The hotly anticipated Palm Pre smart phone will be an even-more formidable alternative to Apple's iPhone, if some new reports prove true.

Where the iPhone is available from AT&T, it appears the Pre won't long be shackled only to Sprint, its exclusive carrier when the phone launches on June 6—and the lowest-scoring carrier in our Ratings of cellphone service, available to subscribers. Word has it that both Verizon and AT&T may offer the Pre in a matter of months.

Also, Palm announced the Pre will also work fairly seamlessly with iTunes, one of the apps that make the iPhone so successful as a multimedia phone. This is an unusual development, given Apple’s traditional reluctance to make its software compatible with that of others. At a demo this week, Fortune reports, the Pre was shown successfully syncing with iTunes. —Mike Gikas