The Pre is expected to be announced in the UK very soon, with O2 as the carrier. The first bit of news comes to us from T3 [via Engadget Mobile], who says that Palm themselves have confirmed that there will be an announcement from them in the UK next week - we're waiting on an official word from Palm on that subject.
As we speculated earlier this week, it does appear that O2 will be the exclusive carrier for the Palm Pre in the UK. That latest from the Guardian, who also notes that they were "in fierce competition from Orange" for the Pre exclusivity deal. Carphone Warehouse is also expected to carry the device.
Pricing, release date, and more are unknown. The biggest unknown -- how difficult will this Pre be to unlock and will Palm offer an unlocked version?
Thanks to Edwin and SharonW in our forums for the tip!
Comments
YES! I'm closer and closer of my unlocked Palm Pre!
Is O2 a GSM carrier?
all european carriers are gsm.
As far as I remember O2 also has the iPhone in the UK, see http://shop.o2.co.uk/update/iphone.html It will be interesting to see how that works out marketing-wise.
I am not sure about the situation for the UK but in Germany T-Mobile (iPhone carrier) was forced to also sell an unlocked iPhone, see here: http://www.cnet.com.au/iphone-exclusivity-plan-falters-in-germany-339284... The same would happen to the Pre in Germany and hence as soon as the Pre starts in Germany there will be unlocked GSM Pres around.
"The same would happen to the Pre in Germany and hence as soon as the Pre starts in Germany there will be unlocked GSM Pres around."
you are wrong, as your information is outdated.
"but in Germany T-Mobile (iPhone carrier) was forced to also sell an unlocked iPhone"
that was only for -- I guess -- round about one month.
Oh really? I only ever heard about them being forced to sell it, never about this being reverted...
"Oh really?"
yes... but you can get an unlocked iPhone in France. there it is forbidden to bind a phone exclusively to a provider.
Same in Belgium..
Finally a release date for uk!!
I have my treo pro so I won't be switching to o2 when tmobile gives me 600 min, unlimited texts and internet for £20 on a 30 day contract.
They should be releasing this on all the networks!
Just buy the unlocked gsm version and use it with the carrier of your choice. Like in the US, the costs of an overprized 2yrs contract are way higher than the extra money you have to spend buing the unlocked phone.
More importantly ;) .. when will we see it in Australia!?!
I feel your pain aswell. I am waiting and counting down days till it's released here and its somewhat agonizing =[
I really need an unlocked Pre + maybe an "only sim" contract. I'm using 4 sim cards on a weekly basis for 3 different countries. The best option for me was the Palm Treo 650 where I could switch sim cards without the restart of my phone. Too bad that Palm decided it was a bad feature.
I really hope Palm's ready for the EU market where a lot of people are switching countries and providers relatively often and the market is already prepared for 'tourist sim card' users. AEH, anyway - I can't wait. :)
Being from the UK, this news excites me, o2 already have the iphone on an exclusive contract too, so it seems they are pulling out the right spots.
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