Alongside its unveiling of the new iPhone today at the WWDC keynote in San Francisco, Apple also unveiled a secret weapon in its quest to dominate the smartphone market: A cheaper iPhone.
This new iPhone will be the iPhone 3G. While the newly released iPhone 3G S will offer more storage, and presumably a faster processor, more RAM and faster download speeds, this iPhone will have the same specs as the last one. But what you get for this is one hell of a price: $99.
This undercuts the price of the current iPhone models by $100 and more importantly, also undercuts the cost of the Palm Pre by that amount (and even more without the Pre’s $100 mail-in rebate). $99 is a very nice sweet spot for a device that remember, will also have a access to the App Store’s over 50,000 apps.
This $99 iPhone will be on sale starting today.
Yeah, $99 is great if I want to switch to AT&T.
Why can’t they just sell the damn device without a carrier? *grumble*
wouldn’t that be a ipod touch? hehe
Amen. AT&T is the barrier for me.
same here
You’re so right. Imagine buying the phone of u’r choice and at the same time no 2 year plan. What a consept. Customer get’s to select the carrier of choice and the carrier has to prove itself to the customer if they want the customer to stay.
If we get lucky the tables will soon turn against some of these telecoms. These bad boys are so overpriced!!!
“u’r”
“consept”
“get’s”
Are you serious?
Do you realise how much they would cost?
Integration with a network, though I hate it, ensures for maximum compatibility with that network for the phone’s users. AT&T is the exception, however, to this rule.
Move to Asia…
But here in the states the carriers are paying a premium to the phone companies to have exclusive rights to certain phones. Until the phone companies believe that they are losing money by selling exclusive rights, then no change…
AT&T wants a horde of mindless zombies, namely Apple fanboys, to monitor. I do believe they like to monitor what people do, without anyone knowing it.
Do you live in fear of black helicopters and think everyone on the street is talking about you?
That’s always the cop-out, right? God forbid if anyone strays from the Borg collective, they should be annialated…or at least ridiculed.
Plato’s Cave < you might want to look into it
Why Hello Pot, Have You Met Mr. Kettle?
Hey MG stop being a fucking iDiot. To my understanding they are still selling the 3G which is the same as the old one for $99.00 dollars, while the 3GS which is the new one they are selling for 199.00… perhaps i am wrong but by what i have been reading, it is the same old Iphone 3G, not with the new camera, not a faster processor, not more ram. Now if this is indeed a 3GS 8GB then why name it 3G if it does have faster processor? but obviously a fanboy to your core… pathetic.
nick, obviously one of the following types of pathetic fanboys…
1. Microsoft fanboy
2. The Palm Version of the iPhone fanboy
3. The Blackberry Version of the iPhone fanboy
4. Jerry Seinfeld fanboy
I’m still rockin’ my RAZR boi. Eat your heart out.
http://www.yout...h?v=IsV-lgnAjps
That was Classic!!! thanks for posting that! Sorry Mike…
Can I respond to you both by saying “GROW UP” and the same goes for the people who can’t spell properly (the typo error excuse only goes so far, go back to school)
In the mean time, I’d also like to say “fuck that for a game of soldiers!” Apple have got an exclusive deal with the O2 network here in the UK, and some of my Jones-boys friends (i.e. our local “keeping up with the…” crowd) are moaning like sheep, yet still following?
In France, it is illegal for the carriers to do that…
From what I’ve read and viewed about the Palm Pre, it looks like a pretty funky little handset, but I’m still gonna stay with Nokia because overall they make better handsets (IMHO) and easier to unlock and far more compact and functional.
Call me a “fan boy” if you like. I don’t care, just think they’re BETTER….
French prices for a 8Gb Iphone 3G :
SFR > 99 € (but they offer you the 1st two month of you plan … kinda free Iphone)
Bouygues > 89 €
Orange > 99€
Really hope you guys will get rid of the exclusives deals
they can and do. do a search – you can find plenty of places willing to sell you a factory unlocked iphone. of course, it’s not cheap .
Even for 99 bucks the cheaper iPhone is a waste of money simply due to AT&T. They will gain some market share, due to the lower price point, but I guarantee the churn rate is going to be huge since most people are used to better coverage and less outages than AT&T (even though they charge just as much). More corporate users (not consumer) will stay with or migrate over to the BB or possibly the Palm Pre.
you can always buy an unlock one on the black market. ie ebay
$99 is really an amazing prize but Apple should not force to select the carrier :-/
http://www.smartbloggerz.com
So, Apple shouldn’t force people to select the carrier… like how Palm is forcing people to select Sprint to buy the Pre??
