Ted Cranmore, Waterloo ON

Palm's Pre: Likely to Break

I agree. I wish Palm well, but feel they are just too late to this party. With this timing, they'd not only have to produce a very good phone, they'd have to produce something that left everyone else in the dust. I really don't think the Pre is sufficiently better than anyone else's device to shift the market in a major way.

The real point here is that Palm will run out of cash once decent but not outstanding sales emerge. At that point, someone with deeper pockets will buy them. The question is...who? Microsoft? Dell?

Will Apple Increase iPhone Value with Rumored Verizon Deal?

Really, this is a matter of 'when' and not 'if'. My guess is either mid-summer with the release of new iPhones, or at Thanksgiving for a run into the holiday, or as late as next year. It's possible AT&T wants a further period of exclusivity with the new versions and is willing to pay for another shot at creating switchers.

Given the hard economic times, AT&T should also offer some very cheap, or even the option of completely opting out of the data plan as some users have good wifi exposure (compare this to Verizon which pressured RIMM to leave wifi right out of the Storm! That's nuts) They should do anything to encourage switching while they still have exclusivity. Many of those who switch, but skip the data plan, will eventually add one in once they run into situations when they wish they had it. Rogers in Canada already allows you to have no data plan and they are not exactly known for being the most customer friendly company!