There have been exactly zero mobile phones that have come out since I bought my iPhone that have tempted me away from my device (iPhone 3G not withstanding). This might just change on May 17th. Yes, it is looking like the Palm Pre might just be hitting the streets on the 17th of May.

According to internal documents leaked from Sprint, employees are expected to be there for May 17th (and June 29th as a backup) in order to handle a "big launch" event. This is a good thing for Palm, they could use a little cash and the lifeline that the Pre will represent.

The fancy WebOS, the complete synergy between available applications, multitasking, and full WiFi support makes for a tempting little package that will certainly give Apple's iPhone a run for the money. If the Palm Pre does hit the streets on May 17th, that will be weeks before iPhone's 3.0 firmware, and many people who have grown tired of the iPhone will flock to the Pre. If it misses the May deadline and waits until June, then the Palm Pre will lose to the iPhone 3.0 software release and expected hardware release this summer.

via PhoneNews