[Hands0n]

The Palm Pre will go on sale on 6 June in the US and will only be available on the Sprint network.

The much-anticipated handset will cost $199.99 (£129), after a rebate, and buyers must take out a two-year contract when signing up.

Palm said it expected the phone to be available nationwide at launch and has signed up four stores to put the gadget on their shelves.

No date has been given for when the handset will launch in the UK.

Read the full article here --> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8057425.stm


Ho ho ho! Well that's Palm knocked out of the World market for handsets. If they really think that selling into the USA only will save their skins they really have missed the entire plot.


The phone is widely seen as a rival to other smartphones such as Apple's iPhone, Android handsets and RIM's Blackberry.

I don't think so. To be a "rival" surely they'd have to compete in the same markets? Palm will be a rival only within the USA, period. Elsewhere the Pre will be an irrelevance. And in a declining market (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8027098.stm) that cannot be good news for Palm.

While they are dicking around in their domestic market the likes of Apple, HTC, Samsung and Nokia will be punting their 2009 touchscreen handsets across the entire globe.

What silly people those Palm people are ...

[gorilla]

Totally agree. Google have been spouting that Android is going to be available on multiple handsets later this year. There will be a new iPhone. That only leaves the rest of the world waiting for the 'pre'.
Maybe the pre will be the last mistake Palm ever make!

[Ben]

Kinda sad that this device probably wont see the light of day in many places. But then perhaps Palm are in such a bad state right now that they can't really commit to supplying and supporting additional markets. If the Pre is a hit in the states and fills Palms coffers with enough cash then I think there's a good chance Pre2 will go global.

[Hands0n]

The thing is, what Market will the Pre be entering in, say, six months time? Always assuming that they can move that fast, which is doubtful.

By December there will be dozens of Android models, the new iPhone will be entrenched and Nokia's N97 will have been available for a while for the Nokia die-hards.

In the face of all that Palm will need a significant differentiator to being in the sales. They have almost no loyal customer base left to fall back on. During their troubles the world (as distinct from the USA) moved on. So what exactly the Palm Pre's proposition? How will it compete with iTunes, Apps Store, Market and the cloud integration that Google Android and Apple are able to deliver now?