(By Jen Aronoff, jaronoff@charlotteobserver.com) Kevin Towe oversees 10 Sprint stores in the Charlotte region. So you’d better believe he’s noticed other cell phone carriers’ splashy new product launches.
But now, the spotlight is shining on his company – with the debut today of the new Palm Pre smart phone, a touch-screen whiz of a device garnering plenty of buzz for one-upping Apple’s iPhone. Selling for $200 after rebate and with a two-year contract, the Pre can surf the Web, check e-mail, take pictures and video, give turn-by-turn directions, sync music and videos with Apple’s iTunes and, yes, make calls. Unlike the iPhone, it includes a full keyboard and can run multiple programs at once. And it also has the potential to seriously buoy the fortunes of Kansas-based Sprint and California-based Palm, companies both hungry for a big hit after some lean years. No wonder Towe, visiting the Sprint store at Sycamore Commons in Matthews this week, pronounced himself “so ready” for today. “It’s good to be on the tip of everyone’s tongue,” he said, smiling. “You wouldn’t believe how many friends I’ve made in the last couple months,” company spokesman John Taylor cracked. Palm helped usher in the hand-held computing era with the original Palm Pilot in 1996. But Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry and, later, the style-conscious iPhone, have since dominated, with 55.3 percent and 19.5 percent, respectively, of the smart phone market in the first quarter of this year, according to research firm IDC. Palm has 3.9 percent. To recapture momentum, Palm hired an Apple veteran and gave him virtually free reign to craft a blockbuster product. The result was the Pre, which runs on a new operating system and has been attracting some enthusiastic early reviews. The Palm phone will face a crowded marketplace. New smart phone models from Samsung, Nokia and BlackBerry are on the way, and Apple may announce an updated iPhone Monday. But Palm executives are quick to point out that feature-packed smart phones are still just a slice of the overall U.S. wireless market – 21.5 percent, according to IDC. As a result, Palm and Sprint think many potential Pre buyers are people who would be switching from a traditional cell phone with fewer functions. The Pre requires an unlimited data plan, the least expensive of which also includes 450 minutes of talk time and costs $70 a month. The iPhone has helped lure customers to AT&T, its exclusive carrier. Sprint, the nation’s third-largest wireless carrier, is hoping that the Pre will also encourage people to switch. However, Verizon Wireless has also announced it will sell the Pre when Sprint’s exclusivity rights expire. Sprint and Palm have left little to chance in the rollout process, which included training for local stores and employees beginning in early May. Though ordinarily the employee designated as each store’s expert on a particular phone receives the device early and is allowed to take it home and begin using it, Pres weren’t allowed to leave backrooms. In recent days, the Matthews store’s coveted shipment remained behind a key-code-protected door reading “authorized personnel only.” On the sales floor the Pre’s future display space sat empty, below a flat-screen TV displaying video of the phone. Signs touting its arrival dotted the store. In the back, store manager Rob Cox held a Pre and animatedly demonstrated some of the phone’s key features, whisking his finger across its designed desktop. Local Sprint stores have seen a noticeable increase in call volume to stores and people inquiring in person about the Pre, Towe said. The company has also noticed an increase in Web traffic, and its call centers have also been receiving more calls from people asking when they’re eligible for an upgrade, spokesman Taylor said. Stores will have additional staff on hand this weekend. They’ll help customers transfer information to the new device and leave the store knowing how to use it. Though the Matthews store looked low-key Thursday, by Saturday it’ll be offering a festive atmosphere, with refreshments. Sprint is expecting crowds, but hopes it’s prepared enough to avoid lines wrapping around the building. Because when customers come calling, the company wants to be ready to answer. “It’s all hands on deck weekend,” Towe said.The Associated Press contributed
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