CNET posted an interesting article today comparing the Palm Pre and iPhone 3.0. The majority of the article stresses the disappointment in lack of more information regarding the Pre launch, namely date and price, and suggests the masses are growing restless. They are. But come launch time that won’t matter because the same slick operating system and device will hit the shelves and the previous 4 months of excruciating anxiety will seem like nothing more than impatience.

After doubting we’ll get any more info at CTIA 2009, Bonnie Cha charts out the differenes between our precious Pre and the iPhone with 3.0 software:

	Palm Pre	Apple iPhone 3G (with OS 3.0)
Dimensions	3.9 inches by 2.3 inches by 0.6 inch; 4.7 ounces	4.5 inches by 2.4 inches by 0.48 inch; 4.7 ounces
Screen size	3.1 inches; 480×320 pixels	3.5 inches; 480×320 pixels
Navigation	Touch screen; gesture area; multitouch gesture support; slide-out QWERTY keyboard	Touch screen; Home button; multitouch gesture support; onscreen keyboard with landscape support
Camera	3 megapixels; LED flash; no video recording planned at launch	2 megapixels; no video recording
Connectivity	Dual-band CDMA; EV-DO Rev. A; Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 2.1 with support for tethering and A2DP	Quad-band GSM; tri-band UMTS/HSDPA; Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 2.0 with support for A2DP and peer-to-peer networking, no tethering yet
Accelerometer	Yes	Yes
Proximity sensor	Yes	Yes
GPS	Yes	Yes
Maps	Turn-by-turn directions via Sprint Navigation (TeleNav)	Turn-by-turn directions through third-party apps (presumably in development)
Memory	8GB; no expansion slot	8GB or 16GB; no expansion slot
E-mail	POP3/IMAP; Microsoft Outlook with direct push	POP3/IMAP; Microsoft Outlook with direct push
Multimedia messaging	Yes	Yes
Syncing	Synergy: Brings together Outlook, Google, and Facebook calendars and contacts; removes duplicate entries	CalDAV adds support for Yahoo and Google shared calendars in addition to Exchange
Search	Universal search: Searches contacts, apps, Web	Spotlight: Searches e-mail headers, contacts, calendar, notes, iPod tracks, applications, and Web
Multitasking	Deck of Cards feature lets you run and switch between multiple applications at once	No background applications; Push notification sends badges, audio alerts, and text message alerts
Flash support	Palm has committed to Adobe’s Open Screen Project and promised to bring Flash 10 Player to its Web OS devices by the end of the year, but probably won’t make it on the Pre	No
Music store	Amazon MP3 store	iTunes Store
Application Store	Pre App Store	iTunes App Store
Copy/paste	Yes	Yes
3.5mm headset jack	Yes	Yes
Removable battery	Yes	No
Price	TBA	$199 with two-year contract for 8GB model; $299 with two-year contract for 16GB model; also available unlocked
Data plan	Simply Everything Plan: $99.99 per month for unlimited everything (data, messaging, voice); Everything Data Plan: $69.99 per month for 450 minutes, unlimited data and messaging, $99.99 per month for 900 minutes; Family and business plans also available	$30 per month for unlimited consumer data plan, $45 per month for unlimited business data plan, $5 per month for 200 text messages, $15 per month for 1,500 text messages, $20 per month for unlimited text messages

Both of these devices are tough cookies and you could easily argue that with Palm’s synergy, Flash, removable battery and superior camera that WebOS and the Pre is the better deal here. Most devices would be happy to be mentioned in the same sentence. But the Palm Pre? It’s a contender.

And that’s the reason that regardless of price and release date, the Pre will get the attention it deserves when the time is right. We all just need to be a little patience. For what some have called Palm’s “Hail Mary”, why would you want them to rush the throw?

[Via CNET]