Palm Pre: 'I Kinda Really Want One'

Thanks largely to my dreadful cellphone provider, I am left to endlessly pine for a new "smart-phone".  As I am locked into my current contract for a seemingly endless amount of time, my choice between the newest phones is pure conjecture. However, I am fairly certain that if I could get a new phone within the next few months, it would be the Palm-Pre, over the iPhone or the G1 (google phone). 

The to-be-released Palm-Pre has enormous upside.  It has sleek and stunning looks, on par with the iPhone design.  It's new 'touch' operating system, Mojo SDK, has been continuously regarded by all those who had an opportunity to appraise it at the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES). And, the functionality of the phone seems to be exemplary of a "smart phone" capability.  Like the G1, it has a full QWERTY keyboard, not a problematic (for some) touch pad like the iPhone. Further, it offers "cut-and-paste", a function that Apple seems disinclined to provide to the iPhone, despite many frustrated users (I'm thinking a Molly Wood iPhone "cut-and-paste" rant). 

Yet the biggest downside to the Pre, is that Palm has yet to deliver.  Expectations were set alarmingly high at CES, as many praised the Pre and the accompanying OS as the saviour of Palm.  Can the Pre live up to the hype?  

First, the battery on the Pre needs to be sufficient.  Palm cannot afford a battery that performs as poorly as the G1 (with full battery charges lasting for only 4-6 hours).  A "smart phone" simply needs to operative for a full day (8 hours+) on one charge. Second, the exclusivity to Sprint as a carrier needs to be short-lived.  Sprint has received widespread criticism as being the worst carrier in terms of customer service (beating out AT&T), and having spotty 3G service (although, supposedly if you are in a good coverage area, the service is superb).  The sooner the Pre goes non-exclusive, the better off Palm will be...

Palm is set to release the Pre within the first half of 2009, yet no official release date has been set.  

If could just get out of my current service contract and also afford a monthly data plan, I'd be in business...because, I kinda really want a Pre.