"The hardware is why the Palm Pre is able to support multitasking and multiple processes at the same time," says Vronko. "It's something that has not chosen to do yet, and we believe that if Palm had used the same hardware standard as the iPhone, they wouldn't have been able to support multitasking."

Vronko says the Pre's hardware has "definitely lived up to expectations" of delivering a new and innovative type of smartphone and he expects that "in six months you'll see smartphones with similar if not matching specifications coming out." He also says that the device is well positioned to improve its specs in the future, as the company is likely to use Texas Instruments' 45-nanometer processor for the Pre's next iteration, which will further improve its power-saving capabilities.

"The Pre's implementation is excellent," he says. "As a first attempt at making this class of device I would rate it as best first attempt I've ever seen, even better than the first iteration of the iPhone."

Two other notable features of the Pre are its dual-band support for both EV-DO and HSPA 3G networks that gives Pre users the option of more easily switching wireless networks, and its user-replaceable battery, which Vronko says will make it vastly easier for users to install new batteries without having to send the device into the manufacturer.

Nationwide, Sprint is to have sold around 50,000 Pre devices this past weekend, well short of the estimated 1 million iPhone 3G units that AT&T sold last year during the first two days of its release. The Pre is expected to get further competition later this month, when AT&T begins selling the Apple iPhone 3GS on June 19.