Palm Pre News Today: Jolie, AT&T and Playboy

There has been a lot buzz for the Palm Pre in the news lately, an analyst estimates high sales figures, Angelina Jolie likes it, AT&T attacts it and Playboy lusts for it.

Merrill Lynch analyst Vivek Arya changed the rating on Palm stock from 'hold to 'buy' due to the Palm Pre. Arya calculates that Palm could ship  2.5 million Palm Pre phones in the second half of 2009 and additional 6.2 million Palm Pre smartphones in 2010.

In the meantime, rumors have it that Angelina Jolie on the set of "Salt" told a production assistant, "she likes the (Palm Pre) software better than the iPhone, she likes the keyborad for texting (although the keys aren't big enough), and thinks the screen is beautiful but can be too easily scratched."

AT&T is not taking the Palm Pre lightly, documents show a trough Palm Pre vs. iPhone comparison chart. They hit the Palm Pre hard for the fact that it only comes in basic black. They point out the Palm PRe lacks as many Wi-Fi hotspots, world GSM coverage, and a proven app store.

Payboy is showing the Palm Pre on page 24 in the "Mantrack" section. They call the Pam Pre "lust-worthy" (naturally) and reports Synergy as a way to "radically simplify the live of the average mobile beautiful person."

This may all mean that the May 17th release date is correct.