Thanks to a source, BGR got their hands on information meant for Best Buy reps, which deals with how the retailer plans on selling the Palm Pre. Because of the shortages that will apparently limit to 4 the number of Pre’s each participating store will have at launch, the big box retailer is selling the smartphone in 2 phases. Read the full story

The New York Times weighed in on the new national pastime of guessing the release date of the Palm Pre. In an article published on Monday, the Times wrote about the upcoming summer season of blockbuster smartphone releases and said that people who have been briefed on Sprint’s plans have been told by the carrier to expect the launch of Palm’s handset to take place during the first week in June. That timing would fit in perfectly with our previous report of a LAUNCH LUNCH being held by the manufacturer on June 5th at noon. A release during that time frame would also allow Palm to trump any iPhone announcement that Apple might have at its WWDC that kicks off June 8th at 10 am with a keynote speech by Apple Executive Philip Schiller. For the Times, it is all the Palm Pre news that is fit to print.

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And now for the usual release date guess! BGR informs that one of its tipsters has said Palm and Sprint are to announce the release date of the fluffy handset in the Wall Street Journal on May 19. Well, it didn’t hurt, did it? Now we wait…

Okay, we know you are starting to get sick of these, but guess what – we might have a possible release date for the ubiquitous Palm Pre here! This time, BGR shares what an anonymous tipster (God, the world is full of these) has sent as an internal Palm memo, which includes a list of meetings and events, ending with some mysterious “LAUNCH LUNCH!”, due to happen on June 5, 12PM.

We can’t be sure if this is really the release date we’ve all been looking for, but either way, the image is definitely worth looking  at. Don’t forget that you are always welcomed to tell us what you think and remember that “The KEY to the PRE is Customer Satisfaction!”… Oh, we certainly hope it is!

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The Boy Genius is reporting that Best Buy Mobile will be getting a limited inventory of Palm’s soon to be popular phone. The rumor floating around is that the giant retailer is eyeing June 7 as their trial launch for the Pre with about 4,500 units being spread throughout their stores. There is even a glimpse to the pricing which is looking to be $199.99 for new customers signing on with a 2-year contract. Existing customers who are eager and eligible to upgrade will pay $299.99. If you’re the type to not commit to a contract, it’s looking to cost you a whooping $999.99 for it. So far that’s what the rumors are saying for the price point. It may be a little extreme, but at least Best Buy offers instant rebates to ease the pain rather than mail-in ones.

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The team over at everythingpre.com is reporting that the first shipment of Palm Pre phones have landed in Louisville. We would expect for it to have some sort of personal escort seeing that the device is probably the most wanted thing right now. This shipment left the shores of Hong Kong and was dropped off over at the UPS in Louisville where it will probably be staged for reshipping. It’s becoming  more clear that an inevitable launch is upon us with already some television commercials showing the Pre. We’ll have to wait and cross our fingers for an announcement soon!

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Well, well, who would have thought that we will actually get to write about a truly earth-shaking phone these days? Palm has done pretty well keeping its marvel, the Pre, out of reach for unwelcome guests, but as the actual launch of the phone draws nearer it seems that we will have to get used to seeing it more and more. Two Pre phones have been spotted  at some annual “Bring Your Own Wheel race” and got snapped on the spot. Of course, there is a good fighting chance the images are actually fake, but if they aren’t… how those guys managed to obtain the phones in the first place we wonder? Still, they could have been employees field-testing the units, but either way, this may be a sign that the Pre is finally breaking loose.

It is not a secret that the device will be on offer with Sprint only. What is, however, is its exact launch date. We´ve got a quite interesting leaked document here, saying the Pre should hit the market no earlier than May 16 . We cannot be completely sure as to whether or not it´s truly authentic, but what´s on it does coincide to an extent with what is expected. So, take a good look at the images and cast about if the Pre is your kind of handset or not, because we might be writing our review soon enough!

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There certainly has been plenty of talk online about when the Palm Pre will be released. Many of the dates picked by so-called experts have already passed with no sign of the “iPhone killer”. A thread on the Sprint Users forum suggests that the Pre will be available on the Sunday that Survivors’ two hour final episode will play, which is May 17th. According to the post, the device will actually appear in the Thursday episode (May 14th) before the finale and be heavily promoted in the three days leading up to the release of the Pre. If this is true, the phone’s premiere on Survivor would be very appropriate because for Palm to continue to survive as an independent company, the device must live up to the incredible buzz it has created since being introduced at the CES earlier this year.

We don’t really believe in this one, do you?

We received some juicy information about an imminent release date and pricing. Initially, we had info that the Pre is looking to launch during the late April to May period but now it seems that it will launch in May. That’s quite a time line in getting the platform optimized and tweaking out any bugs that might be lingering. Everyone in the industry is looking forward to this device that boasts some new innovative hardware and software features. It’ll be crucial also for both Palm and Sprint to knock it out of the ballpark with the Pre when it comes out. With the economy still trying to get over a global slump, pricing may also come into play for a lot of people looking to purchase it. We’ve been told a rumored subsidized price of under $200. At the $200 price point, it would play with the current crop of other premier touch screen phones such as the iPhone 3G, BlackBerry Storm, and G1. If the lowest price for it were to be $150, then it would seriously cause some strain to the other competition. Investors will be looking intently on how everything will pan out in the near future, with both Sprint and Palm banking on a hit to become a powerhouse staple once again.

Unfortunately, no matter how strong we cry that we want the Pre, or how many sites post speculations about its release date, it won’t come sooner. However, once it gets out, it is wise to be one of the first customers to get their hands on it and love it for life, isn’t it? Yesterday, Sprint announced that its “Sprint Premier” customers will be able to get cool phones (such as the Pre) before the others:

First to Know/First to Buy: Longstanding customers get an exclusive first peek at new products and services such as the upcoming Palm Pre™, and then are among the first with opportunities to purchase when they become available.

Sounds lovely, right? What is the deal – if you really want one of the first Pre phones, then make sure that you will be one of the Premier Sprint customers when it gets out. How? See Sprint’s rules below:

Eligibility requirements for Sprint Premier are simple: 1) For three consecutive months, consumer customers must be on an individual wireless plan of at least $69.99 per month or spend at least $99.99 per month on a plan that shares minutes, or 2) they must have been a Sprint wireless customer for at least 10 years. For complete rules about Sprint Premier, visit sprint.com/premiercustomer.

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