Palm Pre Ready for Launch on May 16

The rumors cycling around the launch of the highly expected Palm Pre mobile phone have suggested recently that the device is due to come to Sprint's lineup as soon as May 17, in case all goes according to plan, or on June 29, if Palm considers it won't be able to meet the demand Pre is expected to see on the market.

According to the latest news on the Web, the Palm Pre might indeed become available around the suggested May 17 date, as a recent document leaked into the wild shows that Sprint and Palm have prepared themselves to get all things ready for the launch of the handset on May 16.

Said document, surfaced on Engadget, states that the mobile phone carrier plans to have the device in its locations by Saturday, May 16. Given the fact that Sprint usually launches new handsets on Sundays, this might very well imply that the Pre could be launched the very next day, as it has been suggested before. One thing is for sure though, namely that we won't see it released earlier than that, so rumors about a possible April launch prove false.

Palm's Pre mobile phone is expected to become very popular, both due to it design and capabilities, as well as thanks to the new operating system it includes, the webOS. It should compete directly with Apple's iPhone, which is currently a leader in the market, and some even say that the Pre will be capable of taking the crown from its rival shortly after the launch, though it might face some problems in this attempt, as Apple intends to release a new platform for its device, the iPhone OS 3.0, which is due shortly after Pre hits the market.

In related news, we also learn that the Pre has been recently spotted in the wild at the annual Bring Your Own Big Wheel race held in San Francisco. The photos that are available show two Pre devices, and they seem to be legit, which means that the handset should come to the market shortly. The photos can be seen here.