The much-awaited Palm Pre is a bit premature. I really wanted to love that smart phone, but I only like it.

I’ve been carrying three of the smartest phones available (to U.S. consumers) for a few weeks — the BlackBerry Bold, the Apple iPhone (not the newest 3G S model) and the Palm Pre. Each have pluses and minuses, but the Bold and Pre have more of the latter.

* On the plus side for each:

The BlackBerry Bold runs on the AT&T 3G network; is great for e- mail; has a fair number of third-party applications (apps) available; has a great screen; has good battery life; good camera; looks good and operates well.

The iPhone additionally runs on the AT&T 3G network (which I was already using before getting the iPhone); has a large and fluid touch screen, is intuitive to learn and use; has thousands of third-party apps available and syncs calendar and contacts very well with my Apple Mobile Me explanation (I don’t use the Mobile Me e-mail). It is the thinnest of the three, which makes carrying it in a pocket bearable. It plus does an excellent job of displaying Web pages. Camera is just OK.

The Pre has a slide-down keyboard; can run multiple apps simultaneously with easy switching amoung programs; good camera; and combines multiple messaging and contact sources into separate views. that feature is very helpful, particularly when you have a contact that is in your personal e-mail address book, is on your Facebook friends list and is plus in a work e-mail contact program. It displays Web pages well.

* On the minus side for each:

The BlackBerry Bold does a horrible job displaying Web pages or HyperText Markup Language e-mail. Beyond e-mail, that device pales in comparison to the others.

The iPhone can run only one application at a…

[Source] dhiram