The largest smartphone maker you've never heard of wants to capture the hearts – and dollars – of the U.S. consumer.

Motorola's (MOT) Droid phone is getting a ton of buzz, and that’s by design. Verizon Wireless (VZ) chief Marketing Officer John Stratton has said the marketing campaign behind its iPhone competitor will be the largest in its history.

But the Google (GOOG)-powered device isn't the only smartphone the company is likely to begin selling at the start of November. Though no one has officially confirmed, the carrier is expected to announce a second device that will also run on Google's  Android operating system at half the price: the HTC Droid Eris.

Haven’t heard of HTC? You aren't alone. More

Back to the future: Straight Talk phones like the LG 200C might be dowdy, but growth in the prepaid market could eventually squeeze carrier profits. Photo: LG.

Look out, U.S. wireless carriers: Wal-Mart is teaming up with billionaire Carlos Slim’s América Móvil to train its price-crushing might on cell phones.

In time for the holiday season, the mega-retailer on Wednesday announced a nationwide roll-out of the new prepaid Straight Talk service, offered through América Móvil subsidiary Tracfone Wireless. Unlike mainstream wireless plans that pair cutting-edge phones with higher monthly fees and multi-year contracts, pre-paid services like Straight Talk offer cheaper phones, lower fees and no contracts.

Wal-Mart will offer two Straight Talk options: a $30 monthly plan that comes with 1,000 minutes, 1,000 texts and 30 megabytes of data, and a $45 monthly plan with unlimited voice, texts and data. Straight Talk uses Verizon’s (VZ) wireless network. More

Verizon, Sybase and Quickcomm team up to manage corporations' mobility needs. Their service just scratches the surface

Chen wants to help your company go mobile. Photo: Sybase

Telecom giant Verizon (VZ) says it is launching a suite of services to help corporate IT departments manage their fleets of mobile devices. Corporate clients can hire Verizon to track their inventories of phones and monitor billings, add and drop devices as employees come and go, enforce security policies on phones and even remotely deliver applications and data to employees' handsets.

Verizon is partnering with software company Sybase (SY) and Quickcomm, which specializes in telecom-expense management, to offer a one-stop shop for companies looking to outsource mobile operations.

Analysts' reports suggest there's a need for such tools: Forrester Research estimates that by 2012 nearly three-fourths of workers worldwide, or nearly 400 million people, will be using mobile devices for work. More

The way consumers use Apple's mobile phone (i.e., constantly) means big headaches for carrier AT&T. And more smartphones are on the way.

Randall Stephenson, chairman, CEO, and president of AT&T, holds up his Apple iPhone

At the South by Southwest music, film, and interactive fest in Texas earlier this year, the iPhone was all the rage — and not in a good way.

The device proved so popular with Internet-addicted attendees that AT&T's wireless network in the city of Austin buckled under the strain, all but shutting down both voice and data service for many customers.

iPhone users bashed the phone company on Twitter and in blogs, and AT&T (T) had to haul in extra network equipment just to ease the gridlock. More

Wireless carriers tout a new wave of wireless technology but it will be years before most consumers benefit — and before carriers make money.

4G Phone: Samsung's Mondi device operates on WiMax networks. Image: Samsung

Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon (VZ) and Vodafone (VOD), last week announced it had completed data "calls" using its flavor of so-called 4G technology, a new generation of radio upgrades that promises to improve the throughput  and capacity of wireless phone networks.

Rival Sprint Nextel (S) immediately responded with a flurry of news releases touting its 4G network, which uses a competing technical standard.  In proclaiming its ability to deliver peak downlink speeds of 10 Mbps, one release gushed: "At these speeds, Sprint 4G breathes new life into wireless Internet."

Um, wasn't that what 3G was supposed to do? More

Douglas L. Gilstrap, newly named head of strategy for Ericsson (ERIC) doesn't start his new gig until Oct 1, but it is pretty clear the U.S.-born Gilstrap aims to push the Swedish telecom equipment maker to do more deals like the $5 billion, seven-year contract it recently inked with Overland Park, Kan.-based Sprint (S).

Gilstrap, a veteran of network operators such as Britain's Cable & Wireless, told Brainstorm Tech he thinks Ericsson has a great opportunity to help phone companies that are trying to manage lots of change: Consumer and business demand for broadband capacity continues to grow; meanwhile, operators are trying to migrate their networks to systems based on Internet Protocols and integrate and update networks they acquired over the years. The phone carriers also are looking for ways to keep their costs down. More

How did Palm's (PALM) Pre do in its first weekend of sales?