You’re right though — $99 is an amazing price for what is essentially a handheld computer that can run 50,000 different software applications…
Tony Please… out of all those 50,000 “Software” as you call them, perhaps only 1,000 are useful
1000 are useful to 1 person, another 1000 useful to somebody different… customization… the true innovation of the iPhone. I wish the carrier was as customizable…
I’d say just 100 are truly useful.
The thing is though, everyone’s 100 collection is different than other’s.
this video is a good take on the pre vs iphone http://www.yout...h?v=IsV-lgnAjps
You can always have one at http://www.unlockmyiphone.com
fanboy
I am switching carriers. This price will for sure drive market share.
Anyone know can I use this US purchased Iphone in Taiwan?
Yes you can.
I just switched the other way because, despite the lower cost of the iPhone hardware, AT&T is about $30/month more per line than Sprint. Over the course of the contract, that’s more than $700.
No matter how cheap the iPhone is up front, AT&T definitely gouges you on the back-end, and the coverage is not even that great.
I’ve got the first generation iphone. Time to upgrade!!!
Same here!
This price will for sure drive market shares for Apple. I am switching today.
Anyone knows if this US purchased IPhone works in Taiwan?
I’m pretty sure through at&t you could get a referb iphone for $99. Nothing special here. Nice try apple.
Some people…
Now what do I do with my current iPhone 3G?
paperweight?
Flashlight.
Thanks for covering everything so well, MG. So much good news to process in such a short amount of time!
You wrote “sweat spot” for the $99 iphone – freudian slip?
Just sayin’.
I see a new 15″ macbook pro and a shiny new iphone in my immediate future!
ha ha yeah yeah working fast here. fixed. thx.
good article this
What’s current monthly fee with AT&T? Anyone know?
Too much.
actually I pay less for my plan with an iphone than I did when I had a samsung blackjack
bs….you screw up even when you’re not working fast.
you should use google wave auto-fix translate once it’s working
Hey aren’t you the guy who founded gamespy? I have fond memories of the old quake scene and remember watching this little site covering quake news called planetquake expand into this huge gaming website empire that it is now.
If the iPhone sold for $99 in India, thats the only phone that the entire country would use…
Yeah… right…come back after airtell asks you to pay minimum of $100 every month for two years with that $99 price…
Does anyone even still use the first generation iPhone? If yes…$99 is cheap enough so go get one.
Yup. Read too many bad things about AT&T’s shitty 3G network. Edge is slow but at least it works.
hopefully you’re joking. even slow 3G is better than Edge. And you do realize that if 3G isn’t available it reverts to Edge?
Well, there is another thing, data plan for original iphone with unlimited sms is still $20/month. I am still not convinced that upgrading is worth it. I am mostly in wi-fi friendly zone, and when I am not, I can live with edge speeds. Normally I am not streaming videos while in NYC subway. Not to mention that only verizon works in NYC subway.
Btw. MG Siegler, I don’t think you have it in you to resist upgrading
No matter the news, AT&T may add clause to service agreement to reserve right not to let you change carriers ever, and you would still not be able to resist getting the new iphone 
Nonsense. Unless you’re in some kind of a dead-air zone or in some village or something, AT&T 3G is working well most of the time. It never falls to EDGE for me.
AT&T jacked up prices for iPhone service when the 3G came out. For the same number of minutes and messages, a 3G is $15 more per month. That’s a pretty good reason to ride out the rest of your contract on an old Silverback 2G. Also, if you don’t use data much, or you are always around Wi-Fi, the 3G really doesn’t offer any benefit.
can you twitter on the new iphone?
of course you can
I think he was being sarcastic about TwitterCrunch.
The $100 iPhone is here. Yeah! But when Claro(the co. with the exclusive distributorship) offers it here in Jamaica..how much will it retail for? Bcuz their current iPhone prices and packages suck! Which is why Jamaica is still Blackberry country.
I’m wondering if Claro is even aware of the price changes and upgrade at this point
retard fanboy. open your eyes.
hate much?
very much
Nevermind that AT&T plan is STILL way more expensive than other alternatives.
Exactly. The affordability of the handset isn’t the problem for 99%. It’s the $70 minimum monthly contract for two years. That’s what is slowing uptake.
and what would be a fair price in your mind? Let me guess…free? 0.99? $70 for a decent # of minutes and ‘unlimited’ data seems fair enough.
