Verizon to Get Palm Pre, Android, BlackBerry Storm 2

28.05.2009
Verizon Wireless plans to roll out a bumper crop of cutting-edge this year. The biggest shocker: The hotly anticipated , which debuts June 6 exclusively on the Sprint network, will be in about six months, according to Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam, who dropped the bombshell during a Thursday webcast with investors.

In addition to the Pre, Verizon will offer phones based on later this year, and will sell the , the second incarnation of Research in Motion's popular touch screen phone that received tepid to . Since Verizon is already the sole U.S. carrier of the Storm, it's no surprise it will offer the Storm 2 as well.

Palm Shocker

The Palm Pre announcement is great news for smart phone fans who crave the Pre, but who'd rather not sign up with Sprint, which ranks last in customer satisfaction among the four major U.S. wireless carriers, according to a recent study by the (ACSI). (To be the fair, the ACSI study, which is conducted annually, did show that Sprint's customer rating is up 12.5% over last year.) The same survey ranked Verizon Wireless No. 1 in customer satisfaction.

Obviously, the Verizon announcement is very bad news for Sprint, which will have a much harder time convincing its competitors' customers to defect. Its 6-month exclusivity deal for the Palm Pre is surprisingly short, and Sprint may be forced to offer very aggressive pricing plans to attract Pre fans. Then again, , so there may be a limit to its generosity.

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