According to the a tipster over at Precentral, Palm showed off a GSM Palm Pre working on AT&T's 3G network. There's a chance AT&T might pick up the Palm Pre before Verizon. Let's take a quick look at the facts and rumors to see if we can puzzle this together.
Well another person at Verizon has decided to let someone know that the Palm Pre is on its way to Verizon. This time their tweeting on Twitter from the Verizon Wireless Offers Twitter account
'VZWOffers'. Verizon is currently the largest carrier in the U.S. with the largest 3G coverage area (if you haven't seen Verizon's 'There's a Map for That' commercial it's a must). There are a lot of big name smartphones on their way to Verizon this year including the BlackBerry Storm 2, which our friends over at FoneFrenzy have a nice video of and two Android devices; the rumored Motorola Sholes, and what looks like the HTC Hero. All these devices are exciting but we all get this tingly feeling that Verizon's big launch is going to be the Palm Pre, which they have said numerous times will be out some time in Q1 of 2010. We here at PreThinking are hoping that means January.
Lowell McAdam, CEO for Verizon Wireless, spoke at a Barclays Capital conference where he discussed upcoming devices and again confirmed the Palm Pre would be coming to Verizon Wireless.
"You will see devices like the Palm Pre and the Cousin on our network from Palm. You will see a second-generation Storm. You will see a new device we call the Tour from BlackBerry as well. That is an upscale of any other QWERTY-based devices that we have from BlackBerry today. You’ll see Motorola back into our portfolio. We feel very good about the progress that the Motorola team has made. And, yes, you’re going to see Android devices as well.
It looks as though the Palm Pre and its cousin, perhaps the Eos (code name Pixie) will be getting the new Palm handsets sometime in the near future, albiet, that future looks like the first quarter of 2010."
According to a WSJ report, Verizon wireless is going to carry the Palm Pre this January. But our earlier post where Dan Hesse refuted this in a video interview gives us a different story.CNET editor Maggie Reardon interviewed Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, who explained that the Palm Pre is exclusive to Sprint for longer than the six months recently reported.
Time will only tell but Sprint may be looking to extend it's contract with Palm because Sprint pricing voice/data are the best in the industry. Palm may feel the same way.
At the Palm Pre launch event in New York on Friday, CNET editor Maggie Reardon interviewed Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, who explained that the Palm Pre is exclusive to Sprint for longer than the six months recently reported. Hesse also talked about what Sprint thinks makes the Pre a unique product and answered the question of whether Sprint will ever get the iPhone.
Mr. James Fisher of Sprint said "We have the Pre through 2009." Due to all the reports flying around the internets today that Verizon’s Chief Executive Lowell McAdam told analysts at an investor’s conference they would get the Palm Pre within Six Months or so. He meant to say, after six months of Sprint’s Exclusive with Sprint. Read the full story in the WSJ.
According to reports by The Street, Verizon is going to see the Palm Pre in about Six Months. Since Apple is in dicusssion with AT&T regarding the iPhone (and talks don't seem to be going well), AT&T has also stated that it would like to entertain the idea of a Palm Pre on their network.
Verizon tends to lag behind AT&T in the smart phone arena and attracting new customers with the Palm Pre would be a certain boost for Verizon's number One positioned carrier in the United States.
Daniel Rodriguez