Palm's version: Is this the killer iPhone?

Palm was under serious pressure to hit a home run at CES today—and boy, did it deliver. Running Palm's gorgeous (if belated) new platform, dubbed WebOS, the touchscreen Pre could well be Palm's savior, and perhaps its biggest hit.

So, as for the Pre itself (due on Sprint in the first half of this year, no pricing yet): It's got a big, 3.1-inch 480 by 320 touch display (yes, with multitouch and an accelerometer), weighs in at 4.8 ounces, and comes with a curved, slide-out keypad. Yes, it does Wi-Fi and 3G (EV-DO Rev. A, to be exact), as well as GPS (with turn-by-turn directions courtesy of TeleNav), stereo Bluetooth, 8GB of internal storage, a 3MP camera, a 3.5mm headset jack, and a removable battery.

But the key to the Pre is its OS, and WebOS—previously code-named "Nova"—is one of the hottest mobile platforms I've seen yet, rivaling both Android and Apple's iPhone OS.

At a glance, WebOS doesn't look all that different from the icon-driven, touch-based Android and iPhone platforms; you've got your main, wallpapered home screen, complete with a row of icons along the bottom for your standard e-mail, calendar, and calling features.

But Palm's done a few key things differently here, starting with the "gesture" area at the bottom or side of the screen (if you're, say, surfing the Web in landscape mode). For example, if you're browsing an individual contact in the Pre's address book, you can flick horizontally in the gesture area to go back to the contact list, or you can flick up for a translucent window shade of applications. Nice.

More importantly, though, is WebOS's way of letting you handle and sort all your open applications like a deck of cards. If you're composing an e-mail, for example, you can flick up, call open a new application, and then return to your e-mail at any point. All open applications appear as windows (similar to the windows in the iPhone's Web browser), and you can flick back and forth, reorder them, and discard them at will.

That's really cool, and it solves one of the biggest problems that's dogged the iPhone—namely, that its various applications are all walled off, making it difficult to easily switch from, say, the Web browser to the calendar and back again.

WebOS also introduces a concept dubbed "Synergy," which all applications can continuously get info from the Web. The best example: WebOS's unified contact list, which seamlessly displays all your contacts and grab their e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and IM handles from Facebook, Gmail, Exchange, you name it.

I'm also happy with Palm's integrated messaging interface, which combines IM and text chats into a single, threaded conversation.

And then there's the WebOS "Dashboard": a flexible space at the bottom of the screen for calling, messaging, and appointment alerts. As you're working in other applications, you might see the first line of a text message or IM, or the Dashboard might open a bit bigger for a calendar alert, complete with "dismiss" and "snooze" options. When alerts appear, you're free to keep working in your open application, or you can go ahead and open the alert—and if you want to answer an IM, you can swipe to that "card" in WebOS, and then return to your previous application card. Great stuff.

A few other interesting notes: When you're sitting at the Pre's main screen, you can just start typing on the QWERTY keypad to call up a universal search menu; you'll instantly see any matching contacts, or you can quickly jump to Web results from Google, Google Maps, and Wikipedia.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention "Touchstone," a little hockey puck of an accessory with a killer feature—wireless charging. Just place the Pre on top of the Touchstone device to power it up. Awesome.

It's a lot to chew on—indeed, Palm's press conference is barely an hour old, and already I'm having the same feeling I did after the iPhone's debut two years ago. The Pre—and WebOS—look red-hot, and the two combined may well guarantee that Palm will live to fight another (and perhaps, many) days.

So, initial thoughts? Like what you see? Will developers take to writing WebOS applications? Fire away.

Note: Just to clear up any confusion—the Pre is not Palm's first touchscreen phone, not by a long shot. As any Treo fan knows, Palm has been making touchscreen smartphones for years, although earlier models worked better with a stylus than a fingertip.

New Electronic Gadgets for 2009

This may not be the upcoming list of electronic gadgets for 2009, for they are already available in the market, but at least it gives us a pre-view of what to expect for 2009 - which is not far from mere improvements and/or innovations of these existing ones.

Anyway, here are the hottest electronic gadgets that are considered items to own until close of 2008 and probably up to early part of 2009:

1. Flip Video MinoHD Camcorder, 60 Minutes (Black). This electronic widget could embrace up to 60 report of HD-class film on its 4 GB built-in memory. You can cart it where you go with its super slim and ultimately silky drawing exact for your pouch. You can also sample in your dash drives and automatically launch built-in FlipShare software that allows you to stockroom and arrange your movie clips and cartridge clips.

2. Apple iPod upset 8 GB (2nd Generation). This is oftentimes being perplexed with an Apple iPhone but don't be because this is an iPod finger that gives you the awesome prospect to have as many as 1,750 songs, 10,000 photos, or 10 hours o film. If copious thrilling, you can use this for up to 36 hours of listening to harmony or 6 hours of study your beloved film on its 3.5-crawl widescreen.

3. Sony BDP-S350 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player. With its precision cinema progressive HD, this Blu-ray Disc player is the exact gift for your father or brother. With its thorough HD 1080/60p and 24p True Cinema Video Output, they cannot say no to your appeal right after!

4. Apple iPod contact 16 GB (2nd Generation). An unbelievable facility of 3,500 songs, 10,000 photos, or 20 hours of cartridge, this 16 GB iPod contact from the 2nd generation is a must give for your rising kids aged 12-15 y/o.

5. Canon PowerShot A590IS 8MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom. Suiting for everybody this feast, capture the magical moments with this 8.0 mega pixel digital camera that allows you to go broaden with its 4x optical vision-stabilized zoom. You also do not poverty to fret of getting low batteries and has no vent to renew because aA batteries powered this.

6. Garmin nüvi 350 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator. If you are belief of a gift to your adventurous father or sibling, this is the one you are looking for! A compact 700 MB GPS navigator with an amazing MP3/audiobook player, photo viewer, and world move regulator, this will definitely give them the right directions lacking the hassles. You can simply place this on your vehicle windshield with included suction cup.

7. Apple iPod classic 120 GB Black (6th Generation). Oozing with thousands of songs, photos, or videos, this 120 GB iPod classic from the hottest 6th generation is best for your kids aged 18 and above. 8. Apple iPod join 32 GB Black (2nd Generation). For youngsters aged 12 to 15 time old, this 32 GB clever of storing up to 7,000 songs, 10,000 photos, or 40 hours of video is certainly the one on top of their Christmas file.

9. Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12.2 MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens (Black). Perfect for the full family, this digital camera has an astonishing 12.2 mega pixel CMOS antenna that entirely brings films to honest life. It also has a sturdy 3.0-creep ceremony that is LCD and better Auto focus and framing regard.

10. Canon PowerShot SD1100IS 8MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Blue). For those who just fondness charming pictures anywhere and anytime, this one is for you! A very near and light digital camera with 8.0 mega pixel CCD, face detection, and a shift detection technology that automatically saves your pictures from being vague. So if you want to give this Christmas, make clearly that you will give only the best because your loved ones deserve only the best this holiday! Hurry and elect from our Top 10 Electronics Christmas Gifts for 2009 and New Gadgets for 2009 Go early and use our list for the easiest and convenient holiday shopping New Gadgets for 2009.