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Jun. 4, 2009

When the Pre arrives in the U.S. on June 6, it will be entering an increasingly crowded market backed by a company that has a lot riding on its success, or failure.

The Pre costs $200 with a minimum two-year service plan with Sprint, the same company that helped wireless users in the handheld computing era with the original Palm Pilot in 1996.

Now Palm needs a resurgence in a market largely dominated by Apple’s iPhone and Research In Motion's BlackBerry smartphones.

For Sprint, the Pre represents a chance to win new customers while still getting current ones to trade up from a regular mobile phone to the Pre and its pricier service packages, which start at $70 per month.

Overall, the Palm Pre has a touch screen very similar to the iPhone, but also has a slide-out keyboard and runs on Palm's new Web-OS software, which can run several applications at once, unlike an iPhone.

The original Palm Pilot was all about organizing the user's personal information, and the Pre will take that idea to the next level by synchronizing contacts from Facebook, Gmail and Outlook into a single list, something else the iPhone still cannot do.

The Pre will connect with Apple's iTunes software and download music and photos as an iPhone or iPod can, which may be a first for a device not made by Apple.

But even with all its many innovations, the Pre will still face some very rough competition out there. Apple's iPhone continues to be a big draw at AT&T, the exclusive U.S. carrier. And Apple might unveil a new version on June 8 at its annual conference for software developers.

Sprint's rivals are adding new smartphones to their lineups from RIM, Samsung Electronics, Nokia and others as well.

Verizon Wireless has even attempted to undercut Sprint, announcing that it will be selling the Pre when Sprint's exclusive rights expire in 2010. Sprint has said that its exclusivity extends to the end of 2009, and that it may end soon after...

For Palm, it really boils down to a story about leadership in the current smartphone market.

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    This article was featured on Business 5.0 and on Tech Blog.

Source: USWN.