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Palm Pre on June 6th for $200: It's official!
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/hardware/Palm_Pre_release_date_confirmed'; The day you've been waiting for is here. Sprint just announced that the Pre will cost $199.99 after $100 mail-rebate and 2-year contract and will launch on June 6th as rumored this morning. The phone will go on sale nationwide (US-only at the moment) at Sprint stores, Best Buy, Radio Shack, and select Wal-Mart stores. The Pre will be available under Sprint's Everything Data or Business Essentials with Messaging and Data plans. Accessories include the optional $69.99 Touchstone charging dock kit that includes the $49.99 dock and $19.99 Pre back cover. June 6th, that's two days before the WWDC keynote. Poor Apple.
Palm Touchstone date changed to June 7 in Best Buy's system; stars aligning for Pre launch?
All signs are pointing toward an early June Pre launch at this point; of course, we know it'll launch in the first half of the year -- and we're quickly running out of first half -- but we've heard increased chatter the past few weeks suggesting that June 5 or June 7 are particularly likely targets for bringing Palm's (and Sprint's) would-be savior to market. The latest evidence comes once again from our friends at Best Buy, where the recently-added Touchstone inventory stub has already been updated to reflect an "In Stock Date" of -- you guessed it -- June 7. As we've noted before, that's a Sunday, which is Sprint's traditional launch day; not to say there's anything traditional about the Pre or the hype surrounding its appearance, but it's something to chew on. Worst case, we figure you'll be able to swing by your favorite big box on the 7th and pick up a cool, pricey inductive dock even if you can't pick up a phone. [Thanks, Mr. Caffoni]
Palm's $70 Touchstone dock, other Pre accessories appear in Best Buy system
Looks familiar eh? If you're a fan of leaks and pre-release innuendo then you're already acquainted with Best Buy's internal inventory system. According to igmac, forum jockey and self-proclaimed Best Buy employee over at SprintUser, the first Palm Pre accessories have just been entered into the system. The list includes 5 cases (3 acrylic, 1 leather, 1 labeled "Palm Pre case") and the Touchstone charging kit which lists for a whopping $69.99 -- the same price already rumored. Really Palm, $70? We've been inductive charging our SoniCare toothbrush for years already -- the tech just isn't that amazing anymore, magnet or not. You'll note that the "in stock date" is listed as May 10th so with any luck we'll soon be hearing from Mr. BlurryCam with some shots from the warehouse. [Via PreThinking]
Touchstone dock for Palm Pre to run $69.99?
Sick of Pre rumors? We certainly hope not, because some magical font of believable Pre data seems to have started gushing fresh information recently with no signs of slowing down. Latest to the table is a sticker price for the Touchstone dock, an inductive charger that'll work with a special magnetized non-stick battery cover for the Pre to juice your baby's batteries without a plug -- and it looks like you're going to have to pony up some serious cash for the pleasure. Screens on some computer somewhere deep inside Sprint are apparently pegging the Touchstone at a stiff $69.99, which is an awful lot to pay to simply charge your phone in style; cool, sure, but $70 worth of cool?
Palm Pre Touchstone to be an entire product line, not just a charging dock
Although Palm's reps basically stick to the same script when giving out those lengthy Pre walkthrough demos, every now and again they'll let something interesting slip -- like the fact that the Touchstone inductive charging dock is just the first product in an entire line of Touchstone wireless products. It's not clear if that simply means that "Touchstone" will be Palm's wireless power branding, or if there will be Touchstone products that do more than simply charge devices, but we're certainly eager to find out more -- and hopefully soon. Video clip after the break.[Via PreThinking]
Palm Pre's Touchstone charger requires matte, soft-touch battery cover
We've got this image burned in our brains of the Pre as this slick, black, streamlined, ultra-glossy pebble of a phone, and by and large, that's an accurate image -- unless you spring for the Touchstone. The inductive charging accessory -- which seems like an almost automatic purchase for any Pre buyer with a single geeky bone in their body -- needs magnets in the Pre to hold it in place when it's attached, but it turns out that the standard glossy battery cover doesn't have those magnets. Instead, the Touchstone will include a replacement cover that has the magnets and loses the gloss for a stickier matte soft-touch surface, ostensibly to help secure the phone against the charger's slanted top. For some, the soft-touch is going to be perceived as an upgrade -- but others are undoubtedly going to be bummed that they won't be able to see their own reflection against the shiny Palm logo dead center. What's more, if you want the matte without the Touchstone, you're out of luck (at launch, anyway) -- it won't be available separately. Whatever; it's not like you weren't planning on getting this thing Colorwared anyway.%Gallery-45300%
Palm Pre Touchstone eyes-on
This isn't a Palm-branded party favor, a paperweight, or a doorstop. Actually, sure, it could be any of those things if you really wanted it to be -- but Palm's Touchstone is mainly about charging your Pre and making sure it looks pretty while it's getting juiced. It's a pretty wild product (and the first accessory purchase for many a would-be Pre owner, we'd bet), so we wanted to spend a little quality time with it. We weren't allowed to do much charging on our own, but the magnets buried in the Pre certainly seemed to do their job of keeping it glued to the base in portrait and landscape orientations. Oh, and just to validate what we know you're thinking right now, yes: we overheard several Palm employees call it "the puck," so you should, too.%Gallery-41501%
Grab your bow and grab Turok from Amazon for $20
Today's Amazon.com Gold Box deal is none other than the Disturbed approved game from Touchstone, Turok. And the Gold Box deal is actually pretty good, they're chopping off 50% from the price and offering the game for a rather cheap $19.99 with free shipping IF you spend over $25 on the same order. So, if you like killing dinosaurs and being all stealthy, add Turok to your shopping cart and maybe a copy of Dinosaur Hunter as well. You know, for the sake of free shipping.
