The Palm Pre smartphone and a wireless charger are shown at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. (Jae C. Hong/Associated Press)

The battle between smartphone-makers Apple and Palm comes to Canada later this month as Bell Canada announced Tuesday it would be offering Palm's latest phone on Aug. 27.

The introduction of the 3G Palm Pre potentially gives Bell a competitor in the consumer smartphone market to Apple's iPhone 3GS, which is currently only available in Canada through rival telecommunications carrier Rogers and its sister brand Fido.

Bell said the Pre would be available for as low as $199.95 on a three-year contract or $599.95 without a contract and a minimum 500 MB data plan. The company had announced in May it would be selling the Pre, but did not offer further details until Tuesday.

The Pre debuted earlier this year in the U.S. to positive reviews and gave longtime smartphone-maker Palm a much-needed boost.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company once ruled the personal digital assistant market with its Palm Pilot before losing ground to smartphone companies like Apple and Waterloo, Ont.-based BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd.

Dispute over iTunes app

With its slide-out QWERTY keyboard, touch screen and gesture pad below the screen, the Pre's interface attracted attention for combining the best elements of Apple's iPhone and RIM's BlackBerry.

Apple and Palm are currently in a dispute over just how similar the Pre is to the iPhone.

Last month Palm introduced an application to its phone allowing users to access Apple's iTunes store, but Apple updated iTunes to block the feature.

Palm has since altered its application to again synch with the iPhone. The company has also filed a complaint with technology industry group the U.S.B. Implementers Forum complaining Apple is restricting trade.

Bell looking for iPhone-killer

Bell has been looking for a smartphone that can compete with the iPhone, but has been hampered by its use of a wireless network standard called code division multiple access (CDMA) that isn't compatible with popular devices such as the iPhone or RIM's BlackBerry Bold.

As a result, Bell has put its support behind less well-known smartphones such as the Samsung Instinct and RIM's BlackBerry Storm to compete in the smartphone market. The Pre, on the other hand, represents Bell's first true potential rival to the ubiquitous iPhone, which has been a big seller for Rogers.

Bell said that due to consumer demand the company has begun taking pre-orders for the new phone.

Both Bell and Telus are upgrading their networks to a wireless technology standard called HSPA (high speed packet access), which would allow their networks to offer mobile devices like the iPhone. But that network is not expected to be complete until 2010.