Sprint reportedly will launch the Palm Pre in May, timing that could steal the thunder of an expected new version of Apple’s iPhone.
According to the Boy Genius Report Web site, Sprint documents suggest Palm could begin shipping its touch-screen phone in May, a month before many believe Cupertino will introduce its next-generation iPhone.
The Pre, a touch-screen smartphone widely viewed as a rival to Apple’s popular handset, essentially replaces the Treo 755p.
Palm and Apple have recently engaged in saber-rattling over potential patent-infringement questions. Interim Apple CEO Tim Cook told reporters the company would “use whatever weapons we have at our disposal” to prevent its iPhone patents from being “ripped-off.”
Palm has responded that it is confident the Pre could withstand such legal challenges.
Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.
