Palm Pre vs. iPhone 3G S: Who’s playing catch-up now?

For one thing, many of the features that Apple introduced in the iPhone 3G S, including multimedia messaging service (MMS), copy/paste and search, were features that most thought the phone should have had since its launch. It also is still encumbered by AT&T, which won't offer MMS capability or tethering until at least this fall. The new iPhone 3G S lets users use the touch keypad in landscape mode, but the Pre's combo touch screen/qwerty keyboard should also get Apple thinking about new input methods.

According to iSuppli, Palm Pre shipments could amount to 1.1 million units in 2009 or, if Palm quickly introduces a new Pre that supports the 3G GSM standard, potentially even 1.3 million during the year. Palm also could potentially license its webOS operating system to other manufacturers, as it did with its original Palm OS, further expanding its influence, iSuppli added. Palm hasn't announced plans to do either, but iSuppli anticipates there would be a strong demand for it. Regardless, while it remains to be seen what both handset-makers' next moves will be, with the way things are going the iPhone isn't the only game-changer in wireless anymore.

"Palm's webOS appears to be superior to the Mac OS X used in the iPhone in the crucial area of multitasking capabilities," said Tina Teng, senior analyst for iSuppli, in a research note. "This key point of differentiation, combined with the product's multitouch display, could be enough for Palm to carve out a significant share of the smartphone market."

E-mail me at sreedy@telephonyonline.com.