Sprint shoots down talk of Verizon Pre in 2009
updated 10:35 am EDT, Fri May 29, 2009
Sprint Downs VZW Pre Talk
Sprint late yesterday quickly tried to downplay Verizon's Palm Pre moves by clarifying its exclusive for the smartphone. Carrier spokesman James Fisher said simply that Sprint had sole rights to the phone "through 2009" and thus that Verizon could at best hope for an early 2010 launch. Verizon Wireless head Lowell McAdam had previously implied, though not stated, the possibility of a late 2009 rollout.
The confirmation gives Sprint free rein with Palm's highest-end phone this year but won't preclude other Palm webOS phones from landing at other carriers. Multiple leaks have already confirmed that the Eos is due to ship for at least AT&T in addition to Sprint, opening the door to a Verizon launch as well.
