Several years back, Palm caused tech hearts to flutter with its Treo Smartphone. Yesterday it received a similar reaction with the introduction of a new touchscreen 3G phone, the Palm Pre. Most experts agree the Pre is the undisputed star of CES 2009's first day.

The Pre bears a resemblance to the iPhone -- though you didn't hear that from us -- but it trumps Apple's product by sporting a full-sized touch screen and QWERTY keyboard. Palm Pre also has 8 GB of on-board memory and supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS functionality. Our personal favorite? The Palm Pre has an accelerometer that rotates images on the screen to accommodate the position of your Palm

InformationWeek says, "There's no doubt that Palm did well today. The announcement of the Pre smartphone was met with cheers and loud applause from attendees of the press conference. The room was near to bursting with excitement."

Reviewers seem most excited about how Palm's Pre seems to have addressed the problem areas of other Smartphones -- clunkiness, efficient features and simplicity.

According to PC Magazine, "[T]here's more than simply me-too technology to the Pre; it offers real innovation. From a new app and tasks management metaphor known as 'Cards' to the gesture area, this is a smart phone that's breaking new ground."

Similarly, The Street comments, "It's not just one or two 'killer' features, or the phone's overall size, or even the way the handset gently curves so that it fits snugly against your ear while placing the microphone right near your lips. It's the entire package. From the hardware to the software and everything in between it's almost as if the people at Palm studied every smart phone on the market and improved upon every single one of them."

Sprint is the exclusive carrier partner for the Pre's launch, and Palm is working on devices for other carriers in the future. Palm hasn't released any information on how much the Pre will cost, or when you can expect to get your hands on one.

If you're considering upgrading to a Smartphone, check out our guide to some of the pros and cons of tech convergence, or read through our GPS Reviews for information on the best gadgets for GPS navigation.