Palm was backstage at Film Independent's Spirit Awards in Santa Monica this past weekend, showing off the Palm Pre to some of Hollywood’s brightest stars (and independent spirits). Not only did they get to test-drive what many of them told us would instantly become their favorite new fashion accessory, but they also used the Pre to record messages of encouragement for Project:Involve, a program that supports cultural diversity in the film industry. (For every celeb that visited Palm in the presenter's gift lounge backstage, Palm made a donation to this program.)
Eliza Dushku made every other phone in the room envious when she gave the Pre a kiss, calling it “sleek and cute…it's scrumptious.” Melissa Leo, Spirit winner for Best Actress, had this to say: “Wo! Wo! Wo!” And about the Touchstone inductive charger: “Get out! Go fly a kite! Stop!” (Blair Underwood's take on Touchstone: “Are you kidding me?”)
Taraji P. Henson loved the mirror on the back of the Pre, using it to fix her hair and make-up, while Dominic Monaghan (above) literally ran over to the Palm table and turned around to give pal and Lord of the Rings co-star Billy Boyt a demo. Other celebrities who will be getting a Palm Pre when available include Jessica Alba, Mena Suvari and Michael Bolton. For more backstage photos, check out our photo gallery on the Palm Facecbook page. And to hear some of the messages to Project:Involve, click the names below:
Michelle P.
Edelman for Palm
Ok Palm, we need this to be available now! My MP3 player finally died today and I really don't want to buy a new one when the Pre will fill that need as well as replace my Treo. So until this thing sees the light of day I'm music-less! Please hurry!
Posted by: Count Buggula | February 23, 2009 at 10:05 PM
How long is it going to take for "sleek & scrumptious" to make it into advertising?
By the way, Sandra Oh also said that she's going to try and get the Pre on Grey's Anatomy soon. Here's a link http://palmprefix.com/2009/02/23/making-the-palm-pre-a-celebrity-w-celebrities/
Posted by: Christian | February 24, 2009 at 10:12 AM
Hey Palm, this is a bit off-topic, but I was watching a CES demo video over again and it was mentioned that the Pre's camera offers direct upload options to online galleries. I'm doing a quick write-up on that for PreCentral, but can't find any further details (or even any other sources that can corroborate the existing details). Any chance you could shed some light here? What kinds of online galleries are planned to be supported? Flickr, Picasa, etc.? I would've bugged your twitter account, but I bet they're sick of me by now ;-p
Posted by: JayCanuck | February 24, 2009 at 03:24 PM
Hmm...if I'd known it was going to be there I would have found a way to sneak in. I live nearby to there, and actually went by the big tent where it was setup a few nights ago!
Posted by: Aaron | February 24, 2009 at 11:05 PM
Hey, JayCanuck -- Afraid the answer is the same as it is when I'm wearing my Twitter hat ("we'll have more details as we get closer to product availability") -- but it is a refreshing change of pace to not have to squeeze everything into 140 characters.
Posted by: Jon Zilber | February 24, 2009 at 11:17 PM
by cultural diversity in Hollywood, are you referring to trying to get some conservatives, traditional Americans included in the industry? That would be great as too often these voices have been marginalized by the ardent left wing progressives who run the industry. Kudos Palm.
Posted by: RC Nascar | February 25, 2009 at 05:34 AM
Christian -- soon, and thanks for the link. The Pre is for the geek and chic, as you shall see. Thanks for reading.
Posted by: Alex H. at Edelman for Palm | February 26, 2009 at 02:54 PM
Will there be an integration program to convert the data from the Treo 755P to the PRE?
Posted by: Tama Grobeson | March 05, 2009 at 12:19 PM
Tama -- a third party may develop a solution to move your data to the Pre. The ease of development on webOS makes it a real possibility.
Posted by: Alex H. at Edelman for Palm | March 11, 2009 at 09:54 AM
will the treo pro ever be available on at&t. it's frustrating to upgrade to the perfect phone (which I've been looking forward to) and switch networks. Help.
Posted by: steven baranello | March 26, 2009 at 09:32 AM
Can't you send out via email, or some other way some kind of update on the progress of the release of the Palm Pre? I am getting tired and frustrated with the same old information. I am really in need of a new smartphone and am wondering if this Palm Pre is actually going to happen or if I should go ahead and purchase maybe a Blackberry. I don't want to and if I had a little more of an update I might be a little more patient. Please respond to me.
Posted by: Amy S Rhodes | March 31, 2009 at 06:34 AM
Hi Amy -- in January, we announced the Pre will be available in the first half of 2009 and this is still the case. Any reports as to specific release date are rumors and should be taken with a grain of salt.
Hang in there, we're almost there.
Posted by: Alex H. at Edelman for Palm | March 31, 2009 at 10:32 AM