_PALM PRE REVIEW

yeah, i know.

pre dropped on june 4th. i’m a bit late, and there’s a million other comprehensive reviews you could be reading. well you’re here now so you might as well suck it up, an Aeon spin is always an intriguing one,right?

right.

so, yes. 8/14/09 – i finally got the Pre, after 2 months of wistful teeth-gnashing about prohibitive monetary overhead rendering me unable.

in short, i like it. a lot.

the calling cards of palm’s new flagship smartphone are well documented, and the firestorm of anticipation and speculation caused after it’s unveiling during January’s CES stole tech blog’s headlines for weeks.

all this fracas was just the boon both Palm and Sprint were looking for, particularly the former, as their much maligned lack of advancement with their product line was beyond wearing thin with their customers, investors, and anybody who really cared in general.

on the list of Pre exclusives and features was the new WebOS operating system, bringing true multitasking functionality to a handheld, cloud sync via Synergy, a slide out keyboard and the Touchstone charging system (not included with purchase) and these cute, unobtrusive system notifications. cute and awesome.

notably absent for the iPhone’s would-be assailant were visual voicemail, video recording, removable storage, a Sprint- delivered tethering option, among a billion other niggles owners have logged since the device’s launch. the official app store also leaves much to be desired (as one would expect considering the still newness of the platform, but still), although Palm has done the right thing in allowing sideloading of  homebrew applications, which has inspired a growing community of development, with apps ranging from the banal to the absolutely awesome.

anyway, not trying to familiarize you with the Pre as much as i’m trying to give you my opinion of it.

2 weeks in isn’t much time, but i’m what i’d call a power user, i’ll toe the line of my EULAs and see what the thing can really do, go against Sprint’s wishes with impunity and risk my investment fo rthe sake of better functionality. and i’ve been on this thing non-stop since day one.

LIKES:

1. it looks good. that’s always important. at first sight back in January, i was overall non-plussed, even a bit displeased when i saw the keyboard tray slide out, but it works. the screen is hi res enough and very pretty to look at, especially contrasting against the jet black fascia. it feels good in hand and it’s light and comfortable to pocket.
2. webOS is great to me. i haven’t had the pleasure of spending too much time with other competitor smartphone OSes (minimal time with iPhone’s, a brief glance at the Bold and G1) but coming from the downright ancient Palm OS on my Treo 755p, anything would seem like a superman leap in the right direction. the “card”-based multitasking system is very good; being able to flip between applications and have them run simultaneously is luxury i don’t think i ever could return from. i know how much it aggravates people who’ve never been exposed to a working multitasking system, so having experienced it and being faced with going back would be an impossiblity.
3. the screen is really responsive. one thing that always pushed the iPhone hardware ahead of it’s wannabes was the capacitive multitouch screen, and the Pre is one of the first phones to really give the iPhone’s screen a run for it’s money. additionally, the swiping gesture area at the bottom of the device’s face is useful, fun and it just looks cool to operate, with ghostly glowing indicator lights softly fading on and off with each swipe.
4. data speed is pleasingly fast. i’m on the data functionality of my Pre more than i’m ever on a call, and by default the Pre is always on, always connected, so having the fast EVDO Rev. A is grrrreat. (more on that, later.)
5. i like how easy it is to add and manage contacts once they’re in the phone. not having to jump through any hoops to take a facebook contact and link it to the same person’s gmail/phone/AIM account/etc., and then having the phone automatically update accounts via internet while you’re stuffing your face or sleeping soundly or whatever is pretty great.
6. the aforementioned status updates are really useful. in some apps, they offer basic function control, like in pandora or the music player, and they are as easily removed as a swiping them offscreen.
7. the phone charges really fast.

LOVES:

1. point blank, the My Tether homebrew app is one of the best purchases i’ve made in a long time. although sprint didn’t allow their Pre to ship with a built in tethering application, or offer any options, you know how it goes once the SDK hits the streets. << this is a screen shot of my laptop downloading the newest version of Skype via the Pre/My Tether app. bringing this functionality to the phone was a godsend for me, as i’m currently transitioning to a new home, and the cable/internet in my apt. is very off. the phone tends to cook after extended periods of wifi tethering, but i’ve figured out ways to keep the heat down, and it works like a charm.

