data each month when I am using my Blackberry 9000 Bold as a GPS - while driving on American interstates, using my $30/month flat-rate data roaming wherever I am in the world, sans Taiwan [Seriously Vodafone / HR VIP, when the heck are you going to sort out bricking on my Blackberry by Vodafone in Taipei?].

Now, the question is how the owners of Palm Pre devices on Sprint network will feel?
http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news...-ces-2010.aspx

[Thunderwang]

Knock Apple off the top spot?

Look what happened with the first Pre. It launched a bit before the 3GS, sold a hundred thousand or so units, and didn't make a ripple in 3GS sales. I think I read that Apple sold something like 11 million units this last quarter or something like that.

I'm just saying that I really doubt a new Pre is going to make a difference once the iPhone 4G is released.

[chris]

This won't be a Pre 3. More than likely it'll be a Pre 1.5. Been meaning to write an article on what expectations will be for the Pre Plus.

Agree with Thunderwang, Palm and Android platforms have been competiting against Apple's iPhone 3GS, which was nothing more than a spec update. Eventually, Apple's going to release the followup to the iPhone. Somewhere along the line, you're going to see a new form factor and reworked UI that's been 3 years on the making. Incremental upgrades to the Pre? Is that enough? I'd like to see them open up to native apps and deliver some nice improvements to the hardware.

[AKITAYO]

Agree, Something like DON´T BELIEVE THE HEADLINES but here is what we expect.