Palm Pre bits: Off-contract pricing, shortages, a special launch event, and first hands-on review

As we saw yesterday morning, Palm and Sprint have officially announced the release of the Palm Pre. All-in-all that is good news, but there are plenty more Palm Pre bits of news that are still important to catch up on.

To begin with, for those who were looking to pick up a Palm Pre without a contract, you can expect to pay $549. Of course, that is still for a Sprint-branded and Sprint-locked Pre. Basically, until we see an either an official of unofficial unlock for the Pre, it sounds to me like it would make more sense to purchase it with contract.