A Rumor: Palm Pre to Launch on April 15
By Jane McEntegart, published on April 7, 2009 at 9:30 AM TOM'S GUIDE
With all the excitement brewing in anticipation of the Pre, Palm and Sprint have kept its launch date under tight wraps. That is, until yesterday when things may or may not have gone a bit pear-shaped for the company.
ComputerWorld reports that rumors doing the rounds on Palm forums suggest that the smartphone will be available on Tax Day, April 15. A posting on the Everything Treo by a user going by the screen name of by "Inittowinit” claimed that a Sprint customer-service rep told him on Saturday that the Pre would be available on the 15th or 16th of this month on a two year agreement. Most interesting, we found, was that the Pre would cost $300, after discounts.
While Palm has yet to comment on any whispering about the Pre date, such as this, ComputerWorld cites a spokesman for Sprint as saying only that the device would ship in the first half of the year. Basically, not a no but not a yes.
Alright, so Palm would be really smart to hit the market before the new iPhone is launched in June. That said, is $300 really worth it? Yes, the Pre is a beautiful piece of kit and the UI is extremely impressive, but with a price like that, on a two year contract, the only people you’ll attract right off the bat are those who are die-hard Sprint and/or Palm loyalists.
I reckon what’s likely to happen is those in the market for a smartphone (ahem, me), will wait for the iPhone launch, check out what Apple has to offer and then, depending on the price decide which is more economical, the Pre or the Palm. That said if the iPhone is a similar price and doesn’t tickle my fancy, I’ll more than likely backpedal and get an iPhone 3G.
By Jane McEntegart, published on April 7, 2009 at 9:30 AM TOM'S GUIDE
With all the excitement brewing in anticipation of the Pre, Palm and Sprint have kept its launch date under tight wraps. That is, until yesterday when things may or may not have gone a bit pear-shaped for the company.
ComputerWorld reports that rumors doing the rounds on Palm forums suggest that the smartphone will be available on Tax Day, April 15. A posting on the Everything Treo by a user going by the screen name of by "Inittowinit” claimed that a Sprint customer-service rep told him on Saturday that the Pre would be available on the 15th or 16th of this month on a two year agreement. Most interesting, we found, was that the Pre would cost $300, after discounts.
While Palm has yet to comment on any whispering about the Pre date, such as this, ComputerWorld cites a spokesman for Sprint as saying only that the device would ship in the first half of the year. Basically, not a no but not a yes.
Alright, so Palm would be really smart to hit the market before the new iPhone is launched in June. That said, is $300 really worth it? Yes, the Pre is a beautiful piece of kit and the UI is extremely impressive, but with a price like that, on a two year contract, the only people you’ll attract right off the bat are those who are die-hard Sprint and/or Palm loyalists.
I reckon what’s likely to happen is those in the market for a smartphone (ahem, me), will wait for the iPhone launch, check out what Apple has to offer and then, depending on the price decide which is more economical, the Pre or the Palm. That said if the iPhone is a similar price and doesn’t tickle my fancy, I’ll more than likely backpedal and get an iPhone 3G.
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