New challenger to Palm Pre? Telstra says yes

How does Palm know they’ve got a hit on their hands? When people try to start to tear you down. A Telstra telecom exec was quoted as saying a new HTC phone based on a custom blend of Android and Linux is “better and more functional” after seeing the new Palm phone last week at CES.

This tidbit comes to use from Smarthouse, who further speculates that we’ll see the phone next month at Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress show and that the phone features a bigger screen than the G1, the world’s first Google Android OS phone. The G1 has fallen off the radar of many phone watchers due to a less than stellar performance and feel.

If anyone knows decent user experiences, it is HTC. They’ve been skinning Windows Mobile for some time now and make the bulky and unsightly UI a bit more usable. But better than the Pre? I am not so sure.

The Palm Pre was the darling of CES and we expect it to stay dear to the press until launch. We’ll be watching Barcelona closely for any Pre killers. It is possible that Telstra, who carries the Palm Centro was told they were not getting the Pre. Perhaps this comment was some sour grapes? We’ll know next month.

Source: [Smarthouse]