While the world waits for Palm and Sprint to officially announce the Palm Pre, we’ve been searching high and low for any information about the Pre’s launch. As it stands, we’re still expecting Palm and Sprint to make their Palm Pre announcement on May 19. And, thanks to a whispered tip from an unnamed 
Sprint rep, we’re hearing that the Palm Pre will go live on June 16th!
Previous rumors have pinned the Palm Pre’s launch date on June 7th, which would have the Palm Pre going live prior to Apple’s WWDC conference, where the next-generation iPhone is expected to be announced. This latest rumor has the Palm Pre launching on June 16th, which would follow Apple’s expected iPhone announcement.
It’s been widely believed that Palm and Sprint wanted to launch the Palm Pre ahead of the new iPhone. The pre-iPhone launch was presumably aimed at giving the Palm Pre time to capture the hearts and minds of smartphone users in the US, before the third-generation iPhone hits the scene and stirs up a whirlwind of hype. But, this new rumor about a June 16th launch indicates that Palm could be considered a completely different tack. Palm may wait until the new iPhone launches, give it some time to burn through some of the inevitable initial-hype, and then blitz the mobile market with the Palm Pre.
Of course, this is all speculation until we can confirm the June 16th launch date. The Sprint rep that let the June 16th launch window slip from his loose lips apparently thought the information was already public. There is, however, one critical sticking point with this rumor – the June 16th launch would go against Sprint’s Sunday-launch tradition (June 16 is a Tuesday).
We’ll keep our ears to the ground for more info on the Palm Pre!