<div><p>LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - AT&T Inc plans to sell seven new smartphones in the first half of this year, including two from Palm Inc and five Android handsets from vendors such as Dell Inc.</p><p>The news bolstered shares of Palm, which has been under pressure to find more carrier partners. But the multiple new handsets announced by AT&T fueled speculation among analysts the company could lose its U.S. exclusivity contract for Apple Inc's iPhone by the middle of the year.</p><p>The Android phones from Dell, Motorola Inc and HTC Corp would mark the first time AT&T, the second-biggest U.S. mobile provider, will use the operating system developed by Google Inc.</p><p>"AT&T is trying to preempt the exodus of subscribers for when Verizon gets the iPhone, expected to be around mid-year," said Charter Equity Research analyst Ed Snyder.</p><p>He was referring to widely held expectations that No. 1 U.S. mobile service Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc, would forge a deal with Apple once AT&T's U.S. hold on iPhone ends.</p><p>AT&T announced the new smartphones on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.</p><p>The inclusion of Palm phones in AT&T's line-up should help the struggling handset maker regain ground lost to iPhone and other rivals. AT&T has more than 81 million wireless subscribers and Snyder estimated the carrier could sell 500,000 to 700,000 Palm phones in a quarter.</p><p>"It's certainly going to help Palm. About 500,000 shouldn't be too hard in a quarter, but so much depends on how AT&T prices it and how hard they push it," Snyder said.</p><p>Palm, which is also expected to announce a deal with Verizon Wireless at CES this week, currently only sells its hottest smartphones -- the Pre and Pixi -- through Sprint Nextel Corp, the number 3 U.S. mobile service.</p><p>Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with consulting group Interpret, said it was not a big surprise AT&T would sell Palm phones, but he said it was unusual for the carrier to announce so many smartphones all at once.</p><p>"One has to wonder if the time of their iPhone exclusivity is coming to an end and if they're doing this to prepare for that eventuality," he said.</p><p>AT&T refused to comment on its agreement with Apple. It also declined to give details about the new devices, saying that would come closer to launch.</p><p>"I think this is the best portfolio we've ever had if you look at 2010," AT&T's mobile chief Ralph de la Vega told Reuters at an AT&T developer conference on the sidelines of CES.</p><p>He said AT&T would sell "new" Palm devices, but declined to say if they would be new models or the Pre or Pixi.</p><p>Snyder said the devices would probably be versions of Pre and the Pixi, as he does not expect new Palm phones to hit shelves until around mid year.</p><p>De la Vega also said AT&T plans to offer Web-based applications to users of less advanced phones by forging a deal with Qualcomm Inc for use of its Brew app platform.</p><p>He said the first of these applications would be available first in phones from Samsung Electronics Co Ltd later this year. AT&T sees the majority of its mid-range phones supporting Brew next year.</p><p>Dell, better known for computers than phones, said AT&T will carry a smartphone from its Mini 3 family, already available in China and Brazil.</p><p>Palm shares rose 6.45 percent to close at $11.23, while AT&T shares fell 1.46 percent to $27.61.</p><p>(Reporting by Sinead Carew; additional reporting by Gabriel Madway; editing by Tiffany Wu and Andre Grenon)</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=66360101&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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