At CES Palm Chairman (former Apple exec) Jon Rubinstein introduced Palm's heavily anticipated new smartphone: the Pre. It runs a new Palm OS and is designed "from the ground up" for mobile Internet access. Pricing is unclear, but initially it will be available in the US only from Sprint (some time in the first half). This is likely to hold off some iPhone defections from Sprint. Out of the gate it beats the Instinct, HTC Pro and other Sprint handsets (unless you're tied to a BlackBerry). 

It offers a 3.1-inch touch screen, a 3MP camera (better than iPhone) and a slide out QWERTY keyboard (some will cheer, but not really necessary any longer). The apps apparently can be easily navigated on a flowing carousel-like stream that glides across the screen. It also features an "Opera speed dial" or Chrome-like bookmarks interface. From the coverage I've seen so far it appears pretty sleek and impressive. The test will come when you get one into your hands. 

The Pre will showcase the new Palm apps store. Reportedly developers can build apps for it without learning any new, specialized language.

It also has a "personality" unlike the myriad iPhone clones from LG or Samsung. And dare I say it? It also appears to have more moxie than the G1. 

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Related: Engadget has an extensive (positive) review, images and some video. Scroll to the bottom for the video. 

Update: There's a rumor/report out that Palm will offer a "Centro 2" with the new WebOS that powers the Pre. What's significant here beyond an improved user experience is that the Centro was cheap ($99). So if you have a terrific mobile Web experience available for that price, you may see lots of people jump for the phone. It also goes to the argument I made that we'll hit 50% smartphone penetration in the US in several years.