Last chance: Win Turok
This is it. Your final opportunity to snag some sweet, sweet Turok. The giveaway ends in a mere hour and a half as of this posting, so get to it, lest the opportunity pass passes by forever. What's that you say? You already have Turok? Maybe it's not your cup of tea? Well, never fear, because we'll have yet another Fanswag giveaway next week. As for the rest of you, head over to the official giveaway post and enter already.
Turok Multiplayer Map Pack now on Marketplace
Announced yesterday, the new Turok Multiplayer Map Pack is now available on the Xbox Live Marketplace at the nice price of 400 Microsoft points. This 307.7MB download features five multiplayer maps including Break Out, Desolation, Sentinel, Inconclusive Tests and A Rivalry Continues each breaking down to around $1 per map. The pricing isn't too shabby, but we have a feeling that if it were priced any higher this DLC would only be downloaded by a few dozen fanboys. We're just being honest ... sorry.
Don't forget: win some Turok
Hey kids, don't forget that we're giving away two copies of Turok this week. That's the same Turok that has brand new (and super cheap) DLC. The same Turok that features a mohowked hero that kills dinosaurs with using nothing but a knife and a steroid-fueled grin. Yeah, that Turok. For your shot at winning a free copy, head over to the official giveaway post and enter. Do it now or turn in your man card (unless, of course, you're a lady, in which case you should enter anyway).
Turok ships 1 million, cheap 5 map DLC tomorrow
At this point, it's pretty much a given. When publishers release new downloadable maps for their shooters, they sell them for 800 MS Points. At least, that's the case when they know that they can. Sure, COD4 and Halo 3 players will pay 800 MS Points for a handful of maps. Both games have so many players that the publishers are bound to sell enough content to make money (it doesn't hurt that gamers have to download maps if they plan on playing with their map owning friends). When your title doesn't even crack the Live top ten, some more strategic planning is required. Thus, the Turok Velociraptor Pack, which contains 5 new maps (more than either of the upcoming packs for COD4 or Halo 3), will debut tomorrow for a mere 400 MS Points.Touchstone also announced that Turok has shipped over 1 million units worldwide. No easy feat given the competition mentioned above. If you'd like to get your hands on one of those copies, don't forget to enter our Turok giveaway, which runs until Friday afternoon.
Turok to get five new multiplayer maps tomorrow
Sometimes we get so obsessed with Call of Duty 4 or new Halo 3 maps that we forget there are other games people like to play online. Take, for instance, Turok, which we just learned will get five new multiplayer maps (the "Velociraptor Pack") via Xbox Live and PSN tomorrow. The DLC will run you $5 (400 points) on both systems.Well, by "five" maps, we really should say "two," because one is a new co-op map and two are re-lit versions of already available maps. But three maps for $10 seems to be the standard now, so we're not complaining. No, what puzzles us is this: We know it's not one of the big guns, but is anybody playing Turok online? Is this a gem we missed out on?Side note from that same release: Expect the PC version of the game to arrive on April 22 for $50.
