THIRTY-SIX HOURS AFTER setting hearts aflutter and fingertips a-Twitter at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last January, Palm-maker of the Pre smartphone, the week's undisputed rock star-was nowhere to be found. The brand's classroom-size annex, upstairs from the main convention floor, had been shuttered, and a glum center employee was turning away streams of would-be idolators. Set to arrive this summer on a Sprint data plan, the Pre will pose a credible challenge to iPhone ubiquity, Google T1 Android be damned. Multiple applications run simultaneously on the Pre's seamless Linux platform; finger-swipe commands are flawless; Google, Facebook, and Outlook calendars mesh into a simple, synched daily view; and the Pre boasts a QWERTY keyboard in addition to its touch screen, a boon to BlackBerry diehards who have been reluctant to make the switch. But rather than enjoy the spoils of its breathless CES premiere, Palm took a page out of the Blues Brothers playbook: kick ass, take names, skip town.
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