Word from a senior executive at Telstra has it that HTC will be rolling out a new touchscreen phone which will go up head-to-head against the iPhone as well as the announced Palm Pre, and the same Telstra executive has greater expectations from HTC's side, claiming that it will be "better and more functional" compared to the Palm Pre that literally wowed the showfloor.

This new touchscreen phone will see a merger of Google Android and Linux-based software from HTC running the phone, which will also feature a much later display compared to the current HTC lineup. HTC has yet to comment on their new phone, so we'll just have to wait until the second quarter of this year to check out how the four-way fight will turn out.

[by Ubergizmo]