The Palm Pre has created quite a buzz since the moment it was revealed at CES 2009.  I know I have been waiting patiently for Palm to finally release a new OS.  I love my Centro, but let’s face it, the Palm OS needed an upgrade.  The Pre officially went on sale yesterday, but even before that, there have been quite a few reviews and opinions out on the web.  I have noticed a few items that most people agree on.  One, everyone loves the screen!!!  The Pre comes with a 24-bit color HVGA display with a 320×480 pixel resolution.  Second, the keyboard is small.  The keyboard on the Centro is pretty small too, but its something I believe you can get use to.  The multi-tasking ability is also receiving 2 thumbs up.  This looks to be one fabulous phone.  I did not see one in the wild this weekend, but I will be starting my hunt tomorrow to see if I can finally get my hands on one of these devices.  Watch out Pre!!!

Gizmodo has a great comparison of what several reviewers are saying.  Check out the link.  In addition to that, Cnet also has a very thorough review posted, along with a video.

Beginning June 19, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 will be available from Verizon Wireless.  The only color choice for the ‘Flip’ will be silver, but it comes with a plethora of features.   The users will get: 

1. - 2 high resolution color displays with one on the outside to see incoming calls without opening the phone
2. - 2.0 megapixel camera with flash, zoom, and video recording
3. - Large SureType QWERTY keyboard for easy typing and dialing
   - Advanced media player for music, videos and pictures
   - microSD/SDHC card slot with support for up to 16 GB of memory per card
   - Voice-activated dialing and speakerphone capabilities

Plus, you can’t forget that you’ll also have the ability to check in on your Facebook and MySpace accounts.  The Pearl Flip will cost $129.99, after a $70 mail-in rebate, and a 2 year customer agreement.  See the full press release after the break.

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Thank you to everyone who entered the contest! Some of the entries made me giggle like a loon!
In order to pick random winners, I had the “magic cats” follow the cursor around the screen and when they went to swat it I picked the entry they tried to swat it on!

So without further ado……….*drumroll please!*……the winners are…………

Goldone

Ray Waldo

Breley

Congratulations, guys! Watch out for an email by the end of the weekend!
And a big thank you to Telenav for putting up the prizes for this contest

As enthusiasts line up for the limited stocks of the Palm Pre, it’s getting late on Saturday evening in my part of the world

Even though the Pre has been really well received in advanced reviews of the release unit, there are things you may want to consider before you take Palm up on this new piece of hardware and software.

A twitter friend of mine posted a great blog article, that highlights some of the features of the Pre that he is a wee bit hesitant about.

Jeff posted:
Don’t get me wrong. In many respects, the Palm Pre is a groundbreaking smartphone that portends the obliteration of the line between phone and full size computer. It joins the iPhone and arguably the Android devices as the only computer some people would ever need.

He goes on to add a heap of really intuitive comments, that are things you might want to think about before you pick up a pre, although if you are lining up for one now, I’m posting this a bit late!

Tiny, un-thumb able keys. One of the reasons the keys on the Pre (and Centro) keyboard are so rubbery is that they’re intended to be snagged with your thumbnail rather than the meat of your thumb. It works, but it’s not as comfortable or as fast as, say, the Blackberry Bold.

Check out the rest of Jeff’s reasoning for holding off on the Pre, He does actually make some great points. If you are lining up now, and reading this on your phone, I’m sorry!

Via JeffKirvin.net

Hello all you Vista users out there! As you already know, Microsoft recently released service pack 2 for Vista. I’d recommend waiting a little even a month or two to make sure they get all the bugs out. As always, with any service pack, it usually goes on clean if you have a fresh start machine. If you don’t, there are times where the service pack will get stuck and end up hosing your system. With that in mind, please remember to backup your system before attempting the service pack. Vista Home users can use the included backup utility which will backup your files and documents. Users of the Business or Ultimate version of Vista can backup their entire Windows partition including programs guaranteeing that you’ll be able to restore should the worst happen – of course, if that did occur it would be precious time that would be lost. Service Pack 2 isn’t on automatic updates yet. But should that change any time soon, it would be highly recommended to unselect it from the install list. Happy and safe computing!

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