Palm Pre vs Apple iPhone

I am developing a fascination towards the smart phones and began to dig out which one to choose.

Palm and iPhone pleased me because of the following reasons but am still in dilemma in choosing one of them.

I have found some interesting differences between these two smart toys, here you go:

Palm has bet the farm on an iPhone competitor and Apple has responded with some attractive improvements to the iPhone 3G. It’s pretty well known what both phones can do. They can make phone calls (most of the time), manage a calendar and contacts, provide access to the Internet, and run third party apps but here’s a list of things that one phone does or has and the other phone doesn’t.

1. Keyboard:

The Pre has a physical keyboard that slides out from underneath the phone. The iPhone has a software keyboard that many people complain about. Apple’s phone has a more comprehensive keyboard type-ahead library than the Pre. Apple’s “soft” keyboard can be configured for different languages. Despite criticisms of the Pre’s keyboard for being cramped and “gummy,” feeling there is no substitute for a real keyboard however, the consensus is Blackberry’s keyboard is still king.

2. Screen size:

Apple’s screen is made of glass, Pre’s screen is plastic. Plastic can scratch and glass can break but they usually don’t. The iPhone screen is slightly bigger (3.5 inch to Pre’s 3.1 inch) but both offer the same resolution (480 x 320). Reviewers say both screens look great. Palm Pre’s smaller screen and phone size makes the phone a better fit for most pockets.

3. Applications:

Palm has lot of catching up to do in the third party apps department. Apple boasts 40,000 apps compared to a mere handful in the Palm App Catalog.

4. Removable Battery:

The Palm Pre has a removable battery and a cool inductive charger. Apple claims the battery in the new iPhone 3G S has a much longer life but there’s no substitute for being able to carry a spare battery in your bag. A Pre battery goes for around $50.

5. Voice and Data:

The iPhone on AT&T will allow you to talk on the phone while you use the 3G network for email or other data tasks. On the Palm Pre Sprint phone you can do one or the other. For data tasks while you are talking on the Pre phone, you’ll need to use WiFi and in UAE,  Etisalat and Du are the only subscribers.

6. Multitasking:

Despite the fact that Apple will add push capability to the iPhone you still can’t run more than one app simultaneously on the iPhone. Reviewers of the Pre all rave about how convenient it is to run many apps but note it’s easy to use up Pre memory fast and having more open apps can cut down on battery life.

7. Video Recording:

The Pre doesn’t support video. The new iPhone 3G S is a veritable camcorder and video editor in a phone. We wonder how easy it will be to use up the internal memory with 30fps VGA video and how it will affect battery life but the new iPhone wins in the video department. On the other hand the Palm Pre has an LED flash for its camera.

8. Voice Control:

The new iPhone 3G S has built-in voice control for making calls or controlling iTunes. The Palm Pre doesn’t have a voice dialing application (yet).