There are a ton of rumors hitting the Pre forums across the internet stating that the Pre is going to launch on April 15th, also known as the day you realized you didn’t get your taxes done.  That’s 7 days away folks. I’m sorry, but as much as I want the Pre, this isn’t going to happen.

Considering Sprint and Palm just launched a new ad campaign and we’re only now seeing advertisements for the Palm Pre, I’m sticking with my rough estimate at an early to mid-May launch. This way, the iPhone 3.0 doesn’t pose a threat, and Palm will have more time to polish up the device and produce enough Pre phones to satisfy the initial demand on launch day.  A May launch is well within the first half of the year estimate, and would give Palm enough time to circumvent the inevitable damage a new iPhone would cause, if it were launched in June as speculated.

The rumors (which are being perpetuated by either incredibly-informed, lying, or just plain mean Sprint CSR’s) also state a $299 price point after rebate and 2-year contract. While the Palm execs did ask why they’d price a superior device lower than the iPhone, I feel that it would be in Palm’s best interest to get the ball rolling on consumer demand for the Pre by giving it a sub-$199 price point.  This way, it could potentially do more damage to the iPhone 3.0, and win a greater number of users over to the less-expensive device (not to mention less expensive plans on Sprint too).  So my fellow Pre crusaders, it’s my feeling we’re going to have to wait it out a little longer.