Oh, hey, look at that: you can buy a Pre now! As of 8:00AM on the East Coast, the phone went on sale at Sprint stores, with Best Buy, Radio Shack and Wal-Mart also retailing the phone today as Saturday dawns across the country. After Sprint's invite only
pre-Pre launch event last night, we still saw plenty of folks lined up outside Sprint's "flagship" New York store in the Flatiron Building before the doors opened. Apparently people started queuing around 5:00AM, with Chris Lee and Randy Williams the first through the door -- replacing a Treo Pro and a HTC Mogul, respectively. Like last night, the process took about 40 minutes, but a lot of that is spent waiting for a small pit crew of Sprint employees to swap over your address book, so if you forgo that we'd say you can be in and out in 30, which should still be plenty of time to savor the moment. Word is that the Flatiron store has about 100 units, but it's clear that inventory varies widely between locations and retailers -- Touchstones seem to be a much rarer commodity.
We'll be checking out some other launches across the country, so stay tuned, and be sure to send in your own pictures and impressions!
Some word from the wilds: Tipster Brad says that his Best Buy store in Orlando has only 9 Pres available, and they're giving them out one by one on an appointment basis -- he was fourth in line, so he'll be going back at 12:15PM to pick his up. Unfortunately, their Touchstone stock is zero.
Kevin C. Tofel was fourth in line at his local Sprint store, which purportedly had 30 phones in stock, but he picked up the last of the Touchstones.
We just checked in at the Bryant Park Sprint store in New York City, and while Pre inventory is cool, they are all out of Touchstones. We're starting to think the supply of those is quite limited. We also hear that at least one tenacious gentleman got in line at 6:00PM yesterday, and spent the night outside the store in order to get his first.
San Francisco
At about 7:45AM PT, the line around the the 388 Market Street Sprint Store numbered about 15, teetering just barely around a corner. Our first person in line, a self-proclaimed Palm fanatic and future Pre developer, had been out there since 6:00AM, with a chair-clad individual taking up slot number two since 6:30AM.
The vibe here is pretty chill, but everyone seems pretty satisfied with their purchase. The Touchstone doesn't have quite the same story, however. One customer we spoke with said he wasn't getting one because it was "too expensive," and that at $40 he might consider it (the inductive charger now retails for $70). It doesn't look like the line is extending too much at this point.
Thirty minutes after its launch and we're still seeing a line outside -- nothing too big, but noticeable. The catch here is that Sprint is only letting about ten people in at a time -- at least the weather's much nicer here than our East Coast sojourners. By our estimates, it takes about 15 to 20 minutes for each customer to get registered and take their new baby out of here. Hey look, it's Jon Rubinstein, here to see the action for himself -- and of course to show off his personal smartphone. Three guesses what it is.
More celebrity sightings. Here we are with Gizmodo's Brian Lam, lost in deep thought.
We got word that the Castro Street store had a pretty major crowd this morning, so we headed over there to see what was going down. According to one customer who showed up close to 7:15AM this morning, there were about 50 people in line and were told only 25 or so Pres would be in store, with the rest getting on a wait list and possibly getting one later (we heard reports of some stock maybe being moved around the city to accommodate).
Chicago
We sent someone packing over to the store at 1 W. Division Street in Chicago, and the line had started off pretty frigging long, easily outstripping the store's supply of units. 37 folks received numbers, while the rest were told they were welcome to sign up for a waitlist. Those who are out of luck are being told to "wait and see" if there are any extras -- we figure they stocked a few extra in case someone wanted to buy two -- and they say it's plausible more units will arrive later today. No guarantees, though. Oh, and they're all out of Touchstones, too -- in fact, we were told that all of Chicago is currently out of them, and that they're on order.
Line-waiters were bonding, exchanging stories of their tribulations in the hours and minutes leading up to their purchase. We got the sense that most folks here were existing Sprint customers, but activations were still taking about ten minutes or longer; there were three employees on duty, so needless to say, the line wasn't moving particularly fast.
This is a bin that we've playfully termed "The Bin."
Buyers were in no rush to leave the store after activating, eagerly showing off their gear to the less fortunate. Our man on the ground was accused of "showing off" while emailing on his own Pre, but hey, we had to send an email. What could we do?
Updates:
50 people in line at the Sprint store in Honolulu, thanks to Aaron for sending in a pic!
posted Jun 6th 2009 9:24AM
Was 5th in line in vermont... Love the phone. Was wowing within the first 2 minutes of use.
I work in the Flatiron Building.
Only the first 2 minutes? ;)
One thing you can say for sure, those people waiting in line aren't the hipsters you see in an iPhone line, but I'm happy for the Pre. Now we can move on to geeking out at WWDC.
