Apple iPhone vs. Palm Pre

VS.

At the Consumer Electronics show this year (2009 CES), Palm--who had been of-late falling behind in the smartphone race--introduced what is widely being perceived as this year's most likely iPhone-killer so far: the Palm Pre.

Also a 3G smartphone, one of the (many) highlights of the Pre is the new webOS it runs on. What's promising about this new operating system from the outset is that it isn't an upgrade of any existing OS but a brand new OS built from the bottom up. Just one of the ways the new Palm OS excels over Apple's is in its "Cards" interface which, unlike Apple, allows users to multitask--as in running more than one app at a time.

The new webOS operating system deeply integrates the applications, data, and websites people tend to use most with the phone's design--making it Palm's latest effort at producing a more user-friendly product. Also note the use of the word "web" in the new Palm OS. This accentuates Palm's attention to improving its web browser this time around.

Both devices are touchscreen devices and both have accelerometer technology (that shifts automatically from portrait to landscape view when the device is turned), though the Pre has a slide-out keyboard whereas the iPhone only has a virtual onscreen keypad. The screen size on the Pre is less than half-an-inch smaller than the iPhone's--3.1" to 3.5"--and the screen resolution of the two devices are exactly the same--480 x 320.

The Pre's touchscreen, however, benefits from Palm's user-friendliness efforts in creating a glowing "gesture area" at the bottom of the screen allowing for easy multitouch interactivity without finger taps and swipes interfering with what's on the bulk of the screen. Smart and convenient--and effective.

Both devices have Microsoft Exchange support, Wi-Fi, GPS with mapping, and a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack. But get these differences:

• Only the iPhone has voice-dialing and voice-recording capabilities (albeit through 3rd-party apps)
• Only the Palm Pre has MMS, copy/paste, and a removable battery
• The Pre has built-in instant messaging support for multiple networks, the iPhone requires 3rd-party apps to do so
• The Pre has stereo Bluetooth, the iPhone only has monaural Bluetooth

As is befitting of Palm's reputation (and past-life as a PDA), the Pre is a more potent and effective "personal information management device" than the iPhone (perhaps multimedia notwithstanding--though Palm's offerings in this department are not bad at all). The Palm digital camera is superior to Apple's, though, with 3 megapixels vs. 2 megapixels, and an LED flash vs. no flash at all.

In terms of general specs:

• The Palm Pre runs on Sprint, the iPhone on AT&T
• The Palm Pre supports CDMA for voice and EVDO Rev. A for data, the iPhone supports Quad-Band GSM for voice and HSDPA for data
• The Palm Pre comes with 8 GB memory, the iPhone in both an 8 GB and a 16 GB model
• The Palm Pre is expected to be released early this year. Prices are still not solid.