Well well, now here’s something a bit unexpected. It looks like Palm’s Pre will be available from Best Buy starting with June 7. Should we all just assume that Sprint will also start selling the device around the same date? As for the prices, word on the street is that Best Buy will sell the Pre for $199.99 for new customers when they choose a 2-year plan, $299.99 for upgrades and an astounding $999.99 for unsubsidized phones. We’ll just have to wait and see if anyone will confirm all that!

Palm tried to launch its own respectable netbook and failed miserably. Remember the Palm Foleo? But know things could change for the unimpressive gadget. Palm is said to launch a Foleo running on webOS and packing inside a Gobi 3G chipset, an ARM CPU and a battery capable of offering you 8-10 hours of undisturbed, unplugged activities.

At least that’s what an analyst with Global Equities Research says:

Trip Chowdhry, an analyst with Global Equities Research, asserts in a note to clients today that Palm is doing exactly that: he says they intend to produce a $399 netbook that will run the Palm Web OS that debuts soon on the eagerly awaitingPre smartphone. Chowdhry says the device will use Qualcomm’s Gobi 3G wireless chip, ARM chipsets and have 8-10 hours of battery life. He says the device is being designed by three ex-Apple iPod guys. He also says the netbook will only support browser-based applications, and not “native applications.”

Will this Foleo version be worthy of your attention? We’re anxious to see how this one will look like. The netbook will cost around $399 or even less if purchased with carrier’s data plans. Or at least that’s the word on the street right now.

The thing with rumors and hidden sources is that you can never know exactly who’s telling the truth. Yesterday we heard that the Palm Eos will be released by AT&T. Today we hear the Sprint will have it too in the third quarter of the year. Sources within Sprint have confirmed such a device and the said handset is in testing as we speak. Maybe by tomorrow T-Mobile will also have a version of the Eos scheduled for release this fall. will the Pre arrive from any other carriers? We’ll keep you updated!

And on a different not the Eos could very well wear one of the following names: Mini Pre, Pixie or Castle.

I don’t know what phone is currently hotter than the Pre so this might just be a silly rumor right here. It seems that Palm is interested in launching a smaller Pre version sometime later this year. Is this Palm’s way to respond to an eventual iPhone nano threat? Or should we call it iPhone lite and expect Verizon to unveil it?

The Mini Pre might be scheduled for a third quarter release and we’re probably going to see Sprint selling it too. The phone will obviously come with webOS on board and it will probably sport Pre-like features. So far this year only Samsung has released a smaller version of one of it’s phones. The smaller Instinct is already available from Sprint so there’s no reason why other companies shouldn’t follow this trend. Would you fancy a Pre Mini?

You’ve got it folk, the Eos is another Palm handset running the all new webOS. The phone will be launched by AT&T sometime after the Pre and it will cost you $349 before any rebates. In the mean time here are the specs of the phone:

• Quad-band GSM, 850/1900MHz HSDPA
• 111 x 55 x 10.6mm
• 2.63-inch 320 x 400 capacitive display
• 4GB storage
• Camera: 2 megapixel fixed focus digital camera and flash / video capture
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1 w/ A2DP and EDR, USB 2.0 via micro USB
• Removable 1150 mAh battery (4 hours 3G talk time)
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, integrated IM client
• Contact sync with AT&T Address Book
• MediaNet
• Cellular Video
• Email: POP3, IMAP4, and EAS support
• A-GPS
• Audio: WAV, MP3, AAC, AAC+ ringtones
• Video Playback: MPEG4, H.264, H.263

Last time we checked the Pre was coming on April 30. And now we hear we have new release dates for it. Sprint employees are already training for the Pre and they should be ready either by May 17 or June 29.

The carrier enforced a vacation freeze for May and the phone will arrive on May 17 if Sprint will have enough units until that date. Otherwise Sprint will sell the Pre on June 29. Isn’t that a little too late? Won’t the next iPhone arrive before the Pre that way? What do you say Palm? Will we see the Pre on May 17?

The Treo Pro Smartphone is now officially available in Canada through Telus as announced by Palm Inc. today. With its smartly designed high-resolution color touch screen and full web-browsing capabilities layered on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Treo Pro is the ideal smartphone for business users and consumers. Read the rest of this entry »

Sprint demoed some Palm Pre WebOS apps at the CTIA, these include PalmOS Emulator, Google Maps and Pandora. Gizmodo were keen to put these photos up after getting a first hands on with it, just take a look at it, even as an Apple fan I must say the Pre is looking extremely impressive. More pics after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »