HP Pre 3
| Company type | Smartphone |
|---|---|
| Industry | Consumer electronics |
| Predecessor | Palm Pre 2 |
| Founded | February 9, 2011 in San Francisco, United States |
| Headquarters | San Francisco , United States |
| Products | HP Pre 3 smartphone |
The HP Pre 3, presented as Pre3, is a slider-style touchscreen smartphone developed by Hewlett-Packard. It operates on HP's webOS platform and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset. The device offers a 3.6-inch display and serves as the successor to the Palm Pre 2.
History
Unveiled on February 9, 2011, during HP’s webOS "Think Beyond" event held in San Francisco alongside the HP Veer and HP TouchPad, the Pre 3 became commercially available in the United Kingdom on August 17, 2011.
This model introduced the Touch-to-Share feature, allowing data transfer with compatible devices such as the TouchPad through Bluetooth connectivity. It supports Wi-Fi standards (802.11 a/b/g/n), Bluetooth version 2.1, includes 512 MB of RAM, and comes with storage options of either 8 GB or 16 GB. Although a 16 GB variant was manufactured for AT&T and Verizon in the United States, it was never officially launched.
Remarkably, only one day following its UK release, on August 18, HP declared the termination of all webOS hardware products, including the Pre 3. Despite not being officially marketed in the US, some units surfaced via HP employee sales programs and secondary marketplaces like eBay.
Display and User Interface
The HP Pre 3 is equipped with a 3.58-inch capacitive multi-touch screen featuring an 800 by 480 pixel resolution. Physical controls comprise volume up/down buttons located on the device’s side and a power button positioned on top. User navigation is facilitated through a "gesture area" that supports multitasking, application switching, text selection, and shortcut commands to improve operational efficiency.
Network and Connectivity
Connectivity options include Bluetooth 2.1 and Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), along with support for HSPA+, GSM, EvDO, or CDMA networks depending on carrier specifications. Together with the HP TouchPad, it introduced Touch to Share technology that allows effortless sharing of URLs, calls, messages, and app data by tapping compatible devices together.
Supported UMTS frequency bands
Pre3 variant Region UMTS frequencies supported Official release status AT&T Mobility United States 850, 1900, 2100 MHz no Unlocked European version France, Germany, United Kingdom 900, 1900, 2100 MHz yes Verizon United States 900, 2100 MHz no
Audio Features
The smartphone includes a single loudspeaker along with dual microphones equipped with noise cancellation technology to enhance voice call clarity.
Camera System
The Pre 3 sports a rear-facing 5-megapixel autofocus camera complemented by an LED flash and capable of recording video at 720p resolution. Additionally, it has a front VGA camera that supports video calling through integrated Skype functionality.
Market Availability
In the UK market, the Pre 3 was sold exclusively via Carphone Warehouse on limited pay-monthly contracts with very restricted inventory. In contrast, US GSM models were distributed directly to HP employees at a price of $75 each (with a purchase limit of up to twelve units per employee). Although these AT&T-branded devices lacked official endorsement from AT&T or HP/Palm, they received over-the-air updates for webOS versions ranging from 2.2.0 through to 2.2.4 using webOS Doctor and OTA update methods.
Pre-installed Software
| Application | Functionality |
|---|---|
| Web | Browser utilizing the WebKit rendering engine. |
| Native email client. | |
| Messaging | SMS/MMS application integrated with AIM, Yahoo Messenger, Google Chat, and Skype support. |
| App Catalog | Portal for accessing HP’s application store. |
| Memos | Application designed for note-taking. |
| Quickoffice | Office productivity suite for viewing documents such as spreadsheets and presentations. |
| PDF View | Tool for reading PDF files. |
| Maps | Navigation app providing location search, routing directions, and traffic updates. |
| Contacts | Digital address book. |
| Music | Media player for audio files stored locally. |
| Phone | Standard dialer interface for voice calls. |
| Photos | Image gallery viewer. |
| Videos | Video playback application. |
| Camera | Interface for capturing photos. |
| Calculator | Basic arithmetic calculator app. |
| Clock | Timekeeping app featuring alarms. |
| YouTube | Application to browse and watch YouTube content. |