Palm Pre To Launch 2 Days Before iPhone Announcement, Cost $200

Leander Kahney ()

palm_pre

Palm’s long-awaited rival to the iPhone, the Pre, will go on sale on June 6, Palm said on Tuesday, and will cost $200 and up with a two-year contract, depending on the plan.

The Pre goes just two days before Apple’s WWDC keynote, where he company is expected to announce the third-generation iPhone.

The Pre looks like a genuine rival to the iPhone. The software looks very slick, powerful and easy to use, and the hardware includes a built-in keyboard, an important distinguishing feature.

But Palm already seems to be pulling consumer-unfriendly stunts with pricing. The $200 price tag is dependent on a $100 mail-in rebate, which is never popular. And the data plans appear to cost between $70 and $90 a month (it’s not clear on Sprint’s page which plan the Pre needs). Plus, Palm is charging an extra $70 for the innovative Touchstone charger, and $30 for a car charger.

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Apple of course charges extra for an iPhone docking cradle, but Palm seems to be nickle-and-diming consumers already.

6 comments »

About the author

Leander Kahney

is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac, and author of three books about technology culture: Inside Steve’s Brain, the New York Times bestseller about Steve Jobs; Cult of Mac; and Cult of iPod. Leander has written for Wired, MacWeek, Scientific American, and The Guardian in London. Follow Leander on Twitter @lkahney and Facebook.

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Posted in Hardware, iPhone, News |

  • Scott

    same price as the iphone essentially, only apple doesn’t require you to pay up an extra $100. apple gives you everything you must have and only charge you for the totally optional dock. data plan is of course required on the Pre and if I’m reading it right costs the same if not more than the ATT plans. really about the only thing that seems to be special about the Pre is the slide out keyboard with keys as small as the virtual one on the iphone.

    i’m not sold

  • Byran Newell

    The Sprint Everything Plan is what you would get on this phone: everything’s unlimited for $100- TXT, MMS, data, phone, etc. I’m selling my unlocked iPhone 3G for one.

  • Kilo

    Big issue is that it is on Sprint ( which is a little better than AT&T), but when will a real phone come to Verizon? Heavy sigh…..

  • http://craigertiger.tumblr.com/ tiger

    i’ve been on sprint for 2 years and never had any issues with the service in terms of not getting a signal or dropped calls. i lived on both coasts and travel often. at&t blows. my roommate has to go on our porch in order to talk and we live in the middle of hollywood. ifail.

  • Graphical

    Sprint network is fine; much better than AT&T if my experience is any indicator. And with free roaming, you can use the Verizon network all you want for voice. What’s not to like about that?

    Sprint’s data plans are cheaper than AT&T.

    Sprint’s customer service is infinitely better than two years ago. But, anything divided by zero is infinity and it was pretty bad.

    Sprint’s tethering options are cheaper by a long shot. $15/month on top of an unlimited data plan.

    Hey, I am sounding like a fanboy. Not everything is good though: I have been using an HTC Touch Pro and I would really like something besides Windows Mobile. It tethers well, handles email well, reboots well and often, receives multiple clicks to get what you want if you can ever find it well, lasts well into the afternoon without a recharge on a good day …

  • imajoebob

    Great idea by Palm, if counter-intuitive. By releasing just before the iPhone, it will be the first phone compared to the new model. Even if the iPhone is better, the Pre becomes the de facto #2, and takes a big chunk out of Blackberry.