An exceedingly Palm-pessimistic article has just been posted by the Motley Fool concerning the bleak prospects for the upcoming Palm Pre handset. Entitled "Palm's Pre: Dead on Arrival", and written by MF's Tim Beyers (no stranger to Palm-related pieces in the past), the article in the Fool's High Growth Investing section paints a grim picture for both Palm and their longtime carrier ally Sprint.

As the main basis for his piece, Beyers cites research statistics pulled from a recent Changewave survey of 4,292 smartphone buyers. Despite the positive early buzz and strong CTIA and CES hype for the Pre and WebOS (not to mention the recent announcement of Motion Apps' "Classic" Palm OS emulator for WebOS), only 4% of the survey's respondents reported an intent to purchase the Pre upon its release sometime later in the first half of the year.

RNS Software has released a new title for Palm OS devices. Path2KML combines with your smartphone or PDA with a GPS receiver to collect location data from it. All coordinates (points) received from the GPS device will be saved to a file of your choice on a memory card. The resulting path of data is saved in the KML format, which is easily readable e.g. by Google Earth and many other GPS compatible programs. Once done, users can simply drag the file into Google Maps to display the resulting path data as a geographical visualization.

Path2KML v1.0 is freeware and supports most GPS receivers (with the NMEA standard). It is compatible with Palm OS 3.5 and higher.

The PalmInfocenter Accessory store has recently restocked and re-priced its range of memory cards. You can now find 16GB microSDHC cards from Dane-Elec starting at $49.95, 8GB for $39.95, 4GB for $24.95 and 2GB for $14.95.

All of the microSD cards come with a standard SD card adapter so they can also be used with other compatible SD card devices. Shipping starts at $5.95.

The unlocked version of the Palm Treo Pro can be had at Amazon for $399. Amazon is now offering the Windows Mobile powered smartphone at the discounted price sans rebates with a free shipping option.

The quad band GSM model offers 3G compatibility via 850/1900/2100 UMTS/HSDPA plus GPRS/EDGE data capabilities. It regularly sells for $549 from Palm.com and other retailers. You can read our Treo Pro review here.

Palm has posted the thrid chapter of the Rough Cuts version of Palm webOS: Developing Applications in JavaScript using the Palm Mojo Framework. The preview version of the book is now available electronically in .pdf format from O'Reilly to customers who pre-ordered the book or purchased online access.

The book is the official guide to building native JavaScript applications for Palm's new webOS mobile operating system. The book is estimated to be out later in August and can be pre-ordered now. The third chapter concentrates on widgets and controls.

Engadget has received and posted what they claim is "Sprint planning documentation" that specifies some details on the Pre's launch timing. The screen grab shows a project labeled as Palm Pre Handset Launch with a "Req. Delivery Date" of May 16th.

The source or intention of the document is not made clear, however this new piece of info corroborates well with last Fridays May 17th launch timeframe possibility. At the very least, the launch window can now be narrowed down to sometime within the May 17 to June 30 timeframe, barring any additional delays.

An interesting article has appeared on PreThinking concerning the possibility of future Palm Touchstone devices. Initially making its debut at CES in January, Palm's novel Touchstone charger appeared to be a one-off device to compliment the Pre. The article links to a video taken at CTIA where a Palm representative clearly states that the Touchstone will be a complete line of accessories. Catch the embed after the break.

"The Touchstone is the name of the entire line of products. This is the first Touchtone product in that family… this is the charging dock."

As the world waits with bated breath for a firm release date and pricing information for Palm's upcoming Pre, it's easy to forget that time is running out on a previous-generation product. At least as far as Sprint is concerned, Palm's best-selling Centro will soon depart after nearly two years of service, making the next few months a good time to acquire a brand-new Centro at a discounted price. This week's new Best Buy sales circular, running April 12th-18th, features one of the lowest advertised in-store prices yet for the refreshed 128MB Sprint Centro without the hassles of main-in rebates. Both the pink and black versions are advertised as being available with instant savings at $29.99 for new customers or $69.99 for qualified upgraders.

While Sprint's "new" Centro is officially available in three different color schemes (Black, Vibrant Rose or Olive Green), the green model is not part of this promotion and is not stocked by Best Buy. In addition, the pink Centro is slated to reach EOL status one month sooner than its black sibling as seen in this earlier report.

Rumor: A number of sites are reporting on some new Palm Pre release date speculation late today. PhoneNews has posted an article referencing an internal Sprint memo that states the company has implemented a so called vacation freeze during the month of May. The same report also claims to have details on two possible launch timeframes. The first could come as soon as the weekend of May 17th.

The second window involves Sprint receiving the same units in the aforementioned (5-17) timeframe, but depending on the unit level received for stocking and sales, the launch would then be postponed to June 29th if the initial shipments are deemed too low to begin initial sales in May.

Both accounts should be taken with the usual bit of skepticism, especially without any supporting documentation. They also report, along with PreThinking, that some Sprint employees have started to begin their Palm Pre sales and support training.

Palm OS Weather (infinity subscription) $14.95 now $3.95 BlackJack Deluxe $9.95 now $2.95 VoiceDialIt $14.95 now $9.95 PalmaryClock Wireless $19.95 now $4.95 Sudoku DeluxeWare $7.95 now $2.95 Exact II $7.95 now $2.95 BuzzOff - Mp3 ringtone and block calls $19.95 now $4.95

Windows Mobile MobileRemote $11.95 now $9.99 Elecont Quick Desktop $19.95 now $14.95 Rampart Chess $12.95 now $8.95 SBSH Calendar Touch $24.95 now $16.95 iFitOne - Mobile Diet & Fitness $19.95 now $9.95 PDATuner PRO LIVE $11.90 now $9.99 SBSH PocketWeather $14.95 now $10.95

Catchword, a corporate branding agency, has posted a new case study on how it came up with the name and branding ideas behind Palm Pre. The post details how Palm contracted with the firm to "reclaim their brand luster" and goes into some of the background information on the significance of the Pre name and how it came about.

The creative exploration was mammoth. Yet after developing many thousands of names (and screening hundreds for legal snags and global suitability) the answer was almost elemental in its simplicity.

The Palm Prē. Refreshingly direct, unlike many of its hipper-than-thou competitors that take themselves way too seriously. The name Prē also subtly conveys the device's ability to predict its user's movements. And we like the fluid alliteration and upscale tonality (reminiscent of Grand Prix). An added bonus: the Prē links naturally to its sibling, the Trēo, both aurally and visually (with the long bar over the "e").