Best Buy Leaks Palm Pre's Price and Launch Date


BY: Ed Hardy, Brighthand.com Editor
Two of the most frequently asked questions may finally have answers. Information leaking out of the retailer Best Buy gives the price and -- possibly -- the release date for the highly-anticipated Palm Pre.

Sprint will be the first phone company to offer the Pre, and has been vague about what it will charge for it. Mostly, all Palm or Sprint have said is that it will be "competitively priced".

Palm Pre

However, an unnamed source at Best Buy has told BGR that this upcoming model will go for $200 with a new two-year contract, or $300 for current customers who are upgrading. Since the base version of Apple's iPhone also sells for $200 with contract, this price would make the Pre competitive.

Coming Next Month?
Sprint has promised to launch this device in the first half of this year, but has declined to be any more specific.

According to this source, Best Buy is going to get in a very limited supply of Palm Pre units on June 7. It's not clear if this is the launch day or not, as the 4,500 units being shipped seem more likely to serve a demo models, as at least one will go to every store.

According to an earlier report, Sprint intends to start taking Pre-orders for the Pre a month before the device hits store shelves, It's possible June 7 will be the day this process starts, with the units in Best Buy stores there to help convince customers to Pre-order.

An Overview of the Palm Pre
The Palm Pre will be the first device to use Palm's newly-announced webOS. This will be a multi-tasking operating system able to wirelessly synchronize a wide variety of data with online services like Google and Facebook.

Palm Pre PreviewThe Pre itself will feature a sliding keyboard as well as a multi-touch-capable 3.1-inch display. This device will also be equipped with 8 GB of on-board storage, Wi-Fi b/g, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, and a 3.0 megapixel camera with LED flash.

In the U.S., the Pre will be available first from Sprint, who will add its mobile broadband service EV-DO Rev. A. The GSM version for Europe and Latin America may debut later this year, and will have the 3G standard HSDPA.

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