Really? Please find me a cell phone plan that costs less than $50/mo! Please, that would be awesome. Any non-prepaid/non-pay-as-you-go plan costs a minimum of $45 from any carrier. Slap $15 fee for data plans for smart phones, and you’re at $60. Want to avoid getting $100 monthly bills because you’re friends send you text messages all day long? add another $10/mo for unlimited txt. $70, from any carrier. period. Every US carrier has the exact same rates as each other, there really is no differences when you’re comparing smart phone plans.
Huh? Not true at all. I’m at $65/month with tmobile (G1 data plan). No unlimited txt, but 400 free is more than enough.
I’m at 35/mo on a shared plan; no internet but I do have 1000 text messages which is more than enough. It’s an old plan that I’ve stayed with for a long time. I’ll switch when I’m ready but the thing that people don’t seem to understand is that there is no ‘deal’ in carrier plans. With time they will only get more and more expensive, not cheaper. Sticking with what you have is the best thing you can do instead of jumping around constantly, at least then your price is locked.
Thanks for the blog broadcast from the conference today in San Fran TechCrunch. You guys did a great job!
As great as that price point sounds, it is going to disappoint a lot of people once they use the iPhone. The service is just plain awful using AT&T and even though that is a separate issue from the product it still brings down the user experience. The people who were willing to pay the higher price really wanted the phone and all the apps. Most of those people deal with the service issues because of the usefulness of the apps. I just see more of the general public being frustrated because using the iPhone as a regular phone is horrific. I pray that next year there will be other carriers available in the U.S.
I don’t agree. AT&T’s 3G network works fine for me and everyone I know.
Nice – all while everyone is still on their contract paying off their expensive version.
This is so lame. The way normal technology pricing works, Apple should be coming out with the 3GS at $99.00 and drop the 3G altogether.
It’s no wonder they have 40 billion dollars in the bank when people buy in to their ridiculous pricing schemes.
Last I checked, Apple is a for-profit company. If what they’re doing works — and I guess there are 40 billion reasons it is working — then why change?
Steve Jobs: “What’s wrong with being BMW or Mercedes?”
I agree. However, I can’t believe people actually buy their stuff. It’s pretty, but I just don’t see the value.
They reintroduce the same product over and over and expect people to repurchase it. It’s kind of funny.
But hey, more power to them for finding a market of consumers who are willing to do this.
Quality. Place an Apple laptop next to any Windows laptop, and the quality difference is obvious.
Sure, you can drive anywhere in a Ford Fiesta, but you can also do it in a BMW. Quality and performance. For some, this is value for money.
Of course Apple hardware is higher quality. You’re missing the point. Apple makes incremental upgrades to their products each year, charges the same price year after year, and expects people to repurchase virtually the same product they already have.
The way technology works is that speed, capacity, etc. should increase after a year, and price should subsequently decrease. Apple doubles HD capacity, etc and thinks this is enough to justify keeping the price the same. HD capacity is CHEAP! The new iPhone 3GS should be $99.00 and get it off ATT if you expect people like me to use it.
Flawed logic, but to be expected.
You can’t tell the ‘quality and performance’ by looking at a laptop. Sure, BUILD quality.
But the fact they’ve convinced many people that you can is to be admired.
Isn’t that how the tech industry works? Microsoft keeps releasing new versions of Office, with limited backwards compatibility, and the improvements are incremental at best.
At the end of the day, no one is forcing anyone to upgrade. Your old iPhone — and your old version of Office — will still work.
When you release a Windows-based laptop for $1000.00 in 2008, that same laptop, with a slightly higher HD capacity, and a few extra ports, same graphics, same memory, same procesor will be about $500.00 in 2009.
Apple laptop: $1000 in 2008, $1000 in 2009.
yeah and it still runs windows. beyond hardware superiority, apple’s software and interface are ahead of windows. in fact, all microsoft can seem to do is steal their design features.
That’s not really the point though John. It’s Moore’s Law, and it applies to pretty much everything, except – it seems – Macs.
I accept your OS preference, but it’s simply not true that Macs have a hardware superiority. Unless you’re talking about the case. And, even if they did, Moore’s Law should still apply and people should be seeing substantial price drops.
For those who love Apple’s design and simplicity, there is no competitor to apple. Therefore no competitive pricing or incentives on their new products.
