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Confirmed: Bell releasing Palm Pre August 27th at $199.95
Shortly after putting the Future Shop image on, Bell released a press release that confirmed the official launch date of the Palm Pre for Thursday August 27th. Bell says the price point “will cost as little as $199.95 on a three-year contract or $599.95 without a contract with a minimum 500 MB data plan”.
Here is the full press release:
Bell today announced that the new Palm Pre phone will be exclusively available in Canada at Bell Mobility retail locations on August 27. Due to unprecedented demand, Bell also announced that Canadians can reserve one of the highly anticipated phones by pre-ordering now at bell.ca/pre, at Bell stores or at selected Bell retail partners.
Palm Pre is the first phone based on the new Palm webOS(TM) mobile platform, which brings mobile applications together in a unique and intuitive multi-tasking environment that is integrated with the most popular social networking tools and powerful search functions.
The Palm Pre will cost as little as $199.95 on a three-year contract or $599.95 without a contract with a minimum 500 MB data plan. Bell smartphone clients can choose from a wide variety of voice and data plans, including Smartphone Combos that offer unlimited Internet browsing, personal email, text messaging and Windows Live Messenger.
“We’re very excited to bring the revolutionary Palm Pre and the Palm webOS mobile platform to Canadians exclusively on Bell’s national wireless network – the largest high-speed 3G network in Canada,” said Wade Oosterman, President of Bell Mobility and Chief Brand Officer for Bell. “Considering the highly successful US introduction of the Palm Pre by Sprint in June and fast-growing Palm Pre buzz among Canadian mobile users, Bell and our retail partners are preparing for high demand for this breakthrough phone.”
Since announcing in May that it would carry the Palm Pre exclusively in Canada, Bell has seen unprecedented demand – tens of thousands of Canadians have already signed up at bell.ca/pre for more information about the device. Beginning today, clients can now pre-order the phone at bell.ca/pre, at Bell stores or at Bell retail partners Best Buy, Future Shop, The Telephone Booth/La Cabine Téléphonique, WIRELESS etc. and Wireless Wave.
“Palm is creating a new measure of simplicity and usefulness that is changing how people look at smartphones,” said Katie Mitic, senior vice president, Product Marketing, Palm, Inc. “It’s a new experience to access and connect the related but often decentralized information in your life, and we’re eager to share the Palm experience with Canada through Bell Mobility.”
The Palm webOS platform takes multi-tasking to a new level. Customers will love the ability to run multiple applications such as Internet, text messaging, email and music at the same time, and move easily between them using natural finger gestures. When they no longer need the item, they can close an activity by simply flicking it off the top of the screen.
The smooth, rounded ergonomic design makes Palm Pre a comfortable fit in your hand or pocket. The physical keyboard that slides out from beneath a large touch screen provides fast access to content on the device or web.
Palm webOS also features Palm Synergy(TM), which brings the users’ information from all the places it resides into one logical view so they don’t have to worry about tracking multiple calendars, contacts, email accounts and messaging applications. The Synergy feature pulls information from a client’s Outlook, Google and Facebook accounts, including Facebook profile pictures, into the contacts application – a compelling feature for the 85% of online Canadians that have a Facebook account.
Palm’s unique universal search allows customers to find what they need easily – just slide open the keyboard, start typing to get instant results. Results are pulled from the device apps, contacts and popular Internet sites including Google, Google Maps, Wikipedia and Twitter.
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GPS App? Just checking the Palm Canada and Bell sites – it doesn't look like there is an upgraded GPS app similar to Sprint Navigation included in the Bell phone! This is dissappointing. Anyone have any other information? Have to pay $10/mth for GPS Nav?
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When are they going to stop it with the 3 year contracts?
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Lets hope the Canadian versions don't have as many quality issues as the ones down south. Cracked screens, side to side movement in the slider, etc.
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The pricing is not competitive as reburished Iphone 3G costs $49.99 or $149.99 without data plan.
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And I hear that it comes with a Certificate of Obsoleteness, dated Jan. 1st, 2010 when all new phones over $50 will be HSPA compatible International phones. By then you will still be stuck with this antique technology for another 30 months!
Thanks, but I'll pass on this one. With the known issues regarding the durability of the unit and mediocre predictive text, not to mention the forever contracts, this is not the device for me.
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@toyandme unless you travel a lot outside North America it isn’t going to matter to the end user. the HSPA speeds are the same as EVDO revA for data, so it really isn’t going to matter to the average consumer, if you travel a lot you probably already have a Rogers GSM phone…
I’m on the waiting list to get one on August 27th!
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I do have an unlocked GSM from eBay that I use overseas but I'd like a better phone with wifi and UMA. The Pre ain't it and I object to the 3-year shackles. So why not buy it outright, you say? Because it's a blatant ripoff!
If I buy a $40,000 car with cash I don't have to worry about $500/month payments. I just worry about gas and maintenance. With cell phones you pay the full price and then you still have to make the full monthly payments for three years!!! Hello?
Cell phone companies make airline companies and politicians look honest.
The only solution, as suggested by another poster, is wait for refurbs to show up. By then the OS is pretty much bug-free and works as intended.
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It all comes down to how long you expect to be with the company and how volatile your service usage is. I know that I will be with a company for three years, and thus will sign an agreement. If I did not, I would still be paying the exact same monthly amount for my plan, and therefore lose $400 over the course of the three years for not signing an agreement.
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I am not denying that the the three year contracts are absolutely ludicrous. But I was simply replying to your comment:
"And I hear that it comes with a Certificate of Obsoleteness, dated Jan. 1st, 2010 when all new phones over $50 will be HSPA compatible International phones. By then you will still be stuck with this antique technology for another 30 months!"
which is obviously written to get a rise, because it is simply not true that the pre will be obsolete in 4 months.
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Simple math proves the point of how well these products are marketed:
Scenario #1:
Buy the phone without a contract and without a data plan.
$599 + ($35/mth * 36 mths) = $1859
Scenario #2:
Buy the phone with a 3 year contract and a data plan.
$199 + ($65/mth * 36 mths) = $2539
As you can see, what seems cheaper is in fact more expensive over 3 years. Only difference is you need a little more cash upfront.
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and why would you spend $599 on a smart phone without a data plan… that’s like buying a car and refusing to put any gas in it because it pollutes the environment. That just doesn’t make any sense to me, if you are going to do that spend $250 on an iPod touch and get a free phone with your $35 voice plan…
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You can't compare buying a car to buying a cellphone. Quote toyandme "If I buy a $40,000 car with cash I don’t have to worry about $500/month payments. I just worry about gas and maintenance. With cell phones you pay the full price and then you still have to make the full monthly payments for three years!!! Hello?"
1. Data plans in Canada are HUGELY overpriced compared to the rest of the world.
2. Wi-fi hotspots are rampant.
3. TomTom does a better job with pure GPS then Google Maps will ever do.
4. If more people thought like I do data plans would be cheaper due to the laws of economics.
With 6.5 million subscribers each diligently paying $65 a month to Bell Canada, I think I prefer to save my money for more important things. Can't you wait until you are in front of a computer to update your Twitter status?
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