In a report to clients issued Monday morning, RBC Capital's Mike Abramsky offers some numbers.

Based on his "channel checks" — presumably a survey of Sprint (S) and Best Buy (BBY) retail stores — Abramsky estimates that Palm sold somewhere between 45,000 and 55,000 Pres last weekend ,and put another 10,000 to 15,000 would-be customers on waiting lists.

Apple (AAPL) and AT&T (T), by contrast, sold 270,000 iPhones in that device's first two days of sale (Friday and Saturday, June 29 and 30, 2007).

A year later Apple sold 1 million iPhone 3Gs in less than three days — although analysts estimate that more than half of those sales were in overseas markets.

Palm's sales were limited to U.S. retail outlets and were severely constrained by short supplies. Store representatives told Abramsky that their initial inventories ranged from 5 units to 80+ (average: 25-45 per store), which sold out within the first one to three hours.

The reps were not at all certain when more supplies would be coming in, although most expected to get them "sometime next week."

Among Abramsky's other findings:

• An estimated 80-90% of early Pre buyers were Sprint customers, some upgrading from flip phones, others from HTC smartphones or Research in Motion (RIMM) BlackBerries
• An estimated 60% had previously owned Palm devices
• The features that attracted customers to the Pre included "its sleek [user interface], Web browser, physical keyboard, multitasking, and side-loading with iTunes"
• Battery life and limited apps (shortcomings highlighted in early Pre reviews) did not seem to deter early buyers.

Abramsky believes Palm is on track to sell 470,000 Pres in its first quarter and 2.6 million units in its first year.

"Forward catalysts for [share] growth and valuation," he writes in analyst's telegraphese, "include distribution expansion, additional product launches, visibility to breakeven, and smartphone market growth…

"Valuation could be near-term volatile on: a) competitive launches from Apple, RIM, Android; b) possible litigation concerns; c) launch or subsequent execution issues (e.g. shortages, quality, support, etc); d) speculation over future carrier launches."

Abramsky is sticking with his "outperform" rating for Palm and a $14 price target. Shares closed Friday at an even $13.

See also:

• The Pre’s soggy debut – Updated
• The Palm Pre takes Manhattan
• Palm Pre launch plans leaked
• Apple vs. Palm: Geeks with grudges

There were eleven customers huddled under umbrellas in a steady rain when the doors to Sprint's (S) flagship store in Manhattan's Greenwich Village opened at 6 p.m. ET Friday night — the worldwide retail debut of this week's hottest smartphone.

First in line was Alfredo Rodriguez, 37, a hospital building services employee from the Flatbush section of Brooklyn. He had been a Sprint customer for a year and a half and was ready to trade his HTC Diamond for a Palm (PALM) Pre.

The tech press has been obsessed with the Pre since it was unveiled in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where it was showered with plaudits and awards, including Best in Show. Built by a team headed by Jon Rubinstein — once one of Steve Jobs' closest advisers — it was seen as the worthiest competitor yet to the Apple (AAPL) iPhone.

But in the weeks before its debut, Palm's PR team sought to lower expectations, telling the press not to expect the hysterical employees and snaking lines that have accompanied the launch of every iPhone to date.

Alfredo Rodriguez only had to wait an hour to get his Pre. He arrived at 5 p.m. and when the doors opened he was swiftly ushered to a sales booth, where he was persuaded to buy two add-ons, a case and a wireless charger.

Palm's day in the sun — or rather the rain — may not last long. Apple is expected to announce a new iPhone some time before the end of June. Perhaps as early as Monday.

UPDATE: When we checked back Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m., there were 19 people in line and 10 customers inside buying phones. The store had opened at 8 a.m., two hours early, with roughly 20 people queued up to buy Pres, according to a customer who said he arrived at 8 sharp.

Reports from around the country suggest that this level of demand — steady, but relatively modest –  was fairly typical on Saturday, the Pre's first full day of sales.

See also:

• The Palm Pre takes Manhattan
• Palm Pre launch plans leaked
• Apple vs. Palm: Geeks with grudges

The first wave of reviews for Palm's (PALM) Pre came in overnight Thursday from the usual suspects — and they're generally positive, with caveats.

