With
the Pilot, Palm changed the way we work – now it is back with the Pre,
another rival to the iPhone. Is this make or break for the troubled
company?

"What they need to do, obviously, is build out their distribution in the US as well as abroad and revitalise the brand."

This
is true. But they also need to start making seriously beautiful and
user-friendly devices if they actually want to seriously compete
against Apple's iPhone. I agree about usability to some
extent, but then they also make some key strategic errors. With Apple,
people have complained about the lack of a camera in the iPod Touch -
with the new Palm Pixi the beef is with the lack of wifi. Why on earth
would you make a device that charges wirelessly, but decide to omit
wifi?! If a price comparison site did a straw poll - which would you
rather have in a new phone: wifi or wireless charging? - You know what
answer I'd get...

In the USA, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse was asked Is the Palm Pre making a dent into the iPhone market? He replied:

Aaah...
It's...it's doing well, but you can almost put the iPhone, to be fair,
in a separate category. The Apple brand and that device have done so
well, it's almost not... it's like comparing someone to Michael Jordan.

The Gizmodo staff responded in text:

"It is
exactly the same category. It's just that Apple owns the category. So
yes, you are right that the iPhone is like Michael Jordan, but the Palm
Pre plays in the NBA too. In any case, don't give up so soon. We—the
consumers—need the battle.

And of course they're
right. We do need the battle. Competition is good, and it drives
innovation. But Palm have been in the game much longer than Apple, and
they can do better than this...