DISLIKES:

1. the battery life sucks. there’s no excuse to be made for it. this is an always on, always connected device and it begs to be fiddled with, used and explored regularly. sticking a barely capable battery in this thing just doesn’t make sense. thankfully we’re not stuck with the battery, as it’s removable and replaceable, and higher cap batteries are on the market. i understand space/batt size compromises had to be made, but the battery life is flat out abysmal. i had 100% charge today, went out for lunch, during which i took 2 pictures, sent text, used Tweed to check my twitter updates and listened to a podcast the entire time- fairly light use, i’d guess. returned to the office at 71%. an HOUR. GPS was off and other location services were also off. i don’t like the feeling of having to know where an outlet or USB ports are at all times. i dont even like carrying around the USB cable, but i have been consistently when i take my Pre to work. unacceptable!
2. no video recording. i find it less odd that Palm has not included a video recording app, than that Palm has not included a video recording app this time. Palm’s phones have had video recording for 4 or 5 years now and the function was appreciated. i’m hoping this will come along in an update, in fact i expect it to, but it’s even more confusing, as this was a major iPhone negative at the time the Pre was intro’d.
3. lack of IM clients. palm only allows for integrated messaging via text, AIM, and google chat. i don’t use much else, but many people do, and theyve been alienated a bit.
4. no visual voicemail. i’ve survived this long with out it but i’d love to have it. love as in have raw sex.
5. build quality leaves a little to be desired. the phone doesn’t feel like it’s about to fall apart, but the sliding mechanism has already gotten a bit wobbly, and it’s so light in the booty i feel like one good drop is going to send non-childsafe parts skittering everywhich way.
6. it’s a fingerpring magnet. i’m OCD about fingerprints on my stuff, and this is really starting to eat into my social life!
7. at the time of this blog’s writing, it’s my understanding that Palm hasn’t made provison for the Pre developers to use direct upload APIs, thereby making direct uploads to twitpic, flickr, and the like a distant dream.

i think that sums it up. i’ve stated more hates than likes (they’re actually dead even), but on the whole i really like the phone alot, and see a lot of potential for it, and for the webOS platform. iPhone killer, no. honestly nothing’s gonna really threaten the iPhone for along time; the OS has a dev community comparable with desktop computing, and they’ve been going at it for some time. as other companies’ hardware catches up with the iPhones, this will continue to be what separate the iPhone from the pack. additionally, Apple has had the luxury of being complete assholes about what software makes the cut for the app store, with draconian approval policies and refusal to allow sideloading/homebrew, but that pressure will continue to build as other phones with extremely capable OSes reach the market and allow developers to really spread their wings. how Palm manages their own app catalog will be an interesting thing to watch, and could allow for some parity across platforms.

all in all, i give the Pre an 88% grade. tremendous step in the right direction for Palm (and sprint, for that matter) but definitely room for improvement.

_NI MASCHINE//PETE ON JIMI.

so i got the heads up via the homie Rob Viktum about one of Native Instrument’s newest additions to their already ridiculous line up of music production products: MASCHINE.

this could quite possibly be the culmination of my best-of-both-worlds wetdreams manifested real time yo.

(pic & screenshot via CDM)

simply put, this could be the answer to many a producer’s prayers. the attempt at seamless integreation of hardware and software, a step sequencer and sampling. it looks amazing. $$$ willing, i will be FIRST in line to cop one this spring. 

it sorta bothers me because i’ve had loose blueprints for something like this in my head for about 2 years now, but had no idea who to approach to get the ball rolling. it doesn’t matter though, i’d rather be making beats. i love Native Instruments, they bring it every time, man.

i can’t wait for some hands on reviews. 

//

i just wanted to post this, because it’s often the most revealing when greatness can speak honestly and candidly on greatness. most of us never had the chance to see Jimi Hendrix live and rocking, so we’re stuck with the documentaries, the dusty concert footage and the youtubes. they do their part to echo the moments captured, but nothing like being there. 

i felt a little of what it was like reading this Pete Townshend piece Rolling Stone ran a while ago, talking about the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. 

 

 

1   Jimi Hendrix

by Pete Townshend

 

I feel sad for people who have to judge Jimi Hendrix on the basis of recordings and film alone, because in the flesh he was so extraordinary. He had a kind of alchemist’s ability; when he was on the stage, he changed. He physically changed. He became incredibly graceful and beautiful. It wasn’t just people taking LSD, though that was going on, there’s no question. But he had a power that almost sobered you up if you were on an acid trip. He was bigger than LSD.

