Leaked AT&T training docs point out Palm Pre's flaws

AT&T is taking the upcoming Palm Pre’s launch quite seriously. With hype building to a frenzied level, and nearly every mobile enthusiast foaming at the mouth to put hands on the multi-tasking, WebOS-toting Palm Pre, it makes sense that AT&T is a little nervous. AT&T is so concerned, in fact, that the No. 2 US wireless carrier has started distributing a Palm Pre-bashing comparison chart to its employees. The internal AT&T document pits the iPhone 3G and Palm Pre side-by-side, dinging the Pre for its lack of world-roaming support (the Pre is a CDMA-only handset) and single color offering (Black).

When Verizon Wireless launched the BlackBerry Storm as an iPhone-fighting BlackBerry-equivalent, AT&T was quick to distribute comparison documents that showed why the iPhone was a better choice. This time around, AT&T wants to nip the Palm Pre’s launch right in the bud, giving employees a few talking points on why the iPhone 3G (and presumably the new iPhone) is a better buy than the Palm Pre.

AT&T undermines the Palm Pre by pointing out that the Pre won’t be able to make use of AT&T’s 17,000 hotspot-strong WiFi network in the US. The Palm Pre has an “Unproven App Catalog app store.” The Palm Pre is thicker and sports a plastic casing with a smaller touchscreen display. Of course, AT&T makes no mention of the fact that the Palm Pre can multi-task until the cows come home, features a hard-keyboard, allows for gesture-controls and even does the dishes. Okay, that last one was made up.

The Palm Pre may not overtake the iPhone, but it’s good to see the mighty AT&T quivering in their boots. The only question is – will Palm offer a GSM Palm Pre, possibly on AT&T? Palm would have to survive past 2010 to make that happen…

[Via: PreCentral]

About The Author

Will Park

Will hails from The City of Angels - Los Angeles, California. He spends his time playing with his numerous gadgets and looking forward to seeing what future holds for mobile technology. An avid promoter of a fully "digital" life, he promotes the widespread adoption of truly mobile, paper-less living. He dreams of the day when he can go completely digital. No more snail mail, paper receipts, bound books, notepads/spiral notebooks, credit cards, hard currency. He's a digital warrior - fighting for the converged life. He is an idealist and a realist - he has a perfect view of what the world should be but knows that the world is not perfect. Can we ever hope to see Will's dream become reality? We'll see...

oneAwake

At&t is clearly worried about the Pre, At&t also forgot to mention:

The Palm Pre offers

1) Multi-taking
2) Synergy
3) Faster network
4) At&t customers need wifi to supplement their spotty network. In contrast, Sprint customers have the privilege of the fastest 3G network, no wifi needed. Wifi is only as fast as the DSL/Cable connection it uses. If a hotspot has 40 users, the wifi connection will be slug slow.
5) Physical keyboard
6) Wireless charging

The list goes on, also, 205 countries?… Someone flunked Geography. To my understanding, 60% of US mobile phone users who travel abroad, go to locations which have CDMA signals, i.e, China, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, etc. Lastly, A sprint customer will save at least $20, $40 a month on their service as opposed to an At&t customer.
DgW

Don’t forget. The Pre is 4G READY.
Joel

I’m very disappointed that Palm will not be releasing an ATT compatible version of the Pre any time soon. AT&T should should work with Palm to get its products onto their network instead of dissing the phone. Why not expand the options for your customers instead of limiting them?

Once I heard, read and saw videos about the Pre (running linux! support for legacy PalmOS apps!) I decided to pass on the iPhone, but then I found out that the Pre is Sprint only.

Sprint has terrible coverage in Rural California, so I either have to wait for the AT&T Pre, or get an IPhone.

I love PalmOS & the new WebOS looks really cool, but Sprint coverage is terrible (at least in unincorporated areas of California such as West Marin County and the San Lorenzo Valley).

AT&T on the other hand has great coverage.

– Joel
Kyle

Go AT&T….. lol…. the pre auto synchs to itunes JUST like an ipod….