Moreover i think apple could have put video and cut & paste in the original 3G phone, they probably didn’t so they could use those features as an incremental upgrade.
Normal technology pricing is that the price stays pretty much the same but you get more processing power. If you want yesterday’s technology you get a discount.
Right, and Apple tries to justify keeping the same price by doubling the hard drive capcity. What a joke!
You also get a faster CPU and most likely doubled RAM, hence the “S”
A much better camara with decent video capability.
A longer battery life.
Plus twice the flash size.
Digital compass doesn’t worth much though.
Your demand for a price cut is understandable but hardly realistic.
Of course with AT&T’s heavy subsidy, Apple literally could give out iPhone 3Gs for free. But as a profit seeking company, why would they?
Nice! iPhone for $99. Now I can pressure Sprint to get me the Palm Pre in the pretext I’m going to AT&T for a cheaper but cooler phone that does everything
This is very deceptive. If you already have an iphone 3g, then the cost to upgrade to the 3gs is much more expensive…
“AT&T customers who want to upgrade from another phone or replace an iPhone 3G, the price with a new two-year agreement is $499 (8GB), $599 (16GB), or $699 (32GB)”.
I for one love iPhone, but will not spend that much on a device that really doesn’t do that much more than the current.
BTW, my reference for that quote is here:
http://www.appl...ompare-iphones/
Did you expect them to give you the subsidised price when you haven’t gone half way through your contract? Of course they would charge unsubsidised price.
Just got 2×32GB online!
The price point people should be looking at is the plan price, not the cost of the device. Overall, I was hoping for much more from the next iPhone – that said new specs and such are nice.
$99 vs. $199 for a phone doesn’t matter very much when you’re paying $800+ yearly for service.
it’s a trap millions will fall into
a TRAP I tell you! A TRAP!!!!!
It all balances out. If you weren’t paying $800+ yearly for service, you wouldn’t be able to get a brand new computer that fits in your pocket for $99 or even $199. The problem here is that I’d rather give the money to Apple than AT&T.
we love you Apple – keep up great work
FANBOY
HATER!
Only fools take time to hate.
Any ideas on what this will do to the price in the rest of the world? You know, where Apple has a 0.000001% share?
That’s just great. I just paid $300 for my 16GB 3G exactly 35 days ago and cannot return it. That and the salesman told me that the video was going to come in the form of a software update.
This is BS I switched carriers and everything.
Yah, I thought it was via Software update too. I mean jailbroken phones have video so couldn’t the iphone 3G have video officially (of course the camera isn’t as good), but still!
Go back. Be nice. Talk to multiple manager. Go to multiple stores. Call up the customer service. I’m sure they will work something out for you.
No matter what you hear about Apple I can tell you that they are a great company. Something similar happened to me way back with iPod nano and iPod video. They accommodated me.
Good luck.
Of course, you’re talking ~$2,000 or more in carrier fees over the life of a two year contract. $100 price is cut is chump change, really.
It’s all psychological. Few people consider the long term costs. They care about how much they have to pay now to get the phone. $100 is a big win in that dept.
and what, in your opinion, would be a fair price?
Looks like the big thing from Apple this year is Lower Price. I dont care for the Apple much but this was a big but not exciting move for them. with the lower cost they take the steam out of the Microsoft ads and open access to their cult for the average joe
Apple fan boy.. yawn… can anyone else review this stuff.. can’t take siegler serious anymore.. his constant orgasms with anything google and iphone just is annoying…
yes… Yes… YES!! OH YES!!!!!!
Then move along idiot.
Did you notice that the $99 tag is for a REGULAR iPhone 3G? NOT the new iPhone 3GS? Leftover 8GB iPhone 3G is going for $99 on contract. NEW iPhone 3GS goes for $199 (16GB) or $299 (32GB) on contract.
they make money on data plan which they force on you not from the extra $100
Can I buy the 99 iPhone, skip the phone plan altogether, and just use it as an IPod with Wi-Fi connectivity?
Or is the ipod touch price going to drop as well?
No, you have to buy the phone plan with it.. So really not much of a deal.
Yeah, 99 for 3G vs. 199 for Pre is not comparing Apples to Apples. Factor in the costs of the plans at AT&T and the Pre is STILL cheaper to own and operate. You guys should be smart enough to see this.
Proper comparison over at Bill Shrink – http://bit.ly/YkGdD
ummm ownage.
geez, MG and Techcrunch is still pretty bitter about not getting a preview of the Palm Pre.