 

What he played was fucking loud but also incredibly lyrical and expert. He managed to build this bridge between true blues guitar — the kind that Eric Clapton had been battling with for years and years — and modern sounds, the kind of Syd Barrett-meets-Townshend sound, the wall of screaming guitar sound that U2 popularized. He brought the two together brilliantly. And it was supported by a visual magic that obviously you won’t get if you just listen to the music. He did this thing where he would play a chord, and then he would sweep his left hand through the air in a curve, and it would almost take you away from the idea that there was a guitar player here and that the music was actually coming out of the end of his fingers. And then people say, “Well, you were obviously on drugs.” But I wasn’t, and I wasn’t drunk, either. I can just remember being taken over by this, and the images he was producing or evoking were naturally psychedelic in tone because we were surrounded by psychedelic graphics. All of the images that were around us at the time had this kind of echoey, acidy quality to them. The lighting in all the clubs was psychedelic and drippy.

 

He was dusty — he had cobwebs and dust all over him. He was a very unremarkable-looking guy with an old military jacket on that was pretty dirty. It looked like he’d maybe slept in it a few nights running. When he would walk toward the stage, nobody would really take much notice of him. But when he walked off, I saw him walk up to some of the most covetable women in the world. Hendrix would snap his fingers, and they followed him. Onstage, he was very erotic as well. To a man watching, he was erotic like Mick Jagger is erotic. It wasn’t “You know, I’d like to take that guy in the bathroom and fuck him.” It was a high form of eroticism, almost spiritual in quality. There was a sense of wanting to possess him and wanting to be a part of him, to know how he did what he did because he was so powerfully affecting. Johnny Rotten did it, Kurt Cobain did it. As a man, you wanted to be a part of Johnny Rotten’s gang, you wanted to be a part of Kurt Cobain’s gang.

 

He was shy and kind and sweet, and he was fucked up and insecure. If you were as lucky as I was, you’d spend a few hours with him after a gig and watch him descend out of this incredibly colorful, energized face. There was also something quite sad about watching him. There was a hedonism about him. Toward the end of his life, he seemed to be having fun, but maybe a little bit too much. It was happening to a lot of people, but it was sad to see it happen to him.

 

With Jimi, I didn’t have any envy. I never had any sense that I could ever come close. I remember feeling quite sorry for Eric, who thought that he might actually be able to emulate Jimi. I also felt sorry that he should think that he needed to. Because I thought Eric was wonderful anyway. Perhaps I make assumptions here that I shouldn’t, but it’s true. Once — I think it was at a gig Jimi played at the Scotch of St. James [in London] — Eric and I found ourselves holding each other’s hands. You know, what we were watching was so profoundly powerful.

 

The third or fourth time that I saw him, he was supporting the Who at the Saville Theatre. That was the first time I saw him set his guitar on fire. It didn’t do very much. He poured lighter fluid over the guitar and set fire to it, and then the next day he would be playing with a guitar that was a little bit charred. In fact, I remember teasing him, saying, “That’s not good enough — you need a proper flamethrower, it needs to be completely destroyed.” We started getting into an argument about destroying your guitar — if you’re going to do it, you have to do it properly. You have to break every little piece of the guitar, and then you have to give it away so it can’t be rebuilt. Only that is proper breaking your guitar. He was looking at me like I was fucking mad.

 

Trying to work out how he affected me at my ground zero, the fact is that I felt like I was robbed. I felt the Who were in some ways quite a silly little group, that they were indeed my art-school installation. They were constructed ideas and images and some cool little pop songs. Some of the music was good, but a lot of what the Who did was very tongue-in-cheek, or we reserved the right to pretend it was tongue-in-cheek if the audience laughed at it. The Who would always look like we didn’t really mean it, like it didn’t really matter. You know, you smash a guitar, you walk off and go, “Fuck it all. It’s all a load of tripe anyway.” That really was the beginning of that punk consciousness. And Jimi arrived with proper music.

 

He made the electric guitar beautiful. It had always been dangerous, it had always been able to evoke anger. If you go right back to the beginning of it, John Lee Hooker shoving a microphone into his guitar back in the 1940s, it made his guitar sound angry, impetuous, and dangerous. The guitar players who worked through the Fifties and with the early rock artists — James Burton, who worked with Ricky Nelson and the Everly Brothers, Steve Cropper with Booker T. — these Nashville-influenced players had a steely, flick-knife sound, really kind of spiky compared to the beautiful sound of the six-string acoustic being played in the background. In those great early Elvis songs, you hear Elvis himself playing guitar on songs like “Hound Dog,” and then you hear an electric guitar come in, and it’s not a pleasant sound. Early blues players, too — Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Albert King — they did it to hurt your ears. Jimi made it beautiful and made it OK to make it beautiful.