The Palm Pre Plus, the upgraded version of the supposed iPhone killer is finally making it’s way to the network of the iPhone. Â The release coming on May 16 comes off as just a bit too late, however. Â {Engadget} It comes just a month before the official launch of the new iPhone (the one that launched a nasty police raid), which is expected to borrow a few of the Pre Plus’Â features.
The new version will feature multitasking, one of the biggest advantages the Pre Plus formerly had over the iPhone . Â While the current iPhone has a rather boring user interface, the next version will allow for wallpapers on the homescreen, another big plus the original Pre offered.
That leaves the Pre Plus with a free Touchstone wireless charger that will be included with the phone when purchased in a corporate-owned store. If, like Ellen, the physical keyboard on the Blackberry has kept you from giving a touchscreen phone a chance, the Palm Pre Plus has one. But we aren’t sure if that’s enough to get Apple or Blackberry loyalists (maybe Palm’s mistake was going with a tree name instead of a fruit), to make the change.
Coming in at $149.99 compared to the recently reduced Verizon price of $29.99 on a two-year contract, the AT&T Palm Pre Plus just seems like a bad idea for now. The free charger doesn’t make up for the fact that AT&T’s network is notoriously spotty with coverage compared to Verizon.  The initial price is also a lot more than on Verizon, and the monthly plans are about the same.
The only real upside is the fact that AT&T’s network allows you to talk and browse the web simultaneously. Provided you’re in a location where you can talk in the first place, but that’s a different discussion. All in all, we wouldn’t count on AT&T to save sales of recently rescued Palm. And though its features are solid, the Pre doesn’t seem like it will provide enough incentive for someone to switch to AT&T, or even stay on AT&T. Good thing they still have iPhone exclusivity.