The latest rumor surround Palm's upcoming Pre smartphone has nothing to do with its release date, which remains a mystery. Instead, the rumor concerns the stores that will be offering the smartphone. WebOSArena is reporting that for the first 60 days after its launch, the Pre will be available exclusively at Best Buy, in addition to Sprint stores.

Whether the rumor is true remains to be seen--even through WebOSArena says it was a tipped off by a credible Best Buy source. But it does make sense, as Best Buy has been aggressively moving into the sales of mobile phones. Last year, Best Buy became the first retailer other than Apple or AT&T; to sell the iPhone. Best Buy has added "Best Buy Mobile" departments to many of its stories, and requires that all of the Best Buy Mobile staff is trained in "mobile phone technology and trends."

Image © Palm

Palm may have stolen most of the headlines at this year's Consumer Electronics Show by announcing its upcoming Pre smartphone and webOS platform. But Palm wasn't the only company making news at this year's show. Here's some information on the other smartphones on display at CES.

T-Mobile and RIM confirmed that the BlackBerry Curve 8900 will be available next month. They did not confirm an official release date or a price, but said the phone--which is the slimmest full-QWERTY BlackBerry, will be available from the carrier by the end of February.

T-Mobile also announced that it is updating its Shadow smartphone. The Shadow, which runs Windows Mobile, will be available in new colors and will add support for T-Mobile's Unlimited HotSpot Calling service, which allows you to make voice calls over wireless networks (in addition to over cellular networks). Pricing was not disclosed, but the new Shadow will be available sometime in January.

In addition, T-Mobile announced that its Dash smartphone is now available in black, in addition to the original silver design. The black Dash is available from T-Mobile now for $100 (after a mail-in rebate).

HTC announced its S743 smartphone at the show. The Windows Mobile-based smartphone is similar to HTC's Touch Diamond; it has a 2.4-inch touch screen and a full QWERTY keyboard that slides out from underneath the phone. The HTC S734 will be available in an unlocked version in the first quarter of 2009 for about $600.

Pharos was showing the Traveler 137, a Windows Mobile-based smartphone that emphasizes its GPS capabilities. The Traveler 137 relies on the GPS equipment typically found in personal GPS units rather than the weaker GPS equipment that's used in smartphones. It will be available in an unlocked version (not tied to a specific carrier) in the first quarter of 2009 for about $600.

Nokia showed off its upcoming N97 smartphone at the show, but also announced that its Symbian-based E63 smartphone will be available in an unlocked version in the U.S. in the next few weeks. The E63 will cost $250; that's much cheaper than many unlocked smartphones.

Images © RIM, T-Mobile, HTC, and Nokia

LAS VEGAS -- Palm announced its new Pre phone with its own Web OS operating system here at the Consumer Electronics Show. Palm is hoping to regain luster--and market share--with a device and OS that are competitive options to the iPhone3G and Blackberry.

Those who have had hands-on time with the Pre (which does not have a firm release date or price yet) say the user interface is very well done and well thought out. The Pre has the now-mandatory bright and crisp touch screen that re-orients to landscape mode automatically when the phone is turned.

The screen slides to reveal a nicely designed QWERTY keypad with more-than-typical spacing between the keys, a nice touch. Wi-Fi and GPS are built in. The Pre is a bit smaller and rounder in profile than the iPhone 3G.

Few details have been released on the operating system, other than that is based on Linux, will be an open platform to encourage developers, and will include what Palm hopes will be a large and vibrant app store. The Pre will be offered exclusively via a partnership with Sprint. Consensus here is that Palm has a real contender in this beautiful new phone.

-- Fred Zahradnik, About.com Guide to GPS

Image © Palm

If you were hoping for the launch of a new iPhone at the Macworld Expo 2009, currently underway in San Francisco, you're going to be disappointed. The keynote address--which was used to introduce the original iPhone two years ago--has come and gone with little iPhone-related news.

Rumors had swirled for weeks that Apple might use the keynote to unveil a new, higher-capacity iPhone or a lower-capacity iPhone (often referred to as an iPhone Nano), but no dice. Some bloggers also speculated that Apple might announce a tethering plan for iPhones, which would allow you to use the phone as a modem for a laptop computer. Again, no dice.

Still, the Macworld keynotes wasn't entirely devoid of news for iPhone users. If you own an iPhone 3G, you'll be happy to hear that you can now purchase and download music from the iTunes store over your 3G connection; in the past, you had to be connected to a Wi-Fi network in order to do so. Apple also announced that its entire catalog of music will be available for purchase DRM-free. That means the songs will be sold without any copyright restrictions on them.

Apple also announced Keynote Remote, an application for the iPhone and iPod Touch, which will allow you to remote control presentations made with Apple's Keynote software.

Image © Apple