So Palm has announced their new smartphone, the Pre (see Engadget’s article).

I will lay my cards on the table here.  I’m a long term Treo 700p user.  Before that I used a 650.  Before that, a 180.  I am mostly satisfied with my 700p, or rather mostly satisfied with it in terms of when it was released: it could stand a few updates and upgrades.

I also run an MIS department that is migrating away from supporting Treos by force.  I see a lot of alleged smartphones up close.  Currently the Blackberry system is being shoved down our throats.  I have friends with iPhones (who doesn’t).

If I were in charge of making upgrades or changes to the 700p, here’s what I would do:

• use a stable linux OS that is not a great departure from the current one
• use a faster processor
• multitasking would be nice
• larger screen - make browsing less painful

I really don’t ask too much (at least I don’t think so).  The units that have come after the 700p have been laughable, to be polite.  Changing a few keys, the case, and making the antenna smaller are just plain silly.  Putting Windows on it is simply Game Over.

I have only seen a few articles on Palm’s new Pre but here are my thoughts:

• Palm granted my wish for a larger screen. I’m not crazy about touchscreens though.
• There is no memory card support.  This is insane.
• The keyboard is a slide out.  The keyboard slides out on the wrong edge, stupid.
• There is a new, linux-based OS.  That doesn’t support a single legacy app.
• Sprint will offer it in the first half of 2009.  I’m a Verizon customer.
• There will be an online app store, like Apple’s.
• Charged wirelessly by something called the Puck.
• None of the decisions are being made on a whim of Steve Jobs
• The output jack is 1/8″ stereo.  Yay!
  

Although there’s a lot of blue text above, I’m not completely counting the phone out.  Apparently a lot of people will own one long before I get to even look at it.

Good luck, Palm.  If this flops, it’s curtains.