It hasn’t been long and there may not be a ton of Pre apps available yet, but apparently there are enough for an impressive 666,511 downloads as of June 17th. By now it is likely close to or past the 700,000 mark.

I’d call that a success. As shown in the above graph, they’ve been rising steadily as more apps become available, and we don’t see any signs of the numbers dropping. It’s still early, but things are looking great for Pre app downloads. That graph is sure to spike as more fart and beer apps show up.

Some clever fellows looking at the script files on the Palm Pre’s operating system have noticed that the Pixie name showed up, suggesting that Pixie would be on Palm’s new OS. Why not? It’s not really a shock that Palm would use and re-use the OS. They worked hard on it.

Still, it’s nice to know that the seemingly low-priced device will have most of the good stuff of its predecessor. The Pixie is supposed to come to AT&T in the US.

Palm and Sprint haven’t confirmed the numbers officially, but according to JPMorgan in a Wall Street Journal article, “sales in the first two days probably exceeded 50,000.” The figure was “aligned with expectations, but probably fell short of the 146,000 reported first-gen iPhone sales” during its opening weekend. And that was due to “capacity constraints in manufacturing.”

So it looks like the Pre launch was a success. Next weekend’s sales may put it all in perspective. It’s great news for Palm, but it isn’t all roses. We’ll have to see if new Palm owners are still having problems or not.

Today there are some reports from at least two Palm Pre forums of screen distortion affecting the recently launched Pre. Palm has yet to acknowledge the issue, but there’s a lot of discussion at the Precentral forums, where most of the affected users are reporting a similar circular distortion at the bottom of the Pre’s screen., While at the EverythingPre forums, there are similar complaints.

It seems like some Sprint stores are aware of the issue, and have been exchanging the handsets for new ones, if they have the stock. There is some photo “evidence”, some of it more compelling than others. Though some of the “distortion” has been ID’d by users as a normal part of the background design.

By now everyone knows that the Palm Pre has iTunes support. But Pre’s identity to its host system when connected via USB has confirmed what was already suspected. The method that it uses to hook into iTunes is…questionable.

The Pre identifies itself as an iPod in Media Sync mode, but only on the system’s mass storage interface. The root USB node still comes through as a Palm Pre. Apple could, if they wanted to, easily block it. Would Apple do that? It would certainly help grow their user base to let it be.

There’s no way to know for sure if the linked document is authentic or not. It builds on the original, from a few days back. It sems like a lot of trouble to go through for a joke or hoax, but there are some sick and bored people out there.

I mean, it’s a 31 page PDF file showing Palm Pre inventories for every Best Buy in the US and Puerto Rico. If this is bunk, than someone has a very sad life. Make of it what you will. Maybe it will help you get a Pre.

Looks like Best Buy’s Pre stock for launch day is pretty meager. Distribution is strange to say the least. This shot comes from a poster over on everythingpre’s forums, who posted a bunch of alleged inventory screen shots.

They suggest that Florida and Texas stores are particularly well-off, with several stores expected to get 18, 20 or more, while Illinois stores suggest that you need not bother at all. So, is this fake or not? It could have something to do with how close each store is to Best Buy’s distribution centers. We have no idea. If this is accurate, you can always start driving to Texas or Florida.

My Pre is reporting that a tipster with a webOS emulator has found that the Pre will use IMAP IDLE. This means that users on GMail will have near instantaneous reception of new emails. Because it’s getting pushed to the phone from the GMail servers.

Pre users are going to love that. At the moment, the only phone to support GMail push is the G1 (and soon the HTC Magic or any other Android device). Palm’s relationship with Google is proving to be extremely awesome for Pre users.

The Palm Pre should cost $199 with contract or about $549 from Sprint without one. So why does BestBuy’s site list the phone for $849?

Did we somehow slip into some bizarro universe? Apparently it’s there to deter people who would otherwise actually want the phone. You know, because of the shortage…

There’s been some talk of a Pre shortage. Apparently they ain’t kidding. 4 Palm Pres will be available per Best Buy store on launch day. That’s a total of 4250 Pre phones for the entire franchise. BGR is also reporting that RadioShack stores will get only two Pres.

Many of you are in for a rough June 6th. These numbers put your chances of getting a Palm Pre on launch day somewhere around slim and none.

Finally, Sprint has announced that the Pre will cost $199.99 after $100 mail-rebate and 2-year contract and will launch on June 6th. The phone will go on sale nationwide (in the US-only to start) at Sprint stores, Best Buy, Radio Shack, and select Wal-Marts.

The Pre will be available under Sprint’s Everything Data or Business Essentials with Messaging and Data plans. Some accessories include the optional $69.99 Touchstone charging dock kit that includes the $49.99 dock and $19.99 Pre back cover.

Your wait is almost over. The New York Times claims that the Smartphone is due in the first week of June, which confirms what we have heard. As usual, all we can do is wait, safe in the knowledge that very soon, the Pre will be among us.

If you ask us, our guess is we will have some sort of official word any day now. But it’s looking more and more certain that we will see it in that first week of June.

So when will the Palm Pre be launched? We already have a few dates floating around, and you can now add this new picture showing a Palm Pre “launch lunch” on June 5th to your calendar. So, is this info legit? We aren’t sure. Even the best of them can mis-type “Employee Benfits”.

What do you guys think? The real deal? This could mean that they’re prepping for a June 7 retail launch, which would line up with the Best Buy rumor. Or it could just be an imaginary lunch with a bunch of stuffed animals and tea in small cups.

This isn’t 100% confirmed yet but the folks at BGR have some launch details for the the Palm Pre. Apparently Best Buy will be getting a limited inventory of 4,500 Pre handsets for a trial launch on June 7th. The story goes that Sprint will be direct-shipping them to arrive on the 6th. So, about 4,500 units will be spread throughout Best Buy Mobile locations across the country.

Yeah, that’s spreading them pretty thin. Rest assured that each and every Best Buy Mobile will be getting at least one Pre. Pricing is apparently still being decided on, but here’s what is likely: New customers with a 2-year contract, $199.99. Existing customer upgrades, $299.99. Outright, $999.99. Ouch!

Following the confirmation of the Palm Eos for AT&T, PhoneNews is claiming to have insider information about the existence of a CDMA version of the Palm Eos that will work on Sprint’s network.

Supposedly, the lower-cost Web OS phone is currently testing at Sprint and should be available sometime in the third quarter, after the release of the Pre. Other than running on CDMA, it should be identical to the AT&T version. We’ll let you know more when we know more.