SlashGear

Latest Palm Pre rumor is that Best Buy Mobile will have an exclusivity deal with Sprint for the smartphone.  The deal, believed to last for 60 days, would mean that the new handset would only be available from Best Buy or the carrier themselves, while the rumor is attributed to an unnamed “credible source”.

Sprint have worked with Best Buy previously on another exclusivity deal, back in 2008 when the Samsung Instinct was launched.  The runaway success of that handset is likely something all three companies are hoping to repeat when the Pre is released sometime in the first half of 2009.

No pricing information regarding the Pre has been suggested, although Sprint’s executives have indicated it will cost significantly less over the lifetime of a contract than the iPhone 3G.  In fact, they suggested the smartphone would cost in excess of $1,000 less than Apple’s handset.

Make sure to check out Pre Community for the latest breaking Palm Pre news and join the discussions at Pre Community forums.