This phone is going to be revolutionary.

just because

Palm just announced the Pre, their first attempt to compete directly with the new class of smartphones from Apple, Google and RIM. With hardware that compares well to the iPhone and a brand new OS (the Linux based WebOS), the Pre looks to be a serious contender when it launches this summer (probably around the time the 3rd generation iPhone will be available).

Engadget has a full review (link under the Buy button), but the highlights are:

- 3.1 inch, 480x320 touchscreen (same res as iPhone, slightly smaller)
- slide out keyboard (similar to the G1)
- Wi-fi, Bluetooth, 3G (EV-DO on Sprint initially, GSM soon after)
- 3 megapixel camera
- Webkit based browser
- Accelerometer
- applications can be built with Javascript, CSS and XML

As a software developer, the idea of building full applications using the same technologies used to build web applications is interesting and cool. The review notes how this might hamper game development (e.g. how do you do graphics or access the accelerometer with javascript), so it'll be interesting to see how the platform develops.

The only negative I see (for some people) is that this will phone will initially be a Sprint exclusive. I've been a happy Sprint customer for years, but friends and family have had a tough time with their customer service/tech support in the past.

As someone who has been using a Treo since the Treo was cutting edge (say 5 years ago), it's nice to see Palm coming back with a great looking phone. I'm looking forward to reading the reviews when it launches.