Fanswag Weekly: Turok
Now that our Mass Effect Xbox is headed to its new home, it's time to get back into the regular Fanswag swing of things. This week, we've got not one, but two copies of Turok to give away. For your shot at dino hunting glory, simply follow the incredibly easy instructions below. Featuring dinosaurs, guns, bows, knives, and some of the most gravelly voices ever, Turok is one of the manliest games ever made. Leave a comment detailing the manly way in which you will play it if you win. You can enter once per calendar day (Eastern Time). Be sure you only leave one comment per day. Posters of multiple comments during the same day will be disqualified. We'll accept entries until Friday, March 28, 12:00pm Noon, Eastern Time. You must be at least 18 years old to enter. This giveaway is open only to residents of the U.S. and Canada (excluding Quebec). On Friday, we'll pick two winners via a random drawing Two winners will each receive a copy of Turok for Xbox 360, worth $60 each. The complete rules can be found here.
Zero Punctuation hunts Turok and other FPSs
Zero Punctuation tries to be helpful this week by beating Turok with blunt vocabulary and attempting to help other first person shooter developers not make the same mistakes. The six minor points Yahtzee lays out ask shooters not to be cheap imitations of Halo, which itself is a cheap knock-off of ... oh, let's avoid finishing that sentence for the sake of being able to turn on the car tomorrow morning with reasonable knowledge it won't explode.This week's NSFW review of that game with dinosaurs, Turok, is embedded all cozy-like after the break.
Turok demo finally comes to North American Xbox Live
With the revamped version of Turok apparently not shipping out until next week, you still have a little time to decide if you're going to be able to take the dino-killing brute back into your life. Now, you non-PS3 gamers have been given the tools to do so, with the demo for the game arriving on Xbox Live Marketplace. You PS3 players have already had the chance to take it for a spin.So, here's what we need to know: What's the verdict? Are you going to be able to give Turok another chance to win you over? Or is the new effort too little too late?
Team kill achievement in Turok is no more
Well, it looks like gamers can finally rest easy. Readers may recall that Turok was to include an achievement called "Grab Bag" that rewarded players for killing their own team members. Specifically, players had to kill "at least 1 creature, 1 enemy, 1 teammate, and yourself in the same round of a public match." With griefing players already ruining multiplayer games everywhere, gamers were naturally upset when Turok's developers decided to actually reward them for it. Thankfully though, the devs at Propaganda have seen the light and will be altering the achievement with a launch day patch for the game. The achievement will remain in the game after the patch, but will now only require players to kill a creature, an enemy, and themselves. So it's mostly fixed, but don't be surprised if your teammates are constantly throwing grenades at their feet.[Via Joystiq]
Shipping this week: manly edition [update]
You know, when you think about it, Turok is a manly game. In fact, it's just about the manliest game it could possibly be. Let's take a look at the facts. One, you play Joseph Turok, a burly, burly man with a jaw hewn from marble and cheekbones to die for. Two, he kills gun toting soldiers using a bow that fires exploding arrows. Three, he hunts dinosaurs with a knife. Finally, don't tell anyone, but we have it on good authority that he goes bear wrestling with Chuck Norris every other Saturday. So yeah, Turok looks to be a game you can show off to impress menfolk without fear of reprisal. Oh, and it's the only new game on 360 this week, so here's hoping it's actually good.Update: While GameStop notes that the game launches this week, many readers have pointed out that the official Turok site still maintains the February 5 release date. In other words, it looks like gamers will be waiting another week before controlling Turok and his manly shoulders.
Turok demo supposedly available now [update]
If you're one to believe a certain Major Nelson, then there is currently a Turok demo available on Xbox Live Marketplace right damn now. Alas, it seems as though Major's many spies (birds, beasts) are misinformed, as said demo is nowhere to be found. Nope, nothing. We continue to stare at the screen, hoping desperately that the demo will make itself known to us. We've uttered all the elvish passwords we know, but so far our efforts have been fruitless. With any luck, we'll stumble upon the answer soon.Update: Major Nelson has updated the availability for the game. The demo is available in the following regions: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and United Kingdom [Via Joystiq]
Turok developer may consider removing team kill achievement
After reviewing concerns about its Xbox achievement choices, Propaganda games says it'll consider removing the "team kill" award after the Turok launch early next year. Although CVG reports in its headline "Turok dev to scrap team kill achievement," the quote from Propaganda VP Josh Holmes is actually, "We are currently looking at readying a patch or solution for it if it does become an issue when the game releases" (um, looks like somebody forgot to read the story before writing the headline). That's not a definitive statement that Propaganda will nix the controversial achievement, but merely acknowledgment that the developer will consider doing so after the game releases.Actually, a few statements made by Holmes in the interview are a little frightening. For example, he says that the team kill achievement -- which gives ten points for killing one creature, enemy, teammate and yourself in a single round -- was originally created as a joke because they found that players in their first Turok match met all the criteria. That's not exactly a confidence builder.
