Palm Pre review

Integration
Fortunately, the core applications themselves all work fantastically well. The device supports Microsoft Exchange email accounts, the usual POP3 and IMAP, as well as specific email services such as Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail, and adding accounts is as simple as pie.

We particularly like the integration between social networking, email and contacts apps. Despite the fact that these are all accessed separately in webOS, they’re able to share information: pictures of people you’re friends with in Facebook will turn up in your contacts list, and at the top of emails and messages received as well.

Contacts from different sources (Google, Facebook, Outlook and LinkedIn) are cleverly combined, but never merged, so if you need to remove an account related information can cleanly be extracted. Text messages, email and social-networking communications, meanwhile, can all be grouped under the contact they pertain to – in a kind of conversation view – while the calendar combines appointments from your Facebook, Outlook and Google accounts, all on one “layered” screen.

Browsing the web – that all-important activity – is a joy. The browser is webkit-based, just like that of the iPhone, and in conjunction with the Pre’s multitouch screen, web pages can be manipulated intuitively with a few well-chosen gestures. Most impressive, perhaps, is that following links rarely requires more than a single tap. It’s very easy to be accurate.

Palm’s rival to the iPhone App Store – the Appcatalog – again works well, but it’s early days and still lags far behind when it comes to choice. Elsewhere, there’s a smattering of useful tools and apps: including a YouTube video viewer, Dataviz Documents To Go, and Google Maps, and – naturally – a music and video player.

The touchscreen that gives access to all of this wizardry is fantastic. It’s 3.2in across with rounded corners – just like the cards that represent tasks – and since it’s capacitive you only need brush it with the tip of your finger to press a button, or lightly caress its surface to drag icons to and fro. Its accelerometer works well too, re-orientating the screen in an instant. The resolution – 320 x 480 – keeps things looking crisp and clean, and it’s as bright and vibrant as the iPhone’s display.