News has reached the ReallyMobile office that the much-anticipated Palm Pre is to be launched in the US, this coming Summer on Saturday June 6th.
That’s less than three weeks away!
It’s been known for some time now that the device is a Sprint exclusive; a welcome antidote to the iPhone swagger of AT&T, but what hasn’t been known is the release date as well as the – arguably more important – pricing details.
Will you be Pre-ordering?
Well, according to the press release:
The Palm Pre phone will be available from Sprint on June 6 for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year service agreement on an Everything Data plan or Business Essentials with Messaging and Data plan. An array of compelling accessories also will be available for Pre, including the Palm Touchstone charging dock. The Touchstone™ Charging Kit, which includes the Touchstone charging dock and Touchstone back cover for Pre, will be available June 6 for $69.99. The Touchstone charging dock and Touchstone back cover also are available separately from for $49.99 and $19.99, respectively.
Wow.
So it’s here then?!
AT LAST!
Well. I say ‘here’. What I actually mean is… there.
Over there to be PREcise.
That’s the U.S. sorted but what about us?
There has already been a fair amount of talk about who will and won’t launch the Pre this Summer (or maybe in the Autumn now) for UK/Europe, with both Vodafone and Orange being mooted as possibilities.
With no word from T-Mobile or O2 as yet. The former, rather famously of late, rarely stock the best devices at launch and the latter will no doubt sticking to their guns with the iPhone.
What about 3 mobile, that famous disruptor within the UK carrier space?
Well, their ad-campaign of late suggests they’re throwing all their weight behind maximising their Skype partnership and quite rightly so. However, last time I checked the Palm Pre wasn’t Skype compatible and when I confronted a 3 representative at a recent meet about the Pre’s iminent arrival the response was a rather pointed:
“No. It’s already gone.”
They didn”t seem too happy about it either.
I had hands-on with the Palm Pre back in February at Mobile World Congress and to say the device is ‘a bit whizzy’ I guess would consitute an understatement of gargantuan proportions. The Palm Pre is a lovely device, the proof – as ever – will of course be in the pudding.
In the meantime, what do you think?
A rest of world announcement can’t be too far behind, can it?
What about you?
Will you be putting in a Pre order anytime soon?