Could the Palm Pre Debut Be Right Around the Corner?

There's still no definite word on when the Palm Pre will debut, but Sprint could be signaling that the release is getting close... or it may not.

Palm took the wraps off the Pre in January, and Sprint said at that time it would be the exclusive provider of this device at launch, but both companies have been vague on exactly when the debut will be. So far, the only timetable either will give is that this model will hit the U.S. market in the first half of this year.

According to a document that leaked in February, the Pre is expected to arrive at Sprint's warehouses on March 15.

This week, Sprint invited journalists to a webcast on March 12 to demonstrate the Palm Pre running on this carrier's wireless broadband network, and talk about the other features of this webOS-based phone.

In general, briefings of this kind don't happen long periods of time before products debut, so the timing of this webcast could add weight to the earlier report of a mid- to late-March debut.

On the other hand, Palm and Sprint could simply be trying to keep up the "buzz level" in the long months between the announcement of the Pre and its introduction. The fact that the invite to this briefing describes as the "the first in a series" supports this interpretation.

An Overview of the Palm Pre
The Palm Pre will be the first device to use Palm's just-announced webOS. This will be a multi-tasking operating system with a strong focus on the Web. It will be able to wirelessly synchronize a wide variety of data with online services like Google and Facebook.

The Pre itself will feature a sliding keyboard as well as a multi-touch-capable 3.1-inch display. This device will also be equipped with 8 GB of on-board storage, Wi-Fi b/g, Bluetooth 2.1, and a 3.0 megapixel camera with LED flash. 

As mentioned earlier, it will be available first from the U.S. carrier Sprint, who will add its mobile broadband service EV-DO Rev. A.

Via: Sprint