I work one block away from Flatiron Building.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3290/2297842633_d36e1dfe09.jpg?v=0
Used to do my business w sprint at that "flagship store", until I closed my account in 2001 and moved on to AT&T/Cingular/AT&T.
I was also 5th in line, but in a best buy in Michigan. Loving it. Pandora works flawlessly on the data plan, so does TV.
(sadly, they only had 10 Pres, so a couple people were bummed out, but I guess the sprint store got a lot of phones so no big deal)
Look at that poor kid sitting on the fire hydrant. He better get his own Pre for all that waiting.
It plays World of Warcraft??!!!! Awesome!!!
@paul
Yeah it's too bad they're not more like the hipsters in these pictures.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/06/28/apple_store_san_fran_iphone_line_already_a_three_ring_circus.html
http://www.macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/14069/
http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/11/iphone-lines-cut-off-on-east-coast-and-midwest-west-side-still/
The lines for the iPhone were NEVER a bastion for the hipsters.
Here in Federal Way, WA, there were around 15 people waiting before opening and there were 30 units available.
I got there around 5:30AM and was feeling sad until more people started showing up. No regrets, though. The phone is amazing :D.
Here is a link to my waiting in line pics / first impressions!
http://www.crazyhawt.com/2009/06/06/palm-pre-waiting-in-line-first-impressions/
Were there any employees to cheer people entering the store or cheering them for buying the Pre? Just Rubenstein and he doesn't really work there. Ed Colligan should have showed up to pull people off the streets into the Sprint store. Most average Apple store crowds are bigger than that on ordinary days. Forget about the Apple Cube Store which stays crowded 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
Well, I just hope Palm can sell enough Pres to stay in business, forget about going after the iPhone since Apple is way off ahead in the distance somewhere. I do hope the Pre buyers are satisfied and that the Sprint network is good enough. I'd heard that there were about 100 Pres available throughout Manhattan and I guess that's OK. Better than 20 for sure. I hope for Palm's sake, they were all bought (probably a few more will end up on eBay).
@insky
+1 that first link is priceless.
I was far back in line in the morning and had to leave the queue to go to work. Went back on my lunch break, but it was about a 3hr line. After getting off work at 5 i went straight to the store and was finally leaving with an activated Pre around 6:20.
Does anyone know when they will sell online?
Some are selling them online.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/05/palm-pre-hits-ebay-prior-to-official-launch-just-900-and-a-fis/
@rcarm
I think he meant when you could go to Sprint.com and buy one.
I was being sarcastic.
My bad :)
Got mines, waited about an hour and a half. Love the new phone. They ran out of touchstones. Sprint store on 42nd street, ny
Looks like Engadget are surprised that people want to buy a Pre - guess what not everyone wants an iPhone!
yeah, all 25 of them
Amen brother. Looks like some of us want to be productive and do more than just listen to music and browse at the same time. I'm still blown away at how well this phone multi tasks.
funny how this post has nothing to do with the iphone... yet some people still feel the need to wail and gnash their teeth about Apple. You're highly conditioned - like a beaten dog. Enjoy your Pre! Quit feeling trodden upon!
hey at least engadget POSTS stuff about the pre.
unlike those sorry excuses over at gizmodo that only post about stupid sh1t, apple, and anti-pre news. seriously they were posting all this stuff about how there are only 9 units in each store. what a load of trash. sure engadget did that too, but at least they pointed out that it didn't make sense that the flagship store in chicago would only have 10 units. they also posted a FOLLOW UP like this post about the actual number in stock. god, gizmodo is so worthless these days.
/rant
speaking of,
** Can someone provide a serious comparison to the iPhone, as in someone who owns and uses the iPhone 3G as their primary phone but now decided to get a Pre **
Don't hold your breath waiting for someone who switches from the iPhone to the Pre; there might be a few, but sadly, not enough to save Palm.
I was going to swing by and take a look until I saw confirmation that tethering isn't available. Until Sprint pulls their head out of their rearends and adds it (or until a third party solution emerges) I think a lot of folks are going to hold off. As much as I want this phone, I can't cough even more money beyond the $69/mo to add a second line for laptop connectivity.
I felt the same. My touch diamond tethers perfectly. Two things. 1.) my diamond still has data working for whatever reason. 2.) Classic emulator may allow for PDAnet tethering. It can access the data side.
I really doubt the emulator will be able to do tethering. Being able to use the networking stack is one thing, but to bridge the networking to the bluetooth or a cable is another kettle of fish. I am hopeful something emerges, but I doubt it will be through the classic emulator.
I'm happy to be proven wrong, though!
