Now that we’ve taken the full tour of other smartphones and seen everybody else’s reaction to webOS, it’s time for me to chime in with a few finishing thoughts on webOS for the Smartphone Round Robin.

Obviously I’m not going to ‘review’ anything here – in addition to my colleagues’ excellent overviews, we already have a full Palm Pre Review, Palm Pre Plus Review, Pixi Review, Pixi Plus Review, and Guide to webOS here on PreCentral. Instead I want to focus in on one particular issue that’s been weighing on my mind for the past few months – multitasking on webOS.

I’ve said this a few times and after taking a tour of the other major smartphone platforms out there I think this more strongly than ever: no other smartphone platform has as elegant or intuitive multitasking as webOS.

Read on for my final thoughts there and also to see the winner of the Smartphone Round Robin contest for PreCentral!

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A couple quick contest reminders as deadlines loom (LOOM I tell you!):

• The Developer Survey we mentioned here is still running but will end this weekend. Interpret is putting together an exciting set of data about mobile app development and needs your input. Take the survey here and be entered for your chance to win a Palm Pixi or Palm Pixi Plus. Heck, if those phones aren’t your style, you can also opt for up to $550 to purchase the phone of your choice.
• Since not everybody will qualify for the developer survey prize, one more reminder: the Smartphone Round Robin contest is still running, but will end on Thursday. You can enter to win the Palm Phone of your choice by posting in this thread. Everybody’s been asking so here’s the news: we are announcing the winners on Friday!

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After representing Windows Mobile for two years running the Smartphone Round Robin, this year I’m taking at a look at it from a webOS user’s perspective. Windows Mobile (which can be found on Windows Phone) has had a rough year wherein the big launch was 6.5, which was a minor update to 6.1, which itself was a minor update to 6.0, which some have argued was more like Windows Mobile 5.5 than anything… you get the picture, Windows Mobile hasn’t seen much in the way of huge OS updates for a long time now.

So where’s the action at? It’s at HTC, who has churned out what is probably the coolest single piece of smartphone hardware of the past year and who has also developed this thing called ‘Sense’ that’s less a theme or skin and more a symbiotic app suite that replaces as much of the look and feel of Windows Mobile as humanly possible.

We’ll delve into all that and more, after the break!

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It’s the penultimate week of the Smartphone Round Robin and my task this week is to try to understand where Windows Mobile / Windows Phone is at these days.  I’m seeking advice from Windows Mobile users over at WMExperts, so if you’re in that camp, go on and give me a shout-out there.

If you’re looking to get the final word in on the comparative looks at webOS, Rene Ritchie of The iPhone Blog has it this week and he’s looking for assistance himself.

After the break, Phil Nickinson of WMExperts walks me though the latest and greatest Windows Phones

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Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Smartphone OS available on a variety of carriers in an ever-increasing array of devices, with powerful but difficult-to-manage multitasking, a user interface that can be a little cluttered and confusing yet is highly customizable, integration with the company’s own email solution that’s second-to-none, and apps that lack polish but get the job done.

Despite what you’re thinking, I’m talking about Android and not Windows Mobile here. Both are facing similar issues but have similar appeal, though. Read on for the Smartphone Round Robin review of Android from PreCentral.net!

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RIM’s approach to the BlackBerry platform is diametrically opposed to Palm’s strategy with webOS: instead of Palm’s complete overhaul, RIM has opted for continuous and relentless incremental upgrades year after year. In my third year looking at the BlackBerry platform my basic thought is this: what we have here are better BlackBerrys. Whether or not that’s enough to sway a webOS user depends entirely on what you think of the platform.

To see what I think of the platform this year (along with an extended aside about a certain BlackBerry-only feature), read on!

(I’m (very) late with my BlackBerry Review, but that’s the way of the Smartphone Round Robin and I have to appeal to some post-CES illness. Apologies all around!)

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The competition for “most open” software platform will always be a fierce one. It all depends on what your definition of “open” is. Do that mean open and easy development, like webOS, or do you mean completely open source, like Android? Our friend Casey Chan over at sister site Android Central last week got his robot paws on webOS in the form of the Palm Pre and Palm Pixi and was tasked with giving the world his impressions of the platform from the Android point of view.

