Smart-Phone Smackdown!

Contender: Palm Pre
Palm says its new Pre is the first phone built to simulate the Web itself

Pros:

• Cool interface
Apps look like cards, and you can run a dozen at a time

• Handles data better
Cleveryly mashes up Facebook, Gmail and Exchange contacts and calenders

• Keyboard and touch
Just start typing on the slider keyboard to find anything

Cons:

• Still needs work
As with any new cutting-edge gadget, expect bugs for some months to come

• Few apps
A little more than a dozen programs are available at launch

• No good games
It will be years before the Pre can compete as a game console

Champion: Apple iPhone
Apple's iPhone, linked to an App Store with 50,000 programs, was the game changer in the race to build a better smart phone

Pros:

• Looks great
You can't find a smarter-looking smart phone

• Works great
It's as smart on the inside as on the outside. Stable too

• Keeeps growing
There's an app for just about anything you can imagine

Cons:

• E-mail is a mess
A fix is in the works, but so far you can't search messages

• Needs a keyboard
Some people are error-prone on touchscreens

• No multitasking
You can launch only one app at a time, which is frustrating