Palm Pre (US version) review

The Palm App Catalog is still in beta and will only have about a dozen titles at launch, including apps such as LinkedIn and Connect 4. We were able to download these programs quickly and without any problems.

We're disappointed by the sparse selection of apps. Palm released its Mojo SDK to a limited number of developers back in April 2009. Developers can apply for admission to the program now through Palm's developer site, but the company has not announced a public release yet. Palm has said it will reveal full details of the submission and approval process at a later date, but did say that, once apps are submitted, the company will review them and give final approval for inclusion in the App Catalog.

With the Pre's music player, you can swipe on the album covers to proceed through songs, although this isn't quite as slick as the iPhone's Cover Flow feature

Palm has touted the fact that developers can create apps based on standard HTML, CSS and JavaScript technologies as one of the advantages of webOS. Developers will be given access to the features of webOS, such as the notifications service, to use with their programs. We're sure the App Catalog will fill out in the coming months, but, at this point, Palm's got some serious catching up to do.

Legacy apps
For old Palm users, there's support for legacy apps through a third-party application from MotionApps called Classic. It is said to run a majority of the Palm OS apps, and MotionApps said it will publish a full list of compatible programs closer to launch. Classic will be available shortly after the Pre's release, but the company has not revealed a specific date or pricing, although a free, seven-day trial will be offered with download.

Apps that come preloaded on the smart phone include Google Maps, DataViz's DocView for viewing Word, Excel and PowerPoint files, a PDF viewer, a YouTube app, a memo pad, a task list, a calculator and a clock.

Call quality
Call quality is good. On our end, the audio was clear, with very little background noise. Voices sounded rich, and not tinny or digitised as on some phones. Our friends also reported good results and, more than once, said they were impressed with the audio quality. We didn't experience any dropped calls during our review period, and we had no problem checking on a flight's status using an airline's voice-automated system.

In addition to support for MPEG-4, H.263, and H.264 video formats, the Pre also comes with a dedicated YouTube app

When we used the speakerphone, it didn't surprise us that call quality diminished. Voices sounded slightly distant, and, in louder environments, you'll definitely need to have the volume set at the highest level. The problem then is that audio can sound blown-out.