by Mia Kim, SHOP.COM’s Gadgets Editor

iPhone 3 Gs

Palm Pre

If you’re a smartphone enthusiast, you’ve been used to the yearly arrival of the newest model of the reigning queen of the smartphone: the Apple iPhone, exclusive to AT&T. This year, for the first time since the iPhone’s arrival two years ago, there’s a real contender to challenge the iPhone’s lead in the smartphone market: the Palm Pre, with a brand-new operating system, Web OS.

Whether you’re buying a smartphone for the first time, or want to make sure you’re upgrading to the model that’s best for you, there are differences in the Palm Pre and the iPhone that should be explored before you make your decision.

Phone Hardware

Both the iPhone and Palm Pre have beautiful high resolution color touch screens which support multi-touch, meaning you can control the screen with your finger, no stylus necessary. The Palm Pre’s is slightly smaller at 3.1”, while the iPhone has a 3.5” screen. Both screens work in both portrait and landscape modes, auto-orienting as you move the phone, so for web-browsing and watching videos, you can take advantage of a widescreen for easier viewing.
The biggest physical difference is in the keyboards. The iPhone famously has no protruding hardware buttons, although there are discreet power, volume, and mute buttons on the top and sides, and an in-set “home” button beneath the screen. The iPhone’s full QWERTY keyboard is virtual, on-screen, and works in portrait and landscape modes. Not all applications support the landscape keyboard. In landscape mode in particular, the keyboard is spacious (as keyboards for phones go, that is) but there is no physical feedback to let you know you’ve hit the right key. You can enable or disable the keyboard click sounds. The iPhone has a sizeable built-in dictionary so if you enable auto-correction, there’s a lot of help with commonly used words.

For many people, though, nothing will beat a physical keyboard, and while quite small, the Palm Pre features a pull-out QWERTY one. You slide the keyboard, up, actually, which reveals the portrait-oriented keyboard. There is no on-screen keyboard on the Pre, so for applications that use the screen in landscape mode, you have to turn the phone around to portrait mode to do any text/number entry. Other than the sliding keyboard, the Palm Pre also has few hardware buttons, other than a small “center” button which minimizes application windows. The area under the screen is also a touch-sensitive gesture area where you can swipe your fingers which is interpreted as a “back” button push. On the sides of the Pre, there are power, volume, and mute buttons.

Both phones are sleek, lightweight, and easy on the eye. The physical keyboard vs. virtual is a very personal choice, and proponents of one style are often very opposed to the other. Generally, though, people adjust pretty quickly and are able to type messages speedily with either method within a few days.

Operating System

The iPhone’s version of the Mac OS X is the simplest, most elegant smartphone OS to date. The learning curve is virtually zero. There are icons for all the applications and a simple touch opens the app. If you touch an area which requires any number or text entry, the on-screen keyboard appears automatically. You close an app by pressing the home button. There are no complicated settings to deal with, as the iPhone OS keeps them hidden, and other than turning on and off the wifi, and entering the network passwords, there’s little to do to keep the phone working.

The Palm Pre has a brand-new OS called Web OS which is in its first generation. It is different than the old Palm OS that has been around for more than a decade. It looks quite a bit like the iPhone interface with touch navigation and graphic icons. The biggest difference between the two operation systems is that the Palm Pre’s Web OS allows for multi-tasking, meaning that you can have multiple applications open at the same time. There is a “card interface” which minimizes all the open apps and you scroll through and touch the application you want to bring to the front. This way, if you are browsing a website and need to look up contact information, or something in your notes, you can just bring up that app, and then go back to where you were. With the iPhone, you need to close out of an app before you can open another one.
Web OS, because of its more advanced multi-tasking abilities is slightly more complicated. Using the center button to minimize apps, and the gesture area as a “back button” takes some getting used to unlike the iPhone’s simple one-button push to do everything.

Advantage Palm Pre for multi-taskers and give the points to the iPhone for people who crave ease-of-use.

Software and Application Store

The basic apps included on the iPhone and the Palm Pre are similar: Email, Text messaging, calculator, calendar, contact book, media player, world clock, memopad, camera, GPS-supported Google Maps, YouTube player, and web browser. Both phones have stellar web browsers which support full HTML sites, so what you see on the phone looks remarkably close to what you would see on a full computer.

The Palm Pre has Sprint Navigation built-in, and all service plans which support the Pre include Sprint Navigation’s monthly fee for unlimited turn-by-turn voice navigation. The iPhone 3G and 3GS has optional turn-by-turn navigation services, but they all require a separate monthly fee. The Palm Pre also comes with basic Sprint TV and Sprint Nascar. Sprint TV has video feeds and even live television, although video quality is still quite sketchy and content is somewhat limited.
Both phones support music downloads- the iPhone uses the familiar iTunes store and the Palm Pre uses the Amazon MP3 store. The newest version of iPhone software now supports iTunes downloads of television shows and movies.
Where the iPhone excels, though, is in third-party applications. The iPhone app store has close to 50,000 applications. You can get graphics intensive games like the Sims 3, productivity software like full office suites, and every kind of entertainment or lifestyle program you can imagine. You can get a Kindle reader for reading Amazon Kindle books right on your iPhone. Stressed out? There are dozens of applications for self-hypnosis, meditation, yoga, and dieting. If you have an interest, the iPhone has a matching application. Best of all, many of the iPhone apps are free, and a great majority are under $5.00.

The Palm Pre’s app store currently only has 30 applications. There are very few games, and there’s no full office suite yet available which supports word processing and other document editing. You can get a weather application, movie apps like Fandango, and a few travel/restaurant guides but the choices are very, very limited right now.

If you’re happy for your phone to make calls, keep a calendar, and do email and web, without much need for games and other apps, then you’re fine with a Pre. If you want to customize your phone to be a complete entertainment and lifestyle device, then the iPhone is your better choice.

Bottom Line
Both the Palm Pre and iPhone are powerful, advanced, easy-to-use smartphones. If flexibility and ease-of-use are your main concerns, then the iPhone is for you. If you’re a multi-tasker who needs a phone to be a reliable task-master, then the Palm Pre may be your dream phone.

CHECK OUT THESE GREAT NEW SMARTPHONES AND SMARTPHONE ACCESSORIES TOO:

iPhone 3GS– The newest, fastest iPhone is twice as fast as the 3G, and has a built-in compass, voice control for phone functions and iPod, and up to 32 GB of storage.

iPhone 3G- The classic iPhone, now at a lower $99 price point.

Palm Pre- The first phone running the revolutionary Web OS. Just $199.99 for qualified customers with a new 2-year contract.

*Unlocked* iPhone 3G 8GB- Legally unlocked iPhone 3G for using on any network of your choosing, anywhere in the world

Palm Pre 3-way Charger- Versatile charger works in your car, in home outlets, and through your computer’s USB ports.

Unlocked G1 Google Android Phone- The alternative to the iPhone, Palm Pre, and Blackberry- the versatile Google phone with QWERTY keyboard and touchscreen, unlocked to work with any network.

Unlocked Blackberry Pearl Flip Phone- Get the convenience of an ultra-portable flip phone, with all the features of a Blackberry. Unlocked for use on any network.

Casemate Leather iPhone 3G case in Hot Pink – Stylish protection which keeps all functions of the phone available while in the case.

Rubberized snap-on case for Palm Pre- Impact-resistant case shields the Palm Pre from scratches and falls.

Aquapac for iPhone – Can’t be without your iPhone, even during a day at the beach? The Aquapac with neck strap keeps out sand and water, and is even submersible up to 15 ft.