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Then, this past January at the Consumer Electronics Show, the company rolled out a brand new smart phone with a brand new operating system. And people went crazy. Dubbed the latest in a long line of "iPhone killers," the Palm Pre and its webOS took some inspiration from the iPhone, but also attempted to make its own mark in the world with features like multitasking and unified contacts. The device launched shortly before Apple's own introduction of the iPhone 3GS, and so it seemed clear that the two were destined to be pitted in mortal battle against each other.

With sagging profits and an uphill slog in front of it, Palm has had to bet the farm on the Pre's success as well as that of its underlying ground-up technological revamp, the webOS. So can Palm do it? Does the Pre live up to its hype? Let's take a look at what the device brings to the table.

Slip and slide

The Pre comes with a few accessories that most smartphone owners will recognize: there's an AC charger with flip-out prongs, a USB charging/data cable, and a pair of earbuds. In addition, I got a chance to try out the nifty Touchstone inductive charger--but more on that later.

In its retracted form, the Pre is a little narrower and shorter than the iPhone, measuring in at 3.9 inches tall, 2.3 inches wide; it is, however, noticeably thicker: 0.67 inches compared to the iPhone's 0.48 inches. The two are identical in weight however, each weighing about 4.8 ounces (or, if you prefer to roll metric-style, 135 grams). Despite that commonality, though, there's something about the Pre that just feels light. I attributed that mainly to its construction materials, which rely more heavily on plastic than the iPhone.