Everyone is wondering when the Palm Pre will be released. The rumor mills have been spinning wildly since the day that Palm announced the Pre at CES. We've posted on the persistent rumor that the Pre will be released on February 15th.
This rumor is still hanging on, but we still think the February 15th date is pretty unlikely. But... it is possible. We certainly haven't read anything set in stone. Dieter posted about two separate reports claiming that Sprint employees have been training up on the Pre. One of those claims came from Sarah Lacy, the reporter who got the new Pre features out of McNamee during her interview.
Palm told us that the Pre would be released the first half of 2009. We reported recently that Palm's spokesperson Lynn Fox told Laptop Magazine that Palm has no plans to change the launch time. Fox said that in reference to being questioned about Palm being in the crosshairs of a possible Apple patent lawsuit.
As of late, there are some posts over at the TreoCentral threads in which some people have talked to customer service representatives, trying to squeeze out a Pre release date. For example, in this thread, xxgersonxx posted that he had chatted with three Best Buy reps, and that all three had confirmed the February 15th launch date. Plus, there is a thread entitled "Yet another source confirms Feb 15 release". Two forum members stated that they had spoken with Sprint people who told them that the Pre would be available mid-February.
And today, we read an article over at Palm preSchool that was posted back in January. Palm preSchool believes that we'll see the Pre on the shelves on March 1st, 2009. They believe that Palm has been secretly communicating the date with us since the Pre was introduced at CES. What's the secret communication they're referring to? Well, have you noticed that every image of the Pre shows a time of 3:01? Like in 03-01-09? Now wouldn't that be wild if March 1st turns out to be the release date and we've all been seing this on the pics of the Pre all this time? Hey, ya never know.
Update: Thanks to Vyruz Reaper over in the TreoCentral forums for the update:
"Palm seems to imply that maybe we ought not read into this:"
"Someone's been re-reading The DaVinci Code a few too many times"
"..it would be a lot easier to not spin conspiracy theories if we HAD THE RELEASE DATE"
Comments
hey...it's possible that this 3:01 might be pointing to a release date. After all, the first is another sunday.
This kinda reminds me of the Castle codename and that consumer show website that was quickly taken down.
At this point, I'm all for either date. Just as long as I can use my tax return for this...
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From the Palm twitter:
@toreym Someone's been re-reading The DaVinci Code a few too many times
Responding to:
@palm_inc could it be? @palmpreschool has an interesting observation which might mean a March 1st release for the pre http://is.gd/i5iF
twitter is great for all these rumors. Its also sweet how @palm_inc responds to them.
Go on palm's website. All the 800w pics have a time of 3:29. Did that phone come out March 29?? I don't think it did.
I don't remember the exact day, but you are right it didn't come out on 29 March. The 800w came out Aug-Sept time frame if memory serves. I know it came out after the Instinct did because I remember the confusion of two phones with an "800" part number that some of us had...and I had the 800W on release day myself...saved a lot of hassle for tech support.
' One of those claims came from Sarah Lacy, the reporter who got the new Pre features out of McNamee during her interview.'
Did you follow how she got it? from a comment on twitter by someone with no no track record, and no association with Palm or Sprint.
April-May, earliest.
Here is Sarah's one, and only, "source" for the training rumor:
http://twitter.com/sarahcuda/statuses/1143107791
"they told me they were training on them but they don't come out until june."
I personally heard from a Sprint rep whose going to be a Pre advocate that they aren't getting the Pre until May-June 2008. He wont personally get it till April.
So I wont be looking at Feb 15th
Talked w/ a Sprint Rep yesterday to ask if he had any information on a release date yet. He said they were shooting for "early March" but it was not set in stone. Then I came on here today to see this story - not sure if it's the real deal, but I feel more confident about this than I did about 2/15
I don't have any sources, but the March date sounds more feasible than the 2/15 date. As for the May or June release, I kind of doubt that unless Palm/Sprint runs into a problem (either with the hardward/software). Furthermore, a ton of new phones will be coming out between now and June. Trust me, when new phones are being thrown at customers they tend to take the bait. What this would mean is that there will be less people to who will break their contacts to go with the Pre. Furthermore, if history dictates, Apple will bring out the next version of the iPhone (Pre's biggest competion) around that time. There's no news, but I'm sure it's in the works if not finished already. Even if I think the Pre is an outstanding phone compared to the iPhone, Apple is not going to be sitting around to see how it does and the potential of it taking customers away. Remember, Pre is aimed towards current and potential iPhone users.
too funny - I just noticed this 3:01 thing today, kind of a masonic undertone ;)
twitter is great for all these rumors. Its also sweet how @palm_inc responds to them.
The phone is very popular, but i believe the more popular is the game of aion kinah for you!@
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