Palm Gives Howard Stern Private Pre Demo

Posted By: Ryan Kairer Saturday, April 4, 2009 1:31:51 PM

Howard Stern Palm PreSometime this week, Palm flew out a PR team to give celebrity US radio personality Howard Stern a private one-hour demo of the Palm Pre phone. Despite the fact that Palm's won't let journalists handle the device in a controlled environment, Palm seems eager to recruit more free publicity faced with declining revenue in advance of the Pre product launch.

ZDNet's Editor in Chief, Larry Dignan reported earlier this week on the developments:

"They're going to show me the Pre and then take it away. They're trying to build excitement for this thing. If people don't buy this I don't see how Palm keeps going," said Stern. It should be noted that Stern is getting better access than the press has recieved to date with the Pre.

The private demo seems to have come about when Palm's head of PR, Lynn Fox, called into the show to pitch the Pre live on air. One of Stern's staff had heard of the device from CES and remarks "It's gotten a lot of hype and I don't want to turn this into an ad for the Palm Pre." You can listen to a recording of the clip here:


Audio clip c/o PreCentral.

Subsequent talks seem to have lead to some results. Not only is Stern getting the private in home demo, but he has also been talking about the device on his show this past week and will surely mention it often again following the exclusive demo.

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Maybe he'll convince them to add video recording...

freakout @ 4/4/2009 3:41:09 PM # Q
...seriously. Why is video recording not a feature? What's so hard about it?
RE: Maybe he'll convince them to add video recording...
Ecoteric @ 4/4/2009 5:07:10 PM # Q
It's just a software issue. They may have to hire a third party developer to create the video capture software. I think they are working on that.
RE: Maybe he'll convince them to add video recording...
freakout @ 4/4/2009 6:09:44 PM # Q
It may be a software issue, but I don't understand why they'd need to farm it out to a third party - after all, they certainly managed to put their own camcorder app on the Treo & Centro. Why not on Pre?
RE: Maybe he'll convince them to add video recording...
jca666us @ 4/4/2009 7:08:04 PM # Q
Doubtful Stern is looking for video recording - from what's been said on his show, he wants a blackberry and iphone combined.

Howard did stress that he is being shown a prototype - if he's sold on the Pre, we'll hear about it on Monday.

RE: Maybe he'll convince them to add video recording...
SeldomVisitor @ 4/5/2009 4:47:29 AM # Q
It could be a software issue - unlikely.

It could be a battery issue.

It could be an interference issue where video recording interferes with, say, phone answering or asynchronous event recognition or multitasking...or...or...

It could be a multitude of things.

A plain old "software issue" ala "They can't figure it out" is unlikely.

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You Can't Come

freakout @ 4/4/2009 5:34:30 PM # Q
As Michael Mace noted back in January, this all smacks of another tech company:

http://mobileopportunity.blogspot.com/2009/01/palm-pre-think-similar.html

But there was a short line outside Palm's room.... somebody was screening the cards and pulling out anyone whose name they recognized. That was the first sign that I was dealing with a different company - although the old Palm was pretty well organized, that level of attention to detail would have been unusual....

The second difference came when we entered the room itself.... It felt like a technology harem.

I don't think the old Palm would have decorated quite like that, let alone shell out that much money for exhibit space in a time of layoffs and financial stress...

...Very un-Palm-like. More like boutique Apple without the rock star CEO.

Three months out, and it's starting to get a little old.

Then again, Pre hype is still at surprisingly high levels; the whole thing actually reminds me of the South Park episode Cartmanland ( http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/506/ ), where Cartman dreams up a brilliant marketing strategy that makes his newly-acquired personal theme park more popular than ever:

[In a TV commercial] Hey everybody, check out the all new Cartmanland! It's our gra-hand opening! Cartmanland has over a hundred fabulous rides, six rollercoasters, and tons of great surprises! And the best part is... you can't come! That's right, because at Cartmanland, only I, Eric Cartman, can get in. That means only I can ride the all-new Tornado Twister, a rollercoaster that splashes in the water. Wow! It's the greatest amusement park in the Colorado area, and nobody can go! Especially Stan and Kyle! Hahaha! So come on down to Cartmanland now, but don't plan on getting past the parking lot, 'cause remember:

[singing]
So much to do at Cartmanland
But you can't come!...
especially you Stan and Kyle.

Worked for Cartman. Seems to be working for Palm... mostly.
Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 -> Treo 650 -> Treo 680 -> Centro

RE: You Can't Come
twrock @ 4/4/2009 6:54:17 PM # Q
From that same Mace blog post:
What to do if you're a user

Wait.

