The smartphone that Palm has promoted as the antidote to its dismal quarterly results—the Palm Pre—is scheduled for release in mid-May, according to several reports today. Palm is hoping the Palm Pre smartphone will play strongly against Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android-based smartphone as the smartphone competition heats up.
Several reports today say that internal memos at Sprint have told employees to cancel time off planned for May, and that employee training on the Palm Pre would begin in April. Canceling time off has been a common practice among smartphone-related companies about to launch a major project.
Palm has targeted a second-quarter release for the Palm Pre—what it hopes will be its savior smartphone device.
Many of the reports that cite a May release of the Palm Pre are targeting the date of May 17. Other reports say that the Palm Pre could go on sale as early as this week and target prices after discounts of around $300.
Smartphones have garnered the attention of the reseller solution provider community in recent years. And smartphone makers, including Palm, have worked hard to make it easy for ISVs to develop apps for the devices. Palm’s CEO says developers will have an easy time developing for the Palm Pre.