www.webOShelp.net

Another internal Sprint document has found its way into hands at Engadget, this time in the form of a project sheet suggesting the webOS handset has a "req. delivery date" of May 16. The "scheduled (delivery date)" field is still blank, leaving an air of uncertainty; however if all goes to plan, the rumored May 17 release date looks to be the one.

For reference, all of the possible release dates so far are listed below:

• February 15 (PreCentral)
• March 15 (Target In-Stock - EOL Sheets)
• April 30 (Palm Pre beta tester)
• May 17 (Leaked internal memos; RandiRS4 via forums; leaked shipment date)
• Late May (Treo 755P EOL)
• June 29 (Leaked internal memos, if shipments inadequate)
• First half of 2009 (CEO Ed Colligan statement)
• Q2 2009 (Palm-Sprint Webinar)

In other news, Boy Genius got a hold of photos of a couple Pre devices, snapped at the annual "Bring Your Own Big Wheel" race in San Francisco. The two persons, possibly young adults, appear to be snapping photos using the built-in camera. Could these be a couple of beta testers, or perhaps Palm employees with increased freedom from an NDA?

Palm has always been in control of the device, so it is intriguing to see the device apparently let loose at a crowded public event. Then again, Palm could just be going viral with their marketing push, speculates IntoMobile. After all, with a new commercial and reaching out to celebrities including the IFC Spirit Awards, Jimmy Fallon, and Howard Stern, it only makes sense they would want to take it to the next level and go public. What do you make of these recent photos?

Engadget reports today from a computer "somewhere deep inside Sprint", the Palm Touchstone (first in a possible line of Touchstone devices) shows as retailing for $69.99. We'll let the screenshot speak for itself. Although we would expect to pay good money for a first-party accessory, it does seem a little steep, even for an uber-cool charger.

At least it includes the matte battery cover that is required to use it. Would this price affect your decision to buy the Touchstone with your new Pre?

It seems Palm's new webOS handset has finally reached the home stretch. According to leaked internal memos from Sprint retail stores, front-end employees have a vacation freeze in the month of May and Palm Pre training has already begun. The alleged release date is Sunday, May 17; but if initial shipments are inadequate the date could be pushed back to Sunday, June 29.

The Palm and Sprint ad campaign for the Pre is also continuing to roll on. In addition to the latest commercial, last Monday the Wall Street Journal featured the Pre and Sprint in the advertising section, reports Precentral. Palm also recently sent out an e-mail to customers touting Pre apps, including FlightView and Fandango with synergy integration, reports MyPre. Palm is touting a strong third-party library at launch, discussed previously in Palm's all-star lineup.

Sprint is known for official releases on Sundays, so coupled with the vacation ban, extended ad campaign, and upcoming Apple WWDC on June 8 (which could spoil the Pre party), a May release is sounding likely; as long as OEM manufacturer Chi Mei can get enough units out the door. The price has also been rumored to be $299 on a two-year contract, but hopefully the price will be lower to compete with the base iPhone. After all, we'll need the spare change for the svelte touchstone dock.

Here's a few Palm Pre and webOS news tidbits from industry sources to kick off Easter weekend:

First batch of developers get Palm Mojo SDK

Last week, Palm announced the Mojo SDK early access program for developers. They have since posted an update of the program on their blog, and stated that after "about a gazillion applications", they have let in the first batch of developers late last week, and another batch early this week. That means we could be seeing webOS programs soon, and no doubt preDevCamp, the worldwide event for up-and-coming webOS developers, is gearing up in anticipation of the public release.

Multitouch battle back on

Looks like the patent stalemate over multitouch between Apple and Palm has a new player, and they don't want to prolong the cold war any longer. Engadget reports that Elan, best known for keypads found in Asus Eee PCs, won a court injunction against Synaptics for infringement over patents, and are now seeking an injunction against Apple to prevent them from selling the Macbook, iPhone and iPod Touch until the case is settled. While it's unlikely anything drastic will happen, it could be just the distraction to take Apple away from focusing on the Palm and the Pre's multitouch capabilites. Check out some other articles discussing Apple and Palm's role so far.

Palm Pre - What's in a name?

The name of Palm's latest handheld has been much a mystery until their joint webcast with Sprint, when Palm's Matt Crowley stated that the name was "anticipatory, looking ahead to the future...It's thinking ahead of what you want it to do." Precentral reports on some new details behind the Pre name; Palm actually hired Catchword Branding to come up with the name, and in an e-mail they outlined the painstaking process of choosing a name for their next-gen handset. A few points from the document are below.

• Palm Pre rolls off the tongue nicely.
• It makes use of an accented "e" consistent with other Palm products, such as the Treo and Foleo, and distinguishes it in the market.
• The name associates intentionally with words like PREcident and rhymes with Grand PRIX, which help to redifine what it means to be a smartphone.
• The name doesn't try to "outcool" other phones, such as "Dare", "Sway" (Bold?), etc. You just buy the phone because it IS cool.

