Updated 24th June 2009: we have now tested the latest versions of both. Read our full review of the Palm Pre and our full review of the iPhone 3G S.

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Palm pulled off a spectacular surprise yesterday at an otherwise lacklustre CES, with the launch of the Pre - a touchscreen alternative to Apple's iPhone.

The Pre - which has been partly developed by former Apple engineers - also ships with a brand new OS - dubbed webOS - that aims to best anything Apple can serve up with the iPhone. So how do the two phones measure up in features and spec? Let's find out, shall we?

User interface

We'll be able to give you a proper evaluation later today, but Palm at least matches the iPhone when it comes to its user interface. The Palm Pre offers an almost identical range of multi-touch features and screen gestures, while the brand new webOS looks remarkably easy to use. The Palm Pre also has a built-in physical QWERTY keyboard, which glides out of sight when not in use - something that could be a real blessing to those who just can't bear the iPhone's virtual version. We've never had a problem.Verdict: A draw (for now).

The Display

Both the Apple iPhone and Palm Pre boast large widescreen displays for accessing the different apps, watching movies and more. The iPhone 3G has a 3.5-inch Multi-Touch display with a 480x320 pixel resolution. The Palm Pre's screen is smaller at 3.1-inches, but also boasts multi-touch too and identical screen resolution.Verdict: The Apple iPhone wins it - just.

Connectivity

Both the iPhone and the Palm Pre include 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB 2.0 connectivity. But the Palm Pre bests the iPhone in one major respect - it includes Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR with A2DP, enabling you to use wireless stereo headphones. The iPhone does not. The iPhone's Bluetooth implementation is crippled in other ways - you can't use it to sync data, for example. In the Palm Pre you can. Both phones also have assisted GPS for location and mapping. The iPhone 3G, erm, already has 3G mobile network connectivity already; Palm promises the Pre will include UMTS/HSPDA when the worldwide version goes on sale later this year.Verdict: The Palm Pre wings it.

Storage

The iPhone 3G is currently available in two different versions - one with 8GB of storage, the other with 16GB. The Palm Pre only comes with 8GB on board, which could limit its appeal to heavy music and movie enjoyers. Verdict: iPhone 3G - easy.

Mobile comms

One of Palm's proudest boasts with the Pre is that it offers seamless integration with calendaring, email with built-in integration with Microsoft Exchange Servers, POP and IMAP support, plus instant messaging (IM), SMS and MMS. It also includes a 'high performance, desktop class web browser'. The iPhone 3G matches this in most respects, although it doesn't offer MMS or IM by default (although you can IM using third-party apps such as Fring). Over the air synchronisation is free on the Palm Pre. However it'll set you back £89 a year on the iPhone using MobileMe.Verdict: Surprise! It's the Palm Pre.