Pre Day, June 6, is official...along with rebate pricing

Seth Weintraub
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May 19, 2009
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Palm's Pre will be available nationwide on June 6 for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate (bad idea) and with a two-year contract on Sprint's Everything Data plan or Business Essentials with Messaging and Data plan. The Pre will also be sold online and at Best Buy, RadioShack, and some Walmart stores (alongside iPhones). Accessories like the $69.99 TouchStone wireless charger will also be available at launch.

As we mentioned, we think the rebate pricing is a really bad idea.  We should also mention that we are excited to see how well Pre does.  Any competition to Apple is only likely to make the iPhone a better product and AT&T a better service provider. 

Oh and yes, June 6th is two days before WWDC...so that will also be interesting.

For those outside of AT&T's coverage (or where AT&T is horrific - like NYC), the Pre will be an very enticing.

 

Comments (19)

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | May 19, 2009 - 7:15am

Lets the war begin!

Justin (not verified) | May 19, 2009 - 7:20am

"For those outside of AT&T's coverage (or where AT&T is horrific - like NYC), the Pre will be an very enticing."

I was in NYC a couple weeks ago for a few days and the 3G service was awful. It would drop off to EDGE, sometimes just lose signal, and sometimes show full 3G but not be able to get any data. I live in Miami and I think it's one of the best 3G cities compared to the ones I've traveled to lately.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | May 19, 2009 - 9:16am

In the Boston region we also have stellar 3G service. Verizon is certainly the a poorer provider here in terms of coverage and quality.

Sprint used to be pretty lousy around these parts, but they may have stepped up their game. I haven't used them in years, and it's fairly uncommon to see Sprint users in this area of the country. All of my "Sprint friends" have moved to different carriers.

I was very happy about service improvements when I left Verizon for AT&T. Even my Brother, who lives in a rural area, gets exceptional service over 3G.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | May 19, 2009 - 7:24am

im kinda excited.... i wish apps were easily ported over, then and only then will the iphone have so,e serious competition. I think this phone will take the cake for business users, but i think ill be getting the new iphone (again)

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | May 19, 2009 - 7:33am

i love my iphone, but the pre is an intriguing offering. hopefully it drives apple to continue to open the throttle on what the iphone could be. just wish the service plan pricing better highlighted that it is cheaper. messaging is included in sprint's everything data plan for the same minutes and same price. hopefully att will drive down the price a touch someday. until then, i guess ill keep shelling out $100+ a month for my iphone.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | May 19, 2009 - 9:22am

take the hint att, lower pricing!

That's unlikely for base plans, as other carriers are no less expensive than AT&T, and some are considerably more expensive.

Unless the whole industry gets into a price war, I think we'll see AT&T NOT rocking the pricing boat. They're selling plenty right now.

The only price competition is at the very high end of the spectrum (1000+ minutes). But for me (a single device, mobile-only user for both home & work) the low-end 450 minute plan is all I need, and I can't find a less expensive plan from ANY provider in the USA.

If you know of a less expensive plan with comparable air time and unlimited data, feel free to reply with the details.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | May 19, 2009 - 7:53am

Is Sprint the only carrier? So, if you want the most advanced phone, you have to go with either AT&T or Sprint? I guess I'm stuck w/my Blackberry on Verizon.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | May 19, 2009 - 10:44am

Yes, Sprint is the only carrier for the Palm Pre.

If you're with Verizon, the number of quality smartphone models is quite limited. The best option for Verizon is the Curve.

-LD (not verified) | May 19, 2009 - 7:54am

It seems just OK. We'll have to get some hands on, real world use. Business will probably like it for the keyboard. But I have a sneaking suspicion Apple has some tricks up their sleeve for the next iPhone due this summer and that it will have more business appeal.

The rebate is a terrible idea. Just price it at $199 and sell the stupid thing. Why bother pissing people off with a rebate that they will either forget about or receive months later?

9to5Mac Knob (not verified) | May 19, 2009 - 8:17am

I use a verizon phone in addition to the iPhone in order to be able to make actual calls here in Baltimore. Contract is not up till November but I'm tempted to it switch early.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | May 19, 2009 - 8:26am

I can't believe how much these guys ripped off the iPhone, it is just ridiculous. The color, the buttons, the dock, the interface. It will fail like all the other ones that tried to do the same. The battery is going to suck and it will be really slow because of the background apps running. The ad was a fake, wait and see the real life speed.

