Verizon Is Definitely Getting the Palm Pre

Ed Hardy · 10-17-2009, 12:35 PM

If there are any lingering doubts that Verizon Wireless is going to offer the Palm Pre, one of this this carrier's Twitter feeds has re-iterated earlier promises to launch the first webOS-based smartphone in a few months.

Months ago, several Verizon executives promised to offer this smartphone. Last month, however, an unconfirmed report stating the Verizon may have dropped its plans to offer the Palm Pre made headlines. This was quickly followed by a wave of reports saying the opposite.

And now a semi-official announcement from this carrier confirms the original news. The VZWOffers Twitter feed said yesterday:

We will be carrying the Palm Pre smartphone early next year.

Apparently the only thing holding this launch back is an agreement between Sprint and Palm, which gives this wireless carrier exclusive rights to offer the Pre through the end of 2009.

An Enhanced Version?
This latest bare-bones announcement didn't resolve an open question: Will Verizon carry only the original Pre, or an enhanced version?

There have been unconfirmed reports that this carrier's version will have a slightly larger screen than the 3.1-inch one on current the Pre. In addition, it will supposedly have more built-in storage than the the original, which has 8 GB.

An Overview of the Palm Pre and the webOS
The Palm Pre uses Palm's webOS, the replacement for the venerable Palm OS. This is a new, multi-tasking operating system able to wirelessly synchronize a wide variety of data with online services like Google and Facebook, as well as Microsoft Exchange.

The webOS includes an on-device app store, and a growing collection of third-party software is available.

The Pre itself features a sliding keyboard as well as a multi-touch-capable HVGA display. This device is also equipped with 8 GB of on-board storage (7 GB available to users), Wi-Fi b/g, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, and a 3.0 megapixel camera with LED flash.

Currently, the exclusive U.S. provider of this smartphone is Sprint, who has added its mobile broadband service EV-DO Rev. A. It's also available from Bell Canada, who also uses the CDMA standard, so its version has EV-DO as well. Verizon is another CDMA carrier, it its version is expected to have this same type of mobile broadband.

In addition, O2 is releasing the Palm Pre this week in several Europe countries.

Source: VZWOffers

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r0k · 10-17-2009, 10:28 PM

Good. I can't wait. My money is riding on Storm 2 as my next phone right now but Pre is still in the running. Having it come to Verizon raises its odds substantially over Sprint or even if it came to Att. If I was willing to use Att's network, I'd have an iPhone now that I've carried and used an iPod Touch. In fact, I'd say the 'touch will be the standard against which I judge the PDA features of my next phone and my Blackberry will be the standard against which I judge the email, reception, and battery life features of my next phone.

TMann_2 · 10-19-2009, 10:35 AM

As a Sprint user, (who will be getting a Pre sometime soon,) I think that this is a good thing. The more Pre's that are out there, the greater the incentive for software developers to bring out good products for WebOS.

TMann