Palm has stopped teasing us and finally announced a date for the launch of the Pre. The handset will go on sale on Saturday June 6th for 0, just two days before Apple’s WWDC, where many are expecting the announcement of a new iPhone.
And it looks like Palm has already messed up. The headlines, including the big splash page at Palm’s own Pre site, shout 0 as the price, and that’s the price that most other bloggers are quoting this morning. But reading a little further shows that this price is based on a 0 mail-in rebate, which means you could (and probably will) be waiting months to get the check. So we think it’s wiser to consider the price to be 0, and then be pleasantly surprised if and when the rebate check actually shows up.
Whichever price you choose to embrace, it is based on a two-year contract with Sprint. The Sprint Press release says that you’ll need to sign up for either the “Everything Data plan” ( or , depending on which it is) or the “Business Essentials with Messaging and Data plan” ( and up, depending on minutes).
We also have details for the accessories. The Touchstone charger will be an extra , a car-charger into which you can slide the supplied USB charging cable will be and a pair of leather cases have been shown but are as yet un-priced.
The timing is very interesting. Palm could either scoop an Apple announcement at its Worldwide Developers Conference, which starts June 8 (and remember, it will most likely be an announcement — last year we had to wait a couple weeks until the iPhone 3G actually shipped) or it could burn bright for a short weekend until being extinguished by the fire-hose of iPhone news.
Product page [Palm]
Press release [Sprint]
See Also:
Palm Unveils Its Long-Awaited Smartphone, the Pre
NYTimes: Palm Pre Due First Week of June