Kevin (not verified) | May 19, 2009 - 9:48am

They have had patents for a LONG time -They've had LOTS of experience in this market...

Get over it you unthinking drone of a fanboi! I think the iPhone is an amazing device, as well, but when you look at the patents, there is a LOT of similarities between the two -AND BOTH SIDES APPEAR TO GET IDEAS FROM THE OTHER!!

They are BOTH amazing phones. Get off your ignorant, unintelligent, one-sided high horse & get into real life.

Oh, and have a great day

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | May 20, 2009 - 10:22am

You are the idiot. The iphone came out first. I understand that fuken palm have had patents for a LONG time, so did Apple. But why copy the look, and the feel of the iphone. Why can't they be different. I'll tell you why you Mother F**ker, because they are As****es like you sir. So go die in hell you and fucken palm and blackberry, you stupid piece of crap.

gps (not verified) | May 19, 2009 - 1:26pm

Palm has been the pioneer of the handled devices, they have thousands and thousands of apps and very good customer base (there's people still using the Vx). I agree they make the big mistake to go with WM, but you know, they had several issues with their OS (the one in hands of the japan company). Just to mention that all the apps on Palm were written with an awful SDK environment. This one is better, and I bet on the fast grow of apps available (similar to the Apps on the iPhone), on the market.

I think they deserve a chance. And I think they are the only serious competitor (at least in terms of innovation, eg: wireless charge) against the big apple.

They own also tons of patents, and I'm sure they will not suffer any legal threat.

I'll go for one, at least to play with it.

After almost 2 years, I have decided to "detox" from the iPhone, to see if the quality of my business life (and personal, why not) is better or not... at the moment, I can easily survive without...

Baka Dubbs (not verified) | May 19, 2009 - 10:16am

@ 9to5mac noob

Do yourself a favore and look at some of the old palm pda. Take a look at the interface and the layout. Then look at your iphone...ZOMG they have the same basic layout, but the palm PDA's were out in the 90's...TIME TRAVEL COPYING!!!! Apple stole from palm who stole from apple who stole from someone else etc. Products get better because you improve upon what your competitors offer. Hopefully this forces apple to step up to the plate and allow backround apps so I can listem to some Imeem while surfing the internet while IM'ing and emailing friends. I think we would all appreciate that in a next gen Iphone.

violian (not verified) | May 19, 2009 - 1:00pm

I got screwed over from Sprint with my purchase of my Instinct in May 2008. I paid $230 up front, and I was supposed to get my $100 rebate. The rebate was expired mid-July 2008...so I sent it in right away after meticulously following all the directions. I've been a customer since 2004. And guess what was in the mail? I letter that said I didn't qualify for the $100 rebate because I've had the phone for less than 6 months! But if I had of waited 6 months, then wouldn't the rebate had of expired!? So I ended up paying $260 after taxes for a stupid phone. Wish I would've gotten the iPhone for $200. And I still can't believe I'm still with Sprint to this very day.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | May 19, 2009 - 3:09pm

just call them and tell them you never got your rebate... they will issue you a check usually without a problem. PS i had the instinct and went back to the Q because of how aweful it was

lxnthny (not verified) | May 19, 2009 - 2:02pm

palm pre seems to be a cool, new device...and yea...the whole rebate spazz is unnecessary...just plain stupid...

On aspects of its UI though, i wonder if it's really going to outshine iPhone OS...it already worked its magic as a de facto successor to PalmOS by Access, but still, is it going to put up great competition with the current (and possibly future) builds of iPhone OS? I'm not one to judge, but on a personal level, i do think iPhone OS could still have some fixes. I own an iPod touch, and i don't really like the experience...yea, call me a loser, apple hater, palm fanboy, but seriously, i just don't really like the iPhone's aspects of user interface that much...i'm sorry to offend the many fanboys and iPhone lovers alike that are out there, but gahhh I just think iPhone has become too much of a cliche and generic thing we have come to acknowledge (and i'm sure palm pre and webOS may follow that as well)...

By the way, i do understand my statements may be either hypocritical and/or don't make sense...i just felt like writing...

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | May 19, 2009 - 3:56pm

come do Germany everyone! Every ctown over 20000 inhabitants has got 3G :3

Greets!