It’s no secret that on Palm Pre launch day, there will be lines of people waiting, just as there were for the iPhone and G1.  How long will those lines be?  As long as Apple’s?  Hard to say.  I would have to guess no on as long as Apple’s as Palm just doesn’t seem to have a cult with the same values as Apple’s.  A lot of Palms “cult” doesn’t consist of the young “hipster” crowd but instead of upper 20′s, 30′s…50′s and so on.  Its particularly that older age group that I just don’t see waiting in line for a phone.  Even at Apple’s iPhone launches while there were older folk in line, the vast majority were young youthful bodies.  Back on the topic at hand, the Sprint exclusive on the Palm Pre is sure to keep many Sprint customers from jumping ship while at the same time actually pulling new ones in…something they haven’t been doing so hot at lately.  However, some people either just plain hate Sprint, or have some other type of aversion to CDMA.  Whatever the case may be, GSM loyalists jumped for joy when a UMTS Palm Pre was on display.  Could it be that the GSM world was also going to get the chance at a Pre?  

Bonnie Cha, a reporter for Cnet had a short interview with a Palm rep at MWC and bluntly confronted him on the topic of a GSM Pre coming to the U.S.  Not surprisingly, the rep pretty much ignored the direct question and instead searched for answers to anything he could think of by responding with your typical cookie cutter response saying “there’s been a lot of interest and we are meeting a number carriers and other interested parties”.  Obviously someone in the U.S. who loves to use SIM cards is going to get the pre.  The only million dollar question of the evening is who will get it.  AT&T or T-Mobile?  AT&T already has the iPhone and T-Mobile the G1.  T-Mobile doesn’t really let Palm play in their yard while AT&T has had numerous Palms throughout the years.  So who will get it, the aged trusty Palm companion, or the new kid on the block?  Anything right now is speculation without official confirmation from one of the parties involved.  But, based on the previous circumstances, AT&T has my vote.  They’re simply bigger network (wish that big network always worked) leads me to believe Palm will again side with the death star.  What do you think folks?  Am I right in picking AT&T, or will the underdog (T-Mobile) come out on top this time?  Voice you opinions below.

*Picture via PreCommunity showing the Vodafone SIM card suggesting a Voda exclusive on that side of the pond*

Source: Cnet