The early reviews cover the basics and make the expected comparisons to Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and Research in Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry.

The most in-depth piece we've read is Joshua Topolsky's at Engadget. For sheer length, Dieter Bohn's 20-part epic at PreCentral.net takes the prize.

A sampler:

• Walt Mossberg, Wall Street Journal: "I’ve been testing the Pre for a couple of weeks, and I like it a lot, despite some important drawbacks that will have to be remedied…. I consider the Pre to be potentially the strongest rival to the iPhone to date, provided it attracts lots of third-party apps, which it sorely lacks at launch. Its design is much better than that of the two other main iPhone-class competitors: the T-Mobile G1, which uses Android, and RIM’s touch-screen BlackBerry Storm."
• David Pogue, New York Times: "The Pre has the usual feature checklist: Wi-Fi, GPS, 3G (high-speed Internet), Bluetooth (including wireless audio), good camera with tiny flash, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, tilt sensor, standard headphone jack, 3.1-inch touch screen (the same 320 x 480 pixels as the iPhone, packed into less space). The hard part is making it all feel simple and unified –  over all, Palm nailed it…. So do the Pre’s perks (beautiful hardware and software, compact size, keyboard, swappable battery, flash, multitasking, calendar consolidation) outweigh its weak spots (battery life, occasional sluggishness, ringer volume)? Oh, yes indeedy."
• Edward C. Baig, USA Today: "Pre is easy on the eyes. I can't think of a more comfortable cellphone in my hand. It has a lovely screen for taking in YouTube videos or browsing the Web. The "always-connected" software foundation at its core, which Palm designed from scratch and calls WebOS, is slick and rife with possibilities."
• Joshua Topolsky, Engadget: "The keyboard has been a subject of tremendous debate. Well, we can put your mind at ease folks — it's actually pretty good. Now, we won't lie, it's not quite the barnstormer of the Bold or Treo 650, but it is a very, very solid typing experience nonetheless. The keys — made of a similar rubbery material which the Treo Pro and Centros use — have a surprising amount of depth given their location, and they're actually somewhat clicky (a surprise to us). Spacing between keys is ample, but we wouldn't say generous — though in general getting accustomed to typing on the Pre wasn't too painful."

UPDATE: The second wave of reviews include:

• Michael V. Copeland and Jon Fortt, Fortune
• Josh Quittner, Time
• Steve Levy, Wired

• Stephen H. Wildstrom, BusinessWeek
• Sinead Carew, Reuters
• Peter Svensson, AP
• Jason Chen, Gizmodo
• Ginny Mies, PC World
• Ryan Kairer, Palm Infocenter
• Bonnie Cha, CNET

And don't miss Gizmodo's clever Palm Pre Review Matrix.

The Pre goes on sale Saturday for $199 after a $100 rebate. Sprint's (S) two-year voice and data contracts range from $69.99 to $99.99.

See also:

• Palm Pre launch plans leaked
• Scooplet: the Palm Pre syncs with iTunes
• Apple vs. Palm: Geeks with grudges

It's labeled "Sprint confidential information for internal use only," and accompanied by a warning that any "improper sharing" is considered a leak, will be investigated, and could result in "termination."

But that didn't prevent a copy of Sprint's business/executive launch guide for the Palm Pre from falling into the hands of the sleuths at Engadget, who published the 21-page document in its entirety on Sunday.

It's chock full of juicy details — including the dates of a Hollywood promotional event (June 3), a New York executive breakfast (June 5) and invitation-only VIP events at 10 flagship stores (June 5).

For the rest of us, who have to wait for the official June 6 launch, there are instructions to staff about who should and shouldn't be sold Palm's (PALM) bet-the-company device.

"We Can't Afford to Sell the Pre to the Wrong Customers," warns the call-out text.

But most relevant for would-be buyers — and competitors — are the details of Sprint's (S) pricing plans, which start at $69.99 (for "Everything Data" and 450 calling minutes per month) and $99.99 (for "Simply Everything," which includes unlimited minutes). See the chart below:

There's also a handy "Smokes the Competition" chart that compares features and pricing with AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ) and T-Mobile (DT) for Apple's (AAPL) iPhone, Research in Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry Storm and Google's (GOOG) and HTC's G1, respectively. See below:

For anyone thinking about buying a Pre, it's a must-read. Get it here.