Anyone who is a Palm fan, and has heard of the new Palm Pre that is supposed to be released soon, is probably wondering: what is the Palm Pre release date? If you too are wondering when Palm will be releasing their new webOS smart phone, the current suggested Palm Pre release date is sometime in May - probably May 17th, 2009. I say 'current suggested' because no one really knows if this is the actual date, since neither Palm nor Sprint have released such a date as of yet.

UPDATE: The Palm Pre Release Date has been announced. Click to find out about pricing and what to expect...

There have been various Palm Pre release date rumors. Some of the most popular ones that are/were floating around are:

February 15th, 2009

February 19th, 2009

April 15/16th, 2009

April 30th, 2009

May 13th, 2009

May 17th, 2009

Yet, recent buzz in the blogosphere and news world suggests that a Palm Pre release date of May 17th, 2009 may be pretty close. Apparently, the release date of the Palm Pre is not expected to exceed the first half of 2009. According to Phones Review, Sprint has put a halt on employee vacations for the month of May (similar to how AT&T haulted employee vacations for the release of the iPhone). Insider buzz also leads us to believe that Sprint employees have already began training for the new Palm Pre release date in May.

Read the complete article: Palm Pre launch May 17th as Sprint halt employee vacations

Note: If you'd like to be notified by email or phone of the actual Palm Pre release date, by Palm, click notify me to receive the official updates.

One thing that may hinder an official Palm Pre release date is the current rumor going around that Apple is threatening Patent Lawsuits over the new Palm Pre. As a long-time fan and user of Palm smart phones, I am finding such a lawsuit kind of funny. If I recall correctly, Palm produced one of the first EVER touch screen phones. And now Apple wants to come along and claim a patent on it? And then try to sue one of the original inventors of touchscreen smart phone technology. And even worse, Tim Cook, Apple COO, has the nerve to make the comment:

“We are watching the landscape. We like competition, as long as they don’t rip off our IP, and if they do, we’re going to go after anybody that does … I don’t want to talk about any specific company. I’m just making a general statement that we think competition is good; it makes it us all better. And we’re ready to suit up and go against anyone. However, we will not stand for having our IP ripped off and we’ll use whatever weapons we have at our disposal [to make sure that doesn't happen]. I don’t know that I can be more clear than that.”

Source

If, you ask my opinion, I think Palm is only reclaiming their own idea. They accepted the fact that Apple revolutionized their touchscreen technology - now they are just doing the same. It's called technological advancement. What's wrong with that?

My guess is that Apple really is worried, despite their comment, about the competition that the Palm Pre release may bring. In fact, blogosphere rumor suggests that AT&T is gearing up for the Palm Pre vs. iPhone battle by providing its employees with a pro-iPhone, anti-Pre cheat sheat!

There's been all kinds of crazy news in respect to the Palm Pre release date. Some celebs, like Angelina Jolie, have supposedly been spotted with the Palm Pre recently. Apparently, none of the celebs have actually gotten to take home the Palm Pre, only play with it. But many celebs already have their hearts set on the Palm Pre and have no problems with expressing their love for it.

Even non-celebs are getting their 15 minutes of fame from sporting a Palm Pre in the wild.The Palm Pre has recently been spotted minding its own business in San Francisco. Check out the images (to the bottom right) of two unknown kids/guys strolling through San Francisco supposedly toting Palm Pres. 

And of course, the Palm Pre is someething to Tweet about, with over 33 million mentions on Twitter. [Twitter fans: Check out the Palm Pre buzz on Twitter for yourself. You can even follow Palm on Twitter.]

Besides all of the social hype in the media surrounding a Palm Pre release date, there is also some other evidence in the media that leads us to believe that the Palm Pre release date really may end up being a lot sooner than later. If you haven't already seen the Palm Pre commercial, from Sprint, check it out. It's awesome and revolutionizes on the fact that many of us are tapped into the ease of access and social aspects of web 2.0 - and it looks like the Palm Pre has found a top of the line way to tap into that up and coming trend.

Between surmounting social buzz, commercials, rumors of a lawsuit and even a cheatsheet, I would assume it's safe to say that the Palm Pre release date is going to be sooner than later. What that date is, we still don't know. All I know is I can't wait! How about you?