We'll learn tons more about the Pre as it gets closer to shipping. Apple's undoubtedly working on new iPhone products (I'm betting on a smaller device, like a Nano version of the iPhone), RIM's getting the Storm debugged, Nokia is finishing the N97, and there are rumored to be more Android devices coming.* If you're thinking about getting a smartphone, you're going to have a great selection later this year. Hold out until you understand more about your choices.

__________

*There are probably some more Windows Mobile products coming too, but does anyone care any more?

(I just had to include that note in there.) ;-)

"Wait." What a simple word. So "un-American."

Disclaimer: I am employed by Palm, Inc.
(or not)

RE: You Can't Come
mikecane @ 4/5/2009 5:48:09 PM # Q
>>>"Wait." What a simple word. So "un-American."

Which "American" do you mean?

RE: You Can't Come
twrock @ 4/7/2009 3:13:40 AM # Q
mikecane wrote:
Which "American" do you mean?

You, Mike. ;-)

No, I don't know if that's you or not. But you haven't noticed that our culture has a problem when it comes to having to wait for anything? We want everything NOW!

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?

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And puprportedly chose the Bold, instead

SeldomVisitor @ 4/6/2009 4:41:13 AM # Q
http://discussion.treocentral.com/palm-pre/178400-howard-stern-has-gone-t-bold-not-hangin-out-pre.html

[note - I am not a fan of his - never heard/saw one show. As such, I have no actual idea what he did; for all I know he has a Pre now. The poster linked above, however, apparently is and says what the Subject says]

RE: And puprportedly chose the Bold, instead
jca666us @ 4/6/2009 4:50:21 AM # Q
unfortunate if true - most likely - based on his comments - a timing issue - as he needs a new phone now.
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Update: Stern Picks the BlackBerry Bold

Ryan @ 4/6/2009 9:21:41 AM # Q
Despite his PR pre-view, Stern has decided to go with a BlackBerry Bold as his next phone:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=15797

RE: Update: Stern Picks the BlackBerry Bold
hkklife @ 4/6/2009 1:38:13 PM # Q
Palm's obsession with fawning over B & C-grade celebrities instead of REAL users giving ACTUAL feedback about the REAL world is going to come back to haunt them. Just like not letting members of the press (especially Palm-centric sites like PIC, TC, etc) have an early hands-on of the device in order to generate positive buzz.

You see, celebs change devices on a daily basis and/or have personal assistants to fumble with spare battery/spare phones. A celeb wouldn't admonish Palm for omitting a microSDHC slot or going with a pitifully undersized battery. It's almost painful watching Palm going through the mechanizations of trying so hard to be hip & trendy. But pandering to celebrities = cheap/free exposure and that's all that Palm really cares about right now.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?

RE: Update: Stern Picks the BlackBerry Bold
SeldomVisitor @ 4/6/2009 3:38:52 PM # Q
The Pre has not been given to anyone for first-person hands-on testing for very real reasons.

Bet on it.

RE: Update: Stern Picks the BlackBerry Bold
jca666us @ 4/6/2009 3:56:28 PM # Q
hkk,

I listened to Stern's comments this morning regarding why he went with the BlackBerry over the Pre and Iphone. While I agree Palm shouldn't be courting celebrities, Stern sounded like a typical user.

What he looked at were (for him) fundamentals: Notes compatibility, a "real" keyboard, and video recording. He felt the blackberry's keyboard was the easiest to type on.

What also impressed him was the blackberry app. store.

He did mention that the Pre supported Notes, but that you had to download and install additional software and that, as a user, he wants it to just work.

Palm would have been better served developing webos to address the fundamental needs of users - right now it seems like they're over-reaching a bit.


RE: Update: Stern Picks the BlackBerry Bold
mikecane @ 4/6/2009 6:20:33 PM # Q
>>>The Pre has not been given to anyone for first-person hands-on testing for very real reasons.

Yeah, because AS I HAVE BEEN SAYING, it's not finished yet.

And your point exactly is what, eejit?

RE: Update: Stern Picks the BlackBerry Bold
joad @ 4/9/2009 8:21:51 AM # M Q
So Palm is dissing real journalists, sucking up to shock jocks for free PR to the "hip" crowd. The fact Stern said the Blackberry is easier to type on than the Pre doesn't sound good - in my experience the BB keyboard is garbage compared to the Treo...

As usual, Palm will get feedback from nobody that matters until release - THEN the beta testing will start and the flaws will be obvious. Leopards don't change their spots.....

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