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.

The much hyped Palm Pre isn’t even here yet, and here we have another leak of a new Palm device called the Eos. This one looks pretty awesome in it’s own right. It’s a quadband GSM/HSDPA smartphone that is super thin at just 10.6mm, and weighs just 100 grams.

Some features include: 2.63″ capacitive display at 320 x 400 resolution, 2-megapixel camera with video recording capability, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP and USB 2.0 connectivity, A-GPS support, Audio and video file format support, and 4GB internal memory.

Looks like some photos of the Palm Pre in the wild have cropped up today on Twitter (via lo_toney) and have since been removed. As you can see, the pic above shows it running what looks like a YouTube videos application.

The YouTube video app looks similar to the same app that appears on Palm’s Treo Pro. We have no idea if the pic is real or not, so you tell us what you think.

Looks like Palm is clearing out their hardware inventory to make way for the much hyped and anticipated Pre, so they are now offering the Palm Centro for just $199, without long-term contracts. The unlocked GPS phone will come in glacier white, cobalt blue or ruby red.

Sure, it isn’t the newest handset in the world, having been released in 2007, and it isn’t the flashiest, but it still has many useful features.

This “Meet Pre” video still has us lusting after the device. It demonstrates some interesting features, like a list of people invited to a meeting and which ones will be going, calendar and contacts and the phone is shown “sending” a webpage to a friend by forwarding a link and an attached .png screenshot.

We will likely hear more about the phone this week at MWC. With more enthusiasm, we hope. Though informative, this video will easily put you to sleep.

According to WebOS Arena, the Palm Pre will be exclusive to Best Buy Mobile and Sprint stores for it’s first 60 days, citing a “credible source”. That isn’t a stretch as Sprint has previously given Best Buy such privileges, like in the case of the Samsung Instinct.

There was also a short time where Best Buy was also the only place outside of an Apple Store where you could purchase an iPhone. So, whether they have a “credible” source or not, it’s a good bet. Not a stretch at all. Still, it isn’t confirmed, so take it with the usual grain of salt.

Palm just debuted its long awaited new handset, the Palm Pre. What a name. The touchscreen handset has a 3.1-inch 320 x 480 multitouch display, with a silver center button below and touch sensitivity all along the face. The lower part is for “gestures.” What’s that sliding out? A full QWERTY keyboard in portrait orientation. If you like, you can flip the phone on its side for accelerometer-sensed widescreen.

It’s running Palm’s all-new webOS platform, with TI’s new OMAP CPU. According to Palm, it provides laptop-style power, and powers the phone’s smooth transitions, scrolling and the like. Some other specs include EV-DO Rev. A, 802.11b/g WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth with A2DP and 8GB of built-in flash storage. It also sports a 3 megapixel camera with LED flash, mass storage-friendly microUSB plug and a good ol’ 3.5mm headphone jack.