No HP Pre3 for Sprint...

[Sheep]

Links:

http://thisismynext.com/2011/07/08/exclusive-pre-3-not-coming-sprint/
http://www.precentral.net/pre3-probably-isn-t-coming-sprint-we-know-it-hurts-1

That's a steel-toed kick in the balls for all the original Pre owners who were patiently awaiting a new webOS phone. I can't say this surprises me in any way, though, considering Sprint seems to have hopped aboard the Android train with quite a bit of success. Given webOS' paltry userbase, Sprint has to be assuming the number of people jumping ship to another carrier solely for webOS won't be significant at this point and that a decent chunk will just get an Android or WP7 phone rather than going to a higher-priced carrier with tiered data plans.

So where will the Pre3 show up? If Verizon still has sour grapes over the Pre2, HP's in for a world of hurt if the only U.S. carrier for their phones is AT&T. They don't have Apple's mojo to be pulling off success on a single carrier.

 

[Bateluer]

That ain't good news for WebOS, so long as HP remains so sole producer of WebOS devices. Although, I wonder if they could capitalize on the rush of 'Me too!' BS patent lawsuits against Android handset makers by sourcing out WebOS and allowing Moto, HTC, Samsung, etc to make WebOS devices?

 

[zerocool84]

I'm sure it'll go to Sprint eventually. Just like other phones, they make gsm versions first and then cdma versions come out at a later time. Even the article says there is no evidence to say it ISN'T going to Sprint.

 

[MrX8503]

WebOS is sweet, I just don't understand why the phone hardware sucks.

 

[Sheep]

I'm sure it'll go to Sprint eventually. Just like other phones, they make gsm versions first and then cdma versions come out at a later time. Even the article says there is no evidence to say it ISN'T going to Sprint.

The original Palm Pre bucked the GSM-first trend and was released first on Sprint; I've read estimates that 60-70% of the webOS userbase is on Sprint. Sprint Pre owners are due for their upgrades and have zero options if they want a webOS phone--good for Google and Microsoft but very bad for HP. The subar Pre hardware has to be on its last legs for a not insignificant portion of those users.

But maybe this is just another opportunity for HP to use their infamous "in the coming months" line. A delay in getting their new phones out there is the LAST thing they need considering the cutthroat competition.

 

[boomhower]

This is going to hurt HP's WebOS plans pretty bad, I can't believe they couldn't work something out.

 

[kaerflog]

HP, just like Palm got some pretty bad engineers.
Their webOS phones are so damm ugly.

 

[Slick5150]

My "Frankenpre +" is dying, and as much as I REALLY don't want to leave WebOS, I just pulled the trigger and ordered an HTC Arrive. I saw there are ways to get WP7 Mango onto the phone now, so I'm looking forward to playing around with that as I already like WP7 and the Mango update adds some key WebOS features to that OS (multitasking being the key one).

So, hopefully I'll be back on a WebOS phone one of these days, but for now, I'm giving WP7 a try.

 

[TheStu]

I really want to try a WebOS phone (not activate it, just have to play with) but the two things holding me back are the screen size (and people complain about the iPhone being too small!) and the lack of software keyboard. I cannot stand little nubby plastic keys, never have been able to use them. T9 is fine, I was a fiend with that back in pre-smartphone days, but BB/Palm style qwertys are a no go for me.

 

[Trader05]

My "Frankenpre +" is dying, and as much as I REALLY don't want to leave WebOS, I just pulled the trigger and ordered an HTC Arrive. I saw there are ways to get WP7 Mango onto the phone now, so I'm looking forward to playing around with that as I already like WP7 and the Mango update adds some key WebOS features to that OS (multitasking being the key one).

So, hopefully I'll be back on a WebOS phone one of these days, but for now, I'm giving WP7 a try.

I did the same thing before my early upgrade got cut in April and my Sprint Pre was dying. I liked the Arrive, once you get it you'll notice the build quality is ridiculously better than the Palm builds, the OS is good but I missed notifications and multitasking (non-mango version). Eventually I jumped boat to ATT, sold the Arrive and now have a Veer until the Pre3 comes out. Sprint service at my job was horrible, I had to go outside to get a clear conversation. That itself was worth the ~$10 monthly premium over Sprint. The Arrive is a little heavy and bulky, I noticed I used the onscreen keyboard more than the physical (I originally was totally against onscreen keyboards, but its very good after little practice). The main thing I missed about the Arrive/WP7 was some the apps, zune music app is lightyears better than anything HP/Palm has, and most importantly the battery life. I just picked up a cheap Samsung Focus off ebay to play around with it and hopefully a Mango update comes to in the future.

I already knew this was coming from Sprint. Sprint needs customers, why would they spend money on one of the lowest mobile OS marketshares? In my opinion they'd do a hell of a lot better wasting tons time, money and effort to get an iPhone.

 

[boomhower]

I really want to try a WebOS phone (not activate it, just have to play with) but the two things holding me back are the screen size (and people complain about the iPhone being too small!) and the lack of software keyboard. I cannot stand little nubby plastic keys, never have been able to use them. T9 is fine, I was a fiend with that back in pre-smartphone days, but BB/Palm style qwertys are a no go for me.

Get your hands on one and try it, it's a small keyboard but in use it's really not that bad. I had one for a few months and really didn't have any qualms about the keyboard other than no software keyboard available.