Sprint Pre/Pixi Owners: You feeling burnt?
webOS has grown quite a bit since its launch last summer. The Pre debuted on Sprint to much anticipation and shortly after, the younger brother (sister?), Pixi was born. Then Palm sought out new carriers in Verizon and more recently AT&T with enhanced versions of their existing phones. This is great for Palm overall and great for new potential webOS customers, but when you stop to think about it, the original Sprint Pre and Pixi owners actually might have the short end of the stick here. Read on to hear my thoughts on the subject.
With the recent announcement that Verizon will be offering Mobile Hotspot usage free of charge to their Palm device customers, Pre Plus and Pixi Plus users on Big Red gain a heavy advantage over Sprint Pre users who don’t have access to the tethering app even if they wanted to pay for it (homebrew solutions not considered).
AT&T users who will soon have access to the Pre and Pixi Plus also gain a considerable advantage in the fact that their network has the capability to run voice and data simultaneously. To me, this is a great way to take full advantage of the multitasking power that webOS provides. All those iPhone commercials that brag about being able to be on a call and check movie times, or downloading/playing 3D games while on hold, the Pre Plus will be able to do all of that and multitask on top of it all.
Both Verizon and ATT users not only enjoy added “bonuses” from their networks, but they also have access to the more powerful Pre Plus and the WiFi capable Pixi Plus. As a Sprint Pre user since day one, I am proud of the fact that I was part of the early adoption process and was able to watch and be a part of the growth of the platform. But on the other hand I’m starting to wonder when Palm will give back some love to the customer base that was there when webOS was first born.
webOS is superior to Android for a number of reasons, but with the announcement of the HTC EVO 4G on Sprint some time this summer, the Pre is, in my opinion, no longer the powerhouse flagship phone for Sprint. I feel that Palm needs to really pull out all the stops on their next device and show some love to the Sprint users who were there from the beginning. Give us a nice, big screen with a higher resolution. Give us a higher megapixel camera with auto-focus. Give us a digital compass for augmented reality apps. Give us 4G. Give us a real heavy hitter of a phone and I feel that a lot of people will be quite happy.
