The touchscreen Pre will be sold through Sprint retail stores, Best Buy, Radio Shack, and Wal-Mart stores, as well as online at sprint.com. While Sprint didn't detail a pricing plans for the new phone, it said the Pre will take advantage of the wireless carrier's "Everything Data" plans, which go for $70 or $90 a month, depending on the number of minutes.
The operator touts the Pre's ability to run multiple applications and Web pages simultaneously. Users navigate them via "activity cards" -- large icons on the display that can flip through or rearrange like a deck of cards. The phone also includes software for combining personal and professional calendars, contacts and email into one centralized view. Other key features include a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth with stereo support, a 3-megapixel camera with LED flash and 8GB of built-in storage. Sprint is also separately offering the Touchstone wireless charger for the Pre for $70.
The Pre is launching just two days before Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, where the company could potentially unveil a new iPhone. Avi Greengart, research director for consumer devices at Current Analysis, said a mid-May launch would have given the Pre a launch window to itself.
He called the timing of the June 6 release "unfortunate," but in keeping with Palm's promise to introduce the Pre in the first half of 2009.
The noise on message boards and some talk around the office could be good for Sprint, they may have a real winner on their hands, more business like in it's layout then iPhone, and the videos I saw were impressive. Sprint is also rumored to have the HTC Touch Pro 2 coming in June (won't hold my breath) and if so, that will also rival iPhone, since the HTC TP2 is all business with a after hours capability to it.
Endgadget Review on HTC/Sprint
http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/19/htc-touch-pro2-for-sprint-spotted-in-the-wild-mid-june-release/