New Palm Pre accessory rolled out

A slick new holster for the Pre is being released by AGF, designed to make it easily accessible while preventing scratches. PalmWebOS reports that the "AGF Holster with shell door" has a unique design that allows the face of the phone to point inwards, with a smooth hinge to drop the phone down and view it, without actually removing it. The main priority behind the product was "a carry solution that would not scratch or cause any wear to the gloss finish". Looks like a great solution to mobile professionals and those of us who want to maximize accessibility.

External keyboard support is also expected, with companies such as Freedom Input looking to port their bluetooth keyboard drivers to webOS.

Sprint has been busy gearing up for the launch of the Pre, with a recent TV ad featuring the new webOS handset, and rumors of a late April release, among other dates. Sprint employees are now starting to gear up; according to an internal e-mail from Sprint (most likely their "Weekly Product Update"), employee training for the Pre may have already begun. The e-mail states:

"Employees can expect training to start in April as well as multiple communications to get them excited and ready to help our customers," and they confirm with, "...Sprint is in the process of providing the training for the new Palm Pre."

Also mentioned in the e-mail, the Palm Pre wil compete favorably with the flagship products from other carriers such as the iPhone, Blackberry Storm, and Android G1. It will be marketed heavily against the competition, and will be "bigger and better" than the 2008 launch of the Instinct.

The e-mail closes with a warning not to allow any "important information" to be leaked to the public before they are set up and ready to go. Considering the leaked EOL sheets in Feburary and leaked confidential Sprint documents in March, so far they are doing a bang-up job in this department. But we're not complaining.

Source

David Carnoy from CNET has an editorial dicussing the price of Sprint's new webOS handset. Rumors have pegged the device at $299 on a two-year contract, however "Sprint has to do better. It has to break $199 and preferably hit $149...$299 would be suicide," he states.

One reason why the price should be lower is Sprint's service plans, which are nothing special. "Sprint's service plans for the Pre appear to be very similar to those of the iPhone", he states, referring to the plans of $69, $89, and $99 including unlimited data and varying talk time.

With the iPhone starting at $199 and T-Mobile's G1 costing $179, the other choices are just too tempting; especially with an iPhone upgrade looming on the horizon. "...at least $149 gives it (Sprint) a fighting chancek" he adds. While unlikely, early rumors predicted the Pre at $150 after rebate; so we wouldn't completely rule out the Pre undercutting the base iPhone in price. RIM is also pushing the market with more consumer-friendly BlackBerrys, and were recently endorsed by celebrities Howard Stern and U2.

In addition, Palm can't count on the Pre stealing away iPhone and Blackberry customers (a scenario predicted by Palm investor Roger Mcnamee). A ChangeWave study reported on by The Baltimore Sun found that only 1 percent of iPhone users were "somewhat likely" to switch to a Pre, and none were "very likely". Blackberry users were only slightly more inclined, with 3 percent "somewhat likely" and 1 percent "very likely" to switch over. This suggests that RIM and Apple will continue to dominate the smartphone arena for some time, and if the Pre wants to gain traction it will have to take away from the weaker smartphone players, such as Nokia and Samsung.

Palm has been working the celebrity circuit as of late; most recently they stepped up to help outspoken talk show host Howard Stern replace his aging Treo; Palm head of PR Lynn Fox called into the show, and recently Palm visited Stern's home to give him a private demo of their new webOS handset. Because he is a longtime Palm user, an endorsement for the latest and greatest Palm handset should be a no-brainer.

However, all the marketing effort backfired, with ZDNet reporting Stern giving a thumbs up to RIM's Blackberry Bold instead. He said the Pre was a "fine phone", but its inability to connect to Lotus Notes was a dealbreaker. Palm could have never suspected Stern to be using Lotus; but then again, maybe they should have had all their bases covered, especially since Stern is far from being a technophile. "I bet Palm wishes they could re-do this little experiment", states IntoMobile.

However, and probably too little too late, a commenter a ZDNet notes that a webOS app by CompanionLink allows Pre users to sync with programs such as Lotus Notes, among others (see article), and allows both USB and OTA sync. If the Palm rep had known this, perhaps the marketing move would have worked in their favor. RIM also received a marketing boost when U2 partnered with RIM for their upcoming 360 Tour, despite frontman Bono being a major Palm investor.

A new video has been posted to the official Pre site, demonstrating third party software including Fandango and Pandora Internet Radio in conjunction with the synergy feature. We also get a peek at the wave launcher in action. The previous video has been named "Good Morning" on the site. Pretty cool stuff; we'll let the video do the talking.

Previously, we discussed launch partners Fandango and Pandora, among others in a series of articles.  What do you think of the new features demonstrated in the video?  

Thanks, SeanBlader!