Palm Pre to arrive June 6 for $200
by Volker Weber
On Tuesday, Sprint and Palm officially announced what we have all been waiting to hear: an official release date and pricing for the Palm Pre. The Pre will be available nationwide on June 6 for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and with a two-year contract on Sprint's Everything Data plan or Business Essentials with Messaging and Data plan. In addition to Sprint stores, the Pre will be sold at Best Buy, Radio Shack, and select Walmart stores as well as online.
That's an EVDO device which does not work with GSM/UMTS networks. Palm PR does not say anything about other markets. The official stance is "in the second half". I would be surprised if it takes until the end of the year.
Comments
I complained in February to the German Vodoafone CEO and his colleagues that they do not have the iPhone and that they should not lose the battle for the Palm Pre deal here in Germany. After a friendly reminder last week, someone from a Vodoafone SWAT team called me and said they will not sell the Palm Pre (I have got his direct mobile phone number). No Palm Pre, no official iPhone for me from Vodafone. What makes Vodafone think that they are a premium brand here in Germany? The Premium prices for Blackberry support? All they could offer me, was that I don't need to cancel my contract next week. It will not automatically renew my contract for one year. And yes, I am a proud Vodafone Gold Member now.
I can’t help but feel that Palm are in serious danger of missing the boat, for what looks to be a promising device.
Palm is strechted very thin outside of the US. They have a deal with Sprint, but before they can announce a major deal with a European carrier, they won't even be starting to manufacture. Remember that the iPhone launched in the US and it took a three months before they appeared here. Did not hurt the iPhone.
The Pre has a simple problem: Android.