Jumping headfirst into any platform is a new experience, so thankfully we’ve got the PreCentral forums to help out both novices and experts alike. You all in the community stepped up to the plate to give Casey a crash course in webOS 101.

So what did Casey think about webOS? In truth, there’s a lot on paper that seems very similar about the two operating systems. They both support full multitasking, they both have unobtrusive notifications, the both have application stores, and they both work on capacitive multitouch screens (well, Android is a sometimes in that category). But the similarities end there, and Android does have a year’s start on the relatively fresh webOS. We don’t want to give away all of Casey’s thoughts and observations about the first efforts of Palm’s rebirth, so we’ll just give you a link to Android Central where you can check them out for yourself.

Once you’re done with that, we’re sure you’ll be on a webOS high, so we want to keep it going by giving you a webOS phone. It’s a giveaway! All you have to do to enter the contest is leave a post in a Smartphone Round Robin thread on the PreCentral forums and once this all wraps up we’ll pick a winner. As always, the rules for these contests are suggested reading. Casey has already passed off the Pre and Pixi to Kevin Michaluk of CrackBerry.com – Kevin’s going to need the ease of webOS after a week with Windows Mobile, while our own Dieter Bohn is about to get some face time with BlackBerry.

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The Smartphone Round Robin rambles into week three – and this week I’m taking a look at the BlackBerry platform. RIM has recovered from the original Storm (which we luckily didn’t need to review last year) and brought the Storm 2, which seems legitimately decent. The Bold 9700 is also in the house, which to mind is the pinnacle of BlackBerrys today.

I’m seeking help from the good people at CrackBerry.com, so keep an eye on the conversation there. Also keep an eye on our own forums for a post from CrackBerry Kevin, who has webOS this week.

After the break, my hands-on video with BlackBerry!

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I can’t tell you how pumped I am about this year’s Smartphone Round Robin – it’s already been a great first week and week two should be a blast. This year we’re lucky to include both the Nokia platform and the best Nokia Expert I know: Matthew Miller. Now that we’ve filled that Nokia-shaped hole in the Round Robin things feel a lot more complete.

After the break, check out a video of Matthew teaching me the ways of Nokia, both on the Nokia N97 Mini (pictured above) and the Nokia N900. I’m also hoping that I’ll be getting some good advice from Nokia Experts Readers. If you’re a Palm user wondering what the majority of smartphone users worldwide are used to, this week we hope to figure that out.

(Meanwhile, keep an eye out in our own forum for a post from Casey Chan, who will be looking to measure webOS up with Android.)

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Of all the smartphone platforms in play for this year’s Smartphone Round Robin, webOS is clearly the very newest. Outside of our own Dieter Bohn, none of the other Smartphone Experts network sites editors participating in the Round Robin had had significant face time with webOS, and that includes WMExperts editor Phil Nickinson. So when Phil got a Palm Pre and a Palm Pixi shoved into each hand, we left him on the side of the road asking, “Whaaaa?”

Thankfully, the trusty and knowledgeable members of the PreCentral community stepped up and gave Phil the help he needed so that he could knock out a comparative review of webOS in a week’s time. It helps that the webOS user interface is incredibly easy to learn and navigate.

Phil came away with plenty of observations about webOS, especially with how Palm’s rebirth comes as Windows Mobile seems to be losing its footing. What all did Phil think about webOS, the Pre, and the Pixi? Well, we don’t want to ruin the surprise for you, so you should head on over the WMExperts to see what he has to say about webOS cards, apps, and hardware.

Of course, if you want a Pre or Pixi for yourself (or a loved one), we’re here to help you out. All you have to do is leave a post in a Smartphone Round Robin thread in the PreCentral forums and you’ll be automatically entered to win a Pre or a Pixi. Cool, eh? Of course, there are some rules, so read up before posting down. And stay tuned in the next week as Casey Chan of Android Central takes on webOS (he just tackled Windows Mobile) and Dieter gets hands-on time with Nokia’s S60 and Maemo. Hopefully he can wash that iPhone smell off his hands first.

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