On the cards
WebOS hasn’t changed greatly, which may have had something to do with HP’s decision to knock it on the head. It still has that neat trick with the cards – you push the screen up when you’re within an app and it reappears as a ‘card’ on the screen. You can then slide sideways to show other open apps as cards and group them together in associated functions. Press a card to go back into the app or push it up to close it altogether.
Intuitive layout
The Just Type element is a nice touch. Just start typing in the text bar at the top of the screen and the system will throw up a range of possible search options as you type – Google, maps, Wikipedia, Twitter, the HP Apps Catalog and a range of other options. It’s an intuitive and easy to use system and it will be a shame to see it go.
The processor has been beefed up from the already quite speedy 1GHz model to a 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon version. This is a fast phone, and opening apps happens very quickly indeed, even when you have a fistful of ‘cards’ running at once. Messaging has had a bit of thought put into it, as it will pull all your e-mails from various addresses into a single stream.
QuickOffice comes as standard as does a PDF viewer, so you can read, but not create, Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. There’s 16GB of memory on board though you can’t add to it with any kind of memory card. The battery has been beefed up from 1150mAh to 1230mAh but it’s still not outstanding, delivering around a day and a half of steady use.
The 5Mp snapper also captures 720p HD video
Pinch to zoom makes browsing a breeze and pages tend to render well on the screen. Fast access is assured too via 3G or Wi-Fi connection, which now includes 802.11n as well as b and g. Call quality was fine too, with no problems finding a signal and voices coming across loud and clear thanks to effective noise reduction technology.
Next page: Photo finish
COMMENTS
and once again
and once again, the short-termism inherent in a stock-market driven economy that only cares about quarterly results has grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory.
I am immensely saddened by the whole sorry fiasco
At least Leo is consistent!
He's ruined SAP before getting the boot, now he's going to do the same to HP. LOL That's what they get for firing Hurd. I mean I didn't necessary like Mark Hurd either, but at least he knew how to run a company. Now that I think about it, Leo is about par for the course as far as CEOs go. There's something wrong with them if they aren't running a company into the ground seems to be the general concensus among large companies.
Guess that's why so many get paid millions while the company they're managing go bankrupt.
Great phone :-)
I just wanted to say that the HP PRE 3 is one of my favourite phones to date. Being a long time PC and OS X/iPhone developer, I was a total Apple fanboy. When the HTC Desire arrived I thought I would get one to see how it compares to the iPhone. After a couple of days it went back in the box and sits in the cupboard. In the recent HP Touchpad fire sale, I managed to get hold of one. My wife uses my iPad so I wanted to get another tablet and the HP looked interesting. For some reason I just love WebOS and enjoy using the tablet so I thought I would go get a Pre 3 to see if it is just as good and I have not been disappointed yet. Now my wife has my iPhone 4, my 3GS is a backup phone and the Pre 3 is my pride and joy. Its fast, multi tasks and the card system is a joy to use.
Amazing phone especially for the price
Mine just arrived today. Had a Pre2 and Pre before that. What a shame HP couldn't give this phone a chance, it's really great.
I know there's some concern over the future of webOS BTW HP have promised to keep going full steam ahead on the software. If theyh can't find a licensee I expect them to abandon it quickly.
That said, and remember this phone is FREE even on a very cheap plan with Vodafone. There is no better 'out-of-the-box' smartphone available. Honestly it can run rings around the iPhone and Android. Even if it never gets another app published, it's still an incredibly productive phone. And on the current Voda deal just look what the alternatives are.
Skype works perfectly so far. Like so much else with webOS, you don't need an app. Just sign in to your account in er... accounts.
Did you guys mention the autofocus in the camera? And it does touch to focus also.
Skype is integrated
" There’s also another camera on the front for video calling, however, the promised Skype doesn’t seem to have appeared in the App Catalog."
The Skype is integrated into the phone app. It's rather slick actually.
Try adding a Skype account in the accounts preference app.
