Palm Eos - the Next GSM WebOS Phone?

That 320x400 screen resolution is really bizarre and could end up being a problem for developers and bring about a repeat performance of the old Garnet days. The only way I can rationalize it is if they wanted to drop a few pixels to compensate for the smaller screen size (look at PC display manufacturers switching to 16:10 to 16:9 for cost-cutting reasons).

2.63" is NOT that big (many digcams nowadays have larger screens) and WebOS seems to scale better to physical larger screens with higher resolutions. After the better part of a decade with the same old cruddy 320x320, Palm should lay down the law and have nothing less than 320x480 on any future device.

Also, there seems to be an enormous amount of wasted space around the click button here that could be better utilized for a larger screen. I'd much rather see them move the click button (since it's not a trackball or a d-pad) to the side or top panel of the device to give as much space as possible to the screen and keyboard. I hated the BB Storm in the very brief time I had it, but there is no disputing the lovely screen (360x480).

And 4GB? That's a pittance nowadays. I bought a Class 6 4gbSDHC card a few months ago for something like $6 or $7 shipped.

Now, if they can bring this thing in at $100 or $150 at the high end, and eventually reach Centro-like $50 or "free" price levels then it might do reasonably well. But I don't see nearly as much of the "wow" factor here that we saw on the Pre. So is this the reason Sprint passed on the Treo Pro?

And the earlier comments about this being the "cheap" device now makes me reconsider the Pre being the "premium" device with a pricetag to match unless Sprint decides to heavily subsidize the Pre.
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->?

erazer wrote:
a Treo-like form factor (which has become the defacto industry standard for good reason)

Oh really? You should go tell all of those companies making touchscreen-centric devices. I don't think they got that memo.

-Bosco
m105 -> NX70v -> NX80v -> iPhone -> iPhone 3G

Let me restate my point of contention: The area round the button, also known as the "gesture area" seems unnecessarily large.

P.S. Radio/network/carrier/availability aside, which formfactor does Mr. Cane find more appealing--the Pre slider or the candybar Eos?
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->?

http://www.vw.com/eos/en/us/

I'm finding the low-level buzz about devices on Verizon next year from Palm, Apple and even Microsoft somewhat promising.

We never track back and evaluate predictions after stuff hits, but fall behind on your podcasts, and you'll hear authorities announcing the Pre will be out by 3/15/09 on Sprint.

So, the only thing I see is a 'trend' and Big Red doesn't like to be behind trends....(and the ballyhoo over their Blackberry Storm has clearly abated).