It has now been more than a week since I got my Palm Pre and I’m even happier with it now than I was when I wrote my review last week. I’ve grown comfortable with the interface and the gestures that make it work. I’ve personalized the calendar, contact list, and email. I’ve been using the universal search (which rocks) and the Synergy features, which really do set the Pre apart from the iPhone. And I’ve been using some of the few apps that are available.

As I noted in my review, the phone has only been available for a couple weeks and the SDK (software developer kit) is still being put through its paces prior to release into the wild for anybody to develop Pre applications. I understand this, and that Apple has had two years to get to the 40,000 some-odd apps that now populate the iPhone’s app store.

Still, I’m jonesing for apps. Jonesing bad. As my podcast co-host Neville Hobson has said repeatedly, it’s all about the apps.

So, at least twice a day, I’ve been visiting the app catalog and tapping the “Recent” category to see if anything has been added. And I routinely heave a sigh when I see that, no, nothing new is available.

And therein lies a missed marketing opportunity.

Knowing the SDK wouldn’t be ready and only a handful of apps (like Pandora) would populate the app catalog, the companies should have made arrangements with some of the hotter apps developers to churn out one new app every day. People like me, repeatedly checking the catalog, would find and download the new offering, then talk, blog, and tweet about it. The news stream would then be full of Pre commentary, and not just more rehashing of the phone’s highlights and shortcomings.

It’s worth pointing out that an early analysis of Pre sales indicates that most of the new phones have been upgrades by existing Sprint customers; the Pre has not lured new customers away from AT&T, Verizon, T*Mobile or any of the other carriers. Continuous enthusiastic chatter about a steady stream of new apps that do amazing things would help getting the competition’s customers to pay more attention and gradually begin to covet a Pre.

Sprint could have touted its “App a Day” campaign, proudly satisfying its customers’ appetite even as the finishing touches are put on the SDK.

Instead, Pre owners are left to wonder when a new app might appear. Like I say, a missed marketing opportunity.