Well I did it. I splurged on the Palm Pre so the humiliation of trotting out that 3-year old Treo is behind me. It is very compact and a decidedly sexy little device. The UI is very slick, and the multitasking is outstanding. On a whole, I’m very happy with it. I think it lives up to its billing as an iPhone challenger. However, it’s not clear it’s an iPhone killer. It probably is a wash, but let’s not tell Kim, okay?

Despite rumors of shortages, the first store I walked into had one. However, they assured me they were the only ones who did. I’m not sure I believe I was that lucky, and the kid was awfully skilled in all the standard sales-speak. So it was likely just blather. But I have one. They didn’t have any Touchstones though. These are the inductive (cordless) chargers that are almost as cool as the phone itself. But they are backordered most everywhere until July.

There are clearly some drawbacks to being on the bleeding edge here. One being that the App Store is pretty sparse, but I expect those things will roll out over the summer. There’s also a lack of a few things that’s a little surprising. While you can customize your ringtones nine ways to Sunday, there’s no ability to change the sound it makes when a message comes in. I expect these sorts of things will come out in future firmware upgrades. So, it should be kind of exciting to get new features as the platform matures. Meanwhile, my weekend is pretty much shot as I explore my new toy.