AT&T and Palm have apparently chosen this fine Sunday to go live with Big Blue’s very first webOS-powered smartphone – the AT&T Palm Pre Plus. Today is May 16th, after all, and AT&T did previously promise to unleash the Palm Pre Plus on the American masses today for just $149.99 when purchased with a new contract and qualifying data plan.
It’s fitting that AT&T launch the Palm Pre Plus on the heels of Palm acquisition by computer-maker Hewlett Packard (HP) last month. The Palm Pre Plus comes loaded with upgraded storage compared to the original Sprint Palm Pre. With 16 GB of storage memory, 3.1-inch capacitive touchscreen (with multitouch support), vertically-sliding full QWERTY keyboard, 3-megapixel camera, WiFi, GPS, 3G data connectivity and the potential genius that is the multi-tasking webOS, the Palm Pre Plus is a good move for AT&T. Unfortunately, the Mobile Hotspot feature that Verizon allowed for free to Pre Plus customers looking to turn their handset into a portable WiFi router goes unsurprisingly unmentioned on AT&T’s product page.
On the upside, the $150 price tag includes the Palm Touchstone charger, which allows you to wirelessly charge your AT&T Palm Pre Plus by simply docking it with the magnetic Touchstone dock.
AT&T has been pushing the iPhone lineup so hard and for so long that they’ve seemingly forgotten to keep up with the smartphone race on other platforms. AT&T has but one Android device in its smartphone stable. So, it’s refreshing to see the carrier coming to terms the webOS to round out its portfolio – possibly a little too late for the Palm Pre Plus to really catch on, but hey, at least it’s a start.
Check out our coverage of the Palm Pre Plus here and here.