According to one of phoneArena’s reliable Sprint tipsters, the rumored early launch of the Pre looks like it may not take place, and that June 6 will be the official date after all.  Of course the early launch details were hearsay in the first place, there was never any official word from Sprint so who knows if this is business as usual or not.  Stores will still be opening at 8am on the 6th, so when do you plan to get in line?

The news is out that the Pre will be running $199.99 after mail-in-rebates with a two year contract. For those that do not want to commit to a contract, you can purchase the device for a mere $549.99. It might be a worthy investment for those who don’t like the idea of being tethered to a long term agreement. Still, the price point is similar to what is found on similar devices. From the looks of an online Sprint chat with a customer service agent, its a safe bet to say you can get your hands on this device on day one without a contract.

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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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PreCentral has been tipped by a few Sprint employees that the stores have been receiving an Advocate copy of the Palm Pre. Each store is supposed to receive one unit that is given to the store’s expert on all things Pre. Early comments on the handset say that it is small but that the webOS is “responsive” and “amazing” with the cards being intuitive. The sliding mechanism was described as “stiff” and mistakes in typing were made due to the cramped letters on the QWERTY keyboard with buttons that were said to be “harder” than those on the Centro.

Nothing new has come forward on the Pre’s pricing or release date, and even the Advocates have no idea about the cost of the phone or the launch date. Two days of mandatory management training on the Pre will have to be completed before the actual release of the handset.

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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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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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Yesterday we told you that Sprint employees are scheduled to begin training on the Palm Pre, the device that has created more buzz than a bee hive full of the stinging insects. In another sign that gives us better visibility on when the Pre might be released, Sprint has put an embargo on vacations during May for retail employees. Ma Bell did the same thing to her retail people before each iPhone launch, so obviously this is a rather important clue. In the past two weeks, we have heard a range of guesses, many of which have already come and gone with the device nowhere to be seen besides in the hands of Palm executives at trade shows. Now we have the 1-2 punch of Sprint training reps on the device and the vacation embargo for May. We also have started to see the Pre show up in some Sprint television and print ads. You don’t have to be Dick Tracy to see that the most anticipated launch of the year is coming soon.

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