The Palm Pre, which goes on sale June 6, is an elegant, joyous, multitouch smartphone; it’s the iPhone, remixed. That’s no surprise, really; its primary mastermind was Jon Rubinstein, who joined Palm after working with Apple’s Steve Jobs, on and off, for 16 years. Once at Palm, he hired 250 engineers from Apple and elsewhere, and challenged them to out-iPhone the iPhone.

Feature checklist: The Pre has the usual features—Wi-Fi, GPS, 3G, Bluetooth (including wireless audio), very good camera with tiny flash, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, tilt sensor, standard headphone jack, 3.1-inch touchscreen (the same 320x480 pixels as the iPhone, packed into less space). The hard part is making it all feel simple and unified—overall, Palm nailed it.

Hardware: The Pre is a shiny, black plastic, flattened capsule, coated with a hard, glossy, scratch-resistant finish. When it’s turned off, the screen disappears completely into the smoky finish, leaving a stunning, featureless talisman. It’s exactly the right size. It’s smaller than the iPhone—a 1/2 inch shorter, though a 1/4 inch thicker—and therefore more comfortable as a phone.

Price: It costs $200 after rebate.

Typing: Unlike the iPhone, the Pre has a real keyboard. The screen slides up, revealing four rows of Thumbelina-size keys. They’re really tiny; a BlackBerry’s keyboard is Texas by comparison. Even so, the domed key shapes and sticky rubber key surfaces make it faster and less frustrating than typing on glass.

Phone: To make a call, just pop open the keyboard and start dialling. Or just start typing; matches from your address book come up immediately.

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