Now calling the iPhone 3G “new” because they cut the price? LOL.
Please stop it you guys, you’re embarrassing yourselves.
iPhone 3Gs is a bit disappointing, very weak camera upgrade, no background apps., no UMA, no video calling..
LOL… stop trolling “Andrew”.
99 dollars is a good price, maybe will upgrade my iphone, but no sure that i realy need it=)
Damn AT&T
AT&T is raping its current iPhone owners.
The 32 GB 3GS iphone sells for $299.
But . . .
AT&T wants to charge $699 for the 32 GB 3GS iphone for current folks who have AT&T contracts for iphones.
These folks are rapists.
I’m a loyal Apple stockholder and iPhone user, but I will not be raped by this company.
I have a mind to screw AT&T by dropping my contract, paying whatever outrageous fee they want and kiss them goodbye, then buy a “broken” 3GS iphone and use it with Verizon. I’m that irritated.
I’m on the phone with AT&T now, and get this . . . AT&T does not even know about the new iphones.
Yup.
No idea.
What a bunch of morons.
I hate AT&T.
Why couldn’t Steve Jobs have stuck it to AT&T and opened it up to working with Verizon?
I hate AT&T.
I’M CANCELLING MY AT&T IPHONE CONTRACT.
SCREW THEM.
THEY ARE OUT TO SCREW LOYAL CUSTOMERS.
I WILL EITHER SELL MY IPHONE ON EBAY OR JAILBREAK IT AND USE IT WITH VERIZON.
SCREW AT&T
Err… Verizon is CDMA which is incompatible with GSM which the iPhone has.
I’ve had AT&T for about a year already and I would rate the service a “B”. Its not as bad as everyone says but certainly not as good as Verizon.
uh, even if you jailbreak or unlock it you can’t use it with verizon.
too bad Verizon is a CDMA carrier.
Put Palm into deadpool. There’s no way that Pre will be successful after this cheaper & faster iPhone.
I picked up the pre yesterday and it’s UI is actually better than the iPhones. It handles multitasking beautifully, and has little surprises included like sprint tv (live tv), turn by turn nav – all included.
My only decision right now is if I really want to get rid of my curve2 just yet.
The Pre has 90% of the interface from the iPhone: touchscreen, multi-touch, flick to scroll, acclerometer.
Of course the Pre has a nice UI, its copied from the iPhone.
If you consider “touchscreen” an interface element unique to Apple and the iPhone, that’s just sad.
There IS no “cheaper and faster” iPhone.
There’s a cheaper iPhone, plus a new iPhone that MIGHT be faster but still has the same podunky OS found on the cheap iPhone.
wow, if the iphone’s OS is “podunky” what do you think of windows mobile?
“Podunka-dunk”… Remember that song?…. Yeah, me neither.
I have an ipod touch and purchased the new MiFi2200 for $99 (after rebate) from Verizon. It gives me wifi not only on my ipod but also on my laptop anyplace I can get a Verizon signal. It has resolved my wish for an iphone without having to switch to AT&T.
Ellen – I did the same thing…except my mifi is on sprint.
My iPhone was stolen just the other day so I figured I would wait for the 3GS. I have only been on with AT&T for a few months. Question – am I going to have to pay $699 for the 32GB or will they let me re-up my service and get it for $299?
$699 <—
I agree, the weakest link for Apple and the iPhone is AT&T. I get one bar in my living room, zero bars in my kitchen (explain that). Still, I covet this phone…
Dunno what’s with the Pre bashing in the title. The Pre is closer than the $199 IPhone 3GS than the $99 iPhone, unless you only look at disk space (in which case you gotta ask Apple why $20 worth of additional disk space and some nickle-and-dime features should cost $100 more). Where’s the multitasking?
stop! logical reasoning with fanboys will lead to headaches and no progress.
let them blow their great leader and funnel more of their money than they need to. in the end, they lose and since ignorance is bliss, they win as well.
it says a lot when cut copy paste is a big feature announcement.
I have spent $0 on purchasing phones this decade. Plan to continue… frugal living is awesome.
glc: you can’t rape the willing. You proved to Apple years ago you are happy to shell out big money for their products. They aren’t stupid. They know they can make a pretty product, and charge 5x more for it even though it does less than the competitors and you WILL pay for it.
And your idol Steve Jobs agreed to work with AT&T and had no problem agreeing to the pricing arrangements. So #1 you are not being raped and #2 if you were, you’re getting gangbanged.
