Palm to launch Pre early as May?

There are two things the tech world is waiting to hear about the Palm Pre: when it will arrive, and what it will cost. The first answer might be falling into place.

Phone News (via Gizmodo) obtained internal emails sent to US phone carrier Sprint's retail employees informing them that training for the Pre is about to begin, and that taking a vacation during May is not going to be allowed. There are two scenarios for the Pre launch date outlined in the memos that seem to depend on Palm's ability to wrap up development and ramp up manufacturing.

The first scenario involves a 17 May launch date, which assumes Palm can get enough Pres in Sprint's hands by the end of this month or the beginning of May. If that doesn't happen, Sprint and Palm would then delay the launch date to 29 June, according to Phone News, which would allow them to just slip in under the deadline Palm set earlier this year for shipping the Pre within the first half of 2009.

May 17 is a Sunday, which might seem like an odd day to launch a phone, but perhaps Sprint is looking to take advantage of weekend traffic in its retail stores. It has definitely seemed that Sprint is driving much of the Pre endgame strategy, which needs just one more detail: price.