By Tim Conneally, Betanews
Each of the major US mobile carriers has its own exclusive touchscreen smartphone, and they are providing the fuel for the smartphone market's continuing growth. We are closing in on an all-fronts update, so prepare for another round of comparisons and competition.
AT&T leads the pack with the Apple iPhone, which will receive its 3.0 software update at an unspecified time this summer. T-Mobile has the Android-based G1, which will be updated to Version 1.5 at the end of this month.
An over-the-air firmware update to Verizon's flagship touchphone, the BlackBerry Storm, has been expected for several months, and comments from Verizon representatives this week suggest that it could take place "within the next few weeks." Version 4.7.0.113 of the touchscreen BlackBerry OS has been available in beta for a a while, but remains an "install at your own risk" version. OS .113 is the version that Verizon is expected to roll out, which adds no fewer than 100 bug fixes and feature upgrades, including the absolutely vital fix to the portrait mode soft keyboard. When used in portrait mode, the Storm's onscreen keyboard features keys with two letters instead of one (a la Pearl), making typing quite unintuitive.
Finally, Sprint's eagerly awaited launch of the Palm Pre has been slated to take place some time in the first half of 2009, which technically ends in June. A recent batch of rumors, however, suggest that the device's pre-availability launch could be as early as May 17, with general availability expected on June 29.
For Palm, a lot is riding on the success of this launch. The surprise unveiling of the Pre at CES 2009 took much of the focus off of the company's crippled margins and cash exsanguination, and trained all eyes on the company's revitalization. This alone helped nearly triple the value of Palm's stock in the short four months since the Pre's introduction.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009