Sadly, I am pretty sure classic wouldn't work with PDAnet or USB modem, since the developer has stated that it doesn't have access to bluetooth or the cell network. I am still sitting on the fence deciding whether to get the Pre or wait for the Touch Pro 2 because of this too.
That the phone wouldn't tether out of the box was a well known fact, I don't know why some people here are shocked by just now learning this.
I'm sure someone will find a hack to enable it. It took all of 2 days to hack the Instinct to PAM. Quitcher bitchin and have some patience.
Me too.
If pre was released a month ago I'd buy it for sure, now I may be would have bought it if there was tethering option but without that screw sprint. The drawbacks outweight the advantages: no data and voice simultaneously, bad battery life, almost nonexsistent app store, smaller screen. I'll wait till 15th June and see what Apple has to offer.
CheshireCat, sound like a apple fanboy much?
don't mean to sound like an anti-pre troll bastard but..... why are people making such a big deal about this? don't get me wrong it looks like a great phone an all (i actually like the pre ui better than androids) but if i was on sprint i would just wait for the touch pro 2 to come out which seems a better phone since it has a bigger screen, expandable memory slot, more spacious keyboard,etc.
Begins with Web and ends in OS...
If you think most people considering this phone are also considering the Touch Pro 2, you have pretty much missed the point here.
the main reason for not getting a touch pro 2 would have to be windows mobile.
however well it's been skinned by htc, it's still a tired, fiddly old OS with nothing going for it.
Windows Mobile = Fail. Therefore people are getting the Pre
@Victor
I agree WinMo has become stale... but if you haven't used 6.5 yet.. you aren't aware of how it has changed. I just upgraded my Fuze to the Energy 3.0 ROM and it is the best phone OS interface I have ever used, so slick fast and clean.
So a TP2 on 6.5 will be something to at least give a whirl, I personally cannot wait. Something that the iPhone and maybe the WebOS? cannot do is change to whatever look you want. I personally cannot stand the iPhone / blackberry layout. Here is EVERY app on you phone hogging all the space.
Just saying options are nice, the WinMo 6.5 Titanium layout is sharp as can be. I look forward to trying a Pre myself, been 5 or 6 years since Plam made anything worthwhile! But ATT and Verizon are reception kings in NorCal, so I wouldn't switch until it came to a new network.
JayJay, ur right. My contract expires in a year, but why wait such a short time at all?? Im waiting on the blackberry Hurricane, It will have a shoe buffer and a more spacious keyboard as well!
@look around u
"You are not employees of Apple. Just because you bought a product from them does not mean you are part of the "team"."
I love you.
Windows Mobile 6.5 sucks too.
Indeed, the not having an SD slot is just a complete marketing disaster IMHO, even though you can argue it's not needed for the most part it is what people like to have, deal with it, and look what happens to many snotty companies that don't care what the customers wants.
Even sony now says you should listen to customers (not that they do of course, at least not yet)
but it has windows mobile....
I go the Pre for my wife and I am waiting, unpatiently to be exact, for the TP2. It's gonna be hottess. For the people Dissing WinMo. You seriously have to try 6.5 first. I have it installed on my Sprint Touch after using TouchFlo2D for about a year and It's like using a new phone! It's fast, slick and super customizable. Don't blindly hate WinMo without first trying what else is has to offer.
I go the Pre for my wife and I am waiting, unpatiently to be exact, for the TP2. It's gonna be hottess. For the people Dissing WinMo. You seriously have to try 6.5 first. I have it installed on my Sprint Touch after using TouchFlo2D for about a year and It's like using a new phone! It's fast, slick and super customizable. Don't blindly hate WinMo without first trying what else is has to offer.
@Bryan:
I've had 6.5 on my HTC Diamond for the past 2 months. It took all of 5 minutes of using the Pre to really show me why I will never go back to Windows Mobile until it is completely overhauled. The synergy of the Pre really is great. Responsiveness, the ability to use capacative touchscreens, syncing your gmail, outlook, and facebook contacts all in one manager. Let's not forget being able to set individual ringtones for individual contacts.
Don't think of me as anti MS either. I own a 360 run Windows exclusively (I actually liked Vista, but switched to 7), will most likely buy a Zune HD to upgrade my Zune 30. Windows Mobile even 6.5 just isn't up to par.
I have spent quite a bit of time with my friend's iPhones, and I will say WebOS is a great operating system. I like some things WebOS does better, and the iPhone does some other things better. The one thing they share in common though is that they were both entirely designed to be used by your fingers and not a mix of stylus and finger.
Someone forgot to tell these people the Pre is a POS.
Someone forgot to tell you to KTFO.