Published in Mobiles

Verizon confirms it will get Palm Pre

by on28 July 2009

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No world on the iPhone


While many
think that Verizon will start flogging the iPhone at some time in the future, the telco has confirmed that from early next year it will start selling the Jesus phone's rival the Palm Pre in the meantime.

The wireless operator has confirmed it will be getting the Palm Pre early next year. Chief operating officer, Denny Strigl, spilled the beans on the impending smartphone availability during a conference call with analysts and investors discussing the company's second-quarter earnings on Monday.

The Palm Pre, which was highly anticipated for several months, is currently only available on Sprint Nextel's network. Earlier reports indicated there might be a longer wait for a Verizon Palm Pre. This is a bit of a surprise because Sprint had an exclusivity deal with Palm which was supposed to last more than six months. In June, Sprint Nextel's CEO Dan Hesse said that Verizon needed to check its facts. Both Palm and Sprint have agreed not to discuss the length of the exclusivity deal, but he said that it was not six months."

If Verizon does in fact offer the phone in early 2010, that makes the deal technically longer than six months, but not by much. Verizon is in desperate need of some hot new phones on its network. Even though Verizon Wireless has always gotten high marks for its reliable wireless network, it has often been seen as a laggard in terms of getting the hottest new cell phones. AT&T has the exclusive deal with the iPhone. The first and second Android devices are being sold by T-Mobile USA. And Sprint Nextel was the first out of the gate with the Palm Pre. Verizon Wireless has an exclusive deal to carry the BlackBerry Storm, but many loyal BlackBerry users have complained about the touch screen.

Research In Motion is readying a new version of the phone for later this year. Verizon wants a nice phone to add to its list. Rumours have been flying that Apple might be readying an iPhone for Verizon. And many loyal Verizon subscribers, who don't want to leave the carrier, but really want the iPhone. The Palm Pre might just sate them. Certainly I would be happy with it.
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