Palm Pre First Impressions Review - Multimedia

Music Software
The Palm has a music player application, though little information is available about it at the moment. From our demonstration, it can display album art and music can be sorted by playlists. When we asked if playlists can be created and edited on the Pre directly, we were told that this and other details on the music player application were not yet available.

Music Formats & DRM
According to the Pre's specs, it supports the MP3, AAC, AAC+, AMR, and WAV audio formats. Since it will be released on Sprint's network in the U.S., we expect that it will be compatible with the DRM applied to music purchased from Sprint's music store, though no official word on this has been released.

Video Software
 We were able to see the Pre's video player in action during the demonstration, and it showed smooth playback using the pre-loaded test video and was crisp and clear on the Pre's vibrant screen. On-screen playback controls show up with a tap on the screen and disappear after a few seconds. We expect that the volume controls on the side will be the only physical buttons that will control some aspect of playback.

With the Cards concept of the Pre's OS, applications can remain open but be pushed to the background to enable you to go to another application to do something else. When a video is sent to the background, it automatically pauses, holding your place in the video until you return to it.

Video Formats
According to the Pre's specs, it will support MPEG-4, H.263, and H.264 video formats.

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