What about the $30 per month iPhone fee… still the case? So my husband and I both have one so $60 in extra fees per month! My old Treo had a free data plan with Sprint. So my $120 plan is $180 with iPhone 3G.
Thanks to the tech-god, here in europe we can choose any carrier we like
APPL out did themselves AGAIN on the announcements…can’t wait for the 3G S and Snow Leopard to come out.
Cmon buddy… WWDC this year was a dud. No Steve, No tablet… just a price drop and a speed bump. Nothing revealed today was anything we haven’t heard (or seen) was coming for months… In fact the biggest news coming out of the Conference right now is that AT&T will be dicking those they already dicked… just a little bit harder… Face It, without a “one more thing”, all of these Steve-less Keynotes resemble the plump little fella trying to fill those massive shoes… a dud.
Actually I just watched the Keynote… and Philly didn’t do to bad. In the beginning he was so nervous, he looked like a water ballon could knock him out, but by the end… He was even throwing a couple jabs at AT&T… not too shabby…
are you sure :S
What is the deal with Palm Pre? Its interface is a 90% copy of the iPhone with: touchscreen, multitouch, flick to scroll and acclerometer.
If you want an iPhone interface just get an iPhone.
And why would anyone get a Palm Pre with its 18 apps? Apps let a “smart” phone edit Excel files, have a talking dictionary, look at MRI images, play The Sims 3 on their phone etc.
With no apps, the Pre is a “dumb” feature phone with full internet capability.
PS: For everyone who bought a Pre, Palm hasn’t even released the SDK yet to most vendors, you can wait about 1 year for them to develop the apps to get anywhere near the utility of an iPhone or Blackberry (if the developers aren’t busy making apps for iPhone, Android and Blackberry already!)
Yeah! And the first gen iPhone had thousands of awesome apps at launch! Oh, wait.
Yeah! The phones are exactly the same! iPhone kicks ass at multitasking! Oh, wait.
Yeah! Everybody should skip getting a Pre and just get an iPhone because the service is so much better and cheaper! Oh, wait.
Did I miss anything?
PS — you don’t need to download an app to view excel files on Palm’s. Look at DataViz Documents to Go, which is loaded in. But please, don’t let the facts get in your way.
Note: I’m not a Pre fan boy. This person just needed to get called out on some things.
And yes, I know he said “90% like the iPhone” and I’ll still disagree in that same regard.
It will take at least a year to two years before the Pre has the same utility as Blackberry, Android or the iPhone since Palm hasn’t released the SDK yet to general vendors. That is if developers have enough venture capital to invest in Pre, they already are making apps for iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and Symbian.
Guess which mobile platform has the smallest base? And consequently receive the least amount of love from developers?
So, no you won’t see The Sims 3 or a thousand other entertaining, useful utility apps on the Pre for at least a year.
Not to mention Apple has iTunes, thousands of podcasts, video podcasts, movies and TV shows formatted for the iPhone specifically straight to download.
Yes, iPhone doesn’t have multitask but I think thats a small tradeoff for such a huge disadvantage in just about everything else regarding the iPhone universe.
Its everyones personal choice, IMHO I would rather go with Blackberry, Android or Apple. Palm is too late to the game.
OH MY GOD I CAN’T PLAY THE SIMS 3!?!!?! WHAT WILL I DO!?!?!
“OH MY GOD I CAN’T PLAY THE SIMS 3!?!!?! WHAT WILL I DO!?!?!”
Well, that is an excellent response to a well thought out comment I posted discussing market conditions.
Just some of the games that are on the iPhone right NOW: The Sims 3, MLB app, NBA app, Need for Speed, Metal Gear Solid, Zenonia, Resident Evil, Pacman, Dig Dug, Galaga, Mega Man 2, Terminator Salvation, Star Wars The Force Unleashed, SimCity, Tiger Woods PGA Golf and thousands of more excellent games on the iPhone/iPod touch.
None of which appear on the Pre and I wouldn’t count on seeing them anytime soon as Palm hasn’t even released their SDK yet to general vendors.
NOT TO MENTION that PRE has the smallest installed base, do you REALLY think developers will spend $50,000 or more to make an app for the smallest platform or for Android which will be on at least 19 phones at the end of this year? Or on Blackberry which has the best selling phone in the US? Or on iPhone which has 40 million users. Or on Pre which has about 100,000 users?
Its simple economics 101.