The debut of the Palm Pre on Sprint over the weekend means that each of the four major U.S. carriers has an exclusive deal for a touchscreen smartphone targeting the mass consumer market.

However, those exclusive agreements may not last, with rumors swirling that Apple may be negotiating with Verizon Wireless to strike a deal that would end AT&T's exclusive iPhone agreement, and that Sprint's window of exclusivity for the Pre could be limited. For now, Sprint is thrilled that it has in its roster a much-hyped touchscreen smartphone, a category that has captured consumers' imagination.

"The Palm Pre marks the debut of a new platform, one that brings the level of touchscreen user interface polish and device elegance associated with the iPhone to a broader set of U.S. customers, starting with Sprint users until at least until the end of 2009," said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis of consumer technology for the NPD Group, New York.

"The device incorporates multitouch gestures and strong email, Web and maps applications, but adds a visual multitasking system that allows consumers to easily switch and quit applications," he said.

On Saturday, the Palm Pre smartphone was released nationwide in Sprint stores, Best Buy, RadioShack, select Walmart stores and online at Sprint.com.

The next step is to get app developers to go all in and come out with an extensive line up of applications, which are becoming indispensible for brands' marketing strategy (see story).

So how will the Pre stack up against competing smartphones (see story)?

It may not be an Apple killer, especially with a lower iPhone pricepoint and version 3.0 expected to roll out momentarily, but Palm and Sprint are betting that the Pre will have a significant impact on the market.

AT&T has the iPhone, T-Mobile USA has the G1, which runs on Google's Android operating system, and Verizon Wireless has Research In Motion's BlackBerry Storm. The BlackBerry Curve, although not offering touchscreen functionality, is available on multiple carriers, which has been a coup for RIM.

"The debut of the Pre at Sprint sets up a condition where each of the four major carriers will be featuring an exclusive hero touchscreen smartphone at $199 or less," Mr. Rubin said. "But there will soon be other Android and webOS devices that appear on other carriers.

"The Pre's application catalog is limited for now, but the device features a development system that is friendly to Web developers, and Palm can take advantage of being on multiple carriers with multiple models," he said.

"This has contributed to the success of RIM, which has the highest smartphone operating system share in the U.S., according to NPD's Mobile Phone Track."