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Palm Pre to launch on Sprint June 6th for $200

updated 07:30 am EDT, Tue May 19, 2009

 

Palm Pre June 6th


Sprint today confirmed that it will launch the Palm Pre on June 6th for $200 on a two-year plan and after a $100 rebate. The first-ever webOS smartphone will sell not only in Sprint stores but also Best Buy, Radio Shack and Walmart. Using the phone will require either at least an Everything Data plan for home users, a Simply Everything plan, or a Business Essentials with Messaging and Data plan.

The Pre is the only smartphone beyond the iPhone to include a true multi-touch display and has a unique interface that allows true multitasking. It includes a fully accurate web browser and centers on the concept of Synergy, an approach that merges contacts from the phone, Microsoft Exchange and Outlook, Facebook and Google, letting owners call or message others without worrying about duplicates or where the information comes from. A slide-out QWERTY keyboard both keeps the keyboard out of the screen but lets owners start searching for information simply by typing at the home launcher.

Although it requires drag-and-drop loading for music and videos for its built-in 8GB of storage, the Pre has a slight edge on the current iPhone in other respects with a 3-megapixel camera, 3G over EVDO Revision A, GPS and Wi-Fi.

The company also plans to ship its unique Touchstone dock at the same time for $70. The inductive charger powers the Pre without cables and reacts to whether or not it's placed on the dock; removing a ringing Pre from the Touchstone answers the call, and putting an in-call Pre on the dock switches to the speakerphone.

Palm's launch comes a day ahead of rumored shipping and before Sprint's usual Sunday releases. It also comes just two days before Apple's planned WWDC keynote and preempts a widely anticipated update to the iPhone, which the Pre is now known to match in price after a rebate. Sprint is counting on beating Apple's device through service plans as its data services offer built-in text messaging, official GPS mapping and other features as part of the plan. The carrier estimates a Pre could be as much as $1,430 less expensive to own over two years of service than an AT&T or Verizon smartphone.




By Electronista Staff

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iPhone, gadgets, Verizon, sprint, AT&T, Palm, mobile phones, Apple, webOS

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Previous Comments

  1. jarod

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Apr 2005

    0
    05/19, 07:45am | report spam | reply

    Snooze

    PRE-tend to think this will actually be a good thing.


  1. Zeeb

    Mac Elite

    Joined: Feb 2006

    +7
    05/19, 08:24am | report spam | reply

    Har Har

    Actually, it looks good. It's not really fair to compare it to the iphone at this point since there might be a new model out at about the same time though.

    If the service plan on it is indeed $1400 cheaper that AT&T then I could see the Pre mopping the floor with the iphone in many markets. That's great, maybe it will pressure AT&T to lower their extortionate prices.


  1. testudo

    Forum Regular

    Joined: Aug 2001

    +3
    05/19, 09:47am | report spam | reply

    amazing!

    If you go to the web site, they have a counter listing the mentions of the palm pre on the web.

    At this point in time, its exactly 44,200,000. What are the chances I'd catch it exactly when it rolled over to such an even number!


  1. VinitaBoy

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Oct 2001

    -3
    05/19, 09:48am | report spam | reply

    It's Still . . . .

    V-A-P-O-R-W-A-R-E! It's still a promise, a dream, a phantom, a wisp. Nothing more.

    So it "looks good"? Big f-ing deal! Has anyone actually touched or used this thing for longer than 10 seconds? It's a Potemkin Village, folks! It's all facade, smoke, and mirrors!

    Tell me: How well does that touch screen actually work? How rugged is it? Battery life good with all those background tasks running all the time? How's the reception on the Sprint network? Moreover, how's the Sprint network itself? Hate AT&T and Verizon's coverage? Then you're absolutely going to convulse over Sprint's!

    Gonna save some money with this device? Yeah? Not if there aren't any useful applications for it. Not if the service and support after the sale aren't there. Palm is on its way DOWN, ladies and gentlement. The slightest misstep with this phone, and it's GONE.

    A TRUISM OF THE ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY: Never, never, never buy anything with a zero on the end of its version number. Now, let's see. The "Pre" is coming out with NO real-world testing and usage information, and it's in Version 1.0. GOOD LUCK, people. Believe the dream. Enjoy the scheme. Maybe this beleaguered company can pull the first miracle in history and release a perfect device the first time.

    Oh . . . how's that BlackBerry Storm workin' out for ya?


  1. testudo

    Forum Regular

    Joined: Aug 2001

    +1
    05/19, 09:57am | report spam | reply

    Re: Har Har

    If the service plan on it is indeed $1400 cheaper that AT&T then I could see the Pre mopping the floor with the iphone in many markets. That's great, maybe it will pressure AT&T to lower their extortionate prices.

    What extortionate prices are you talking about? You mean the $30 month data plan?

    And they didn't say it was $1400 cheaper than the iPhone, it just vaguely said 'smartphones' from AT&T and Verizon.

    But since you HAVE to get the data plan with this one too, and the cheapest phone plan you must get is $70. And the phone costs $200 (assuming you get the rebate), so, to me at least, it costs exactly the same as the iPhone. Unless you do messaging, which will add something like $20 a month to your ATT phone, for $480 more over the course of the plan.


  1. aplman

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 2008

    +1
    05/19, 10:02am | report spam | reply

    Wrong

    The iPhone is 2 years ahead of the Palm Pre. The Apps on the iphone are better and with version 3 of the software coming out for iPhone it will leap ahead even further. Palm is a dying company and from what I have seen with the pre it is just lipstick on a pig.


  1. aplman

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 2008

    +1
    05/19, 10:02am | report spam | reply

    Wrong

    The iPhone is 2 years ahead of the Palm Pre. The Apps on the iphone are better and with version 3 of the software coming out for iPhone it will leap ahead even further. Palm is a dying company and from what I have seen with the pre it is just lipstick on a pig.


  1. rexray

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jul 2002

    +2
    05/19, 10:39am | report spam | reply

    Pre ahead of iPhone?

    "the Pre has a slight edge on the current iPhone in other respects with a 3-megapixel camera, 3G over EVDO Revision A, GPS and Wi-Fi."

    Um, actually the iPhone has had 3G, GPS and WiFi for a year now.

    I will give the Pre the higher-rez camera, though iPhone is rumored to get that this summer.

    That leaves the physical keyboard, which in my opinion is a plus.

    We'll see how many people are willing to jump to Sprint for this thing. I'm guessing not that many.


  1. WalterC

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jul 2008

    +1
    05/19, 10:39am | report spam | reply

    Contract Panic

    Makes evaluating a new cellphone product difficult, as a 'normal' consumer. So, the 'other' phone is actually better or worse. That two-year commitment, or ETF, makes it hard to make an honest appraisal. Think how much better the choices might be.


  1. ff11

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Apr 2004

    +2
    05/19, 10:46am | report spam | reply

    overall

    The Pre sounds like a very promising product. The increased competition in quality and price will benefit all consumers. But to release the product only two days before the expected release of the iPhone seems foolhardy. They better hope the new iPhone is a disappointing product. And BTW, stating that the pre could cost $1430 less than the iPod over the course of 2 years? 100% Pure horse hockey!


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