Palm Pre to Sell only in Sprint Stores, Be Sprint Exclusive for Longer

As we approach the big day for the Palm Pre (and Palm executives fidget anxiously), the last few details about the release are trickling in. They include a snub to Verizon and the news that you'll have to put a pair of pants on to get a Pre this weekend.



Whether you like shopping online for the convenience or because you're agoraphobic, you won't have that luxury with the Palm Pre. Sprint has just changed their Palm Pre press release to say that the smartphone will only be available at physical storefronts, like Sprint stores, Best Buy, Radio Shack and some Walmarts. So you'll have to get off the couch and stand in lines if you want this phone.

Sprint also recently took the opportunity to contradict Verizon's claims that the Palm Pre would be coming to their network in 6 months when the Sprint/Pre exclusivity deal expires. But at a recent press interview, CEO Dan Hesse said that "They need to check their facts. That just is not the case. Both Palm and Sprint have agreed not to discuss the length of the exclusivity deal. But I can tell you it's not six months."

Of course, that could just mean it lasts through 2009 (as we've heard before), which is technically 7 months, so you'd still be able to get it at Verizon in January. And since Hesse was obviously trying to be coy, it may mean the discrepancy is something trivial like that. Either way, if sounds like you might have to wait an extra month or two or six if you're tied to Verizon and want the Pre.

Palm Pre available tomorrow, June 6 for $199.99 with a two-year service agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate.

For more info on the Pre and its competition, see the smartphone review site. If you're more interested in tech news, stick with the blog:

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