Palm Launching Pre In Europe Later This Year

When Palm first unveiled its new Pre at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year, one question that was on everyone's mind received a very murky answer. We were assured that a GSM version of the smartphone was in the works, but no one knew when or where it would appear. In fact, it wasn't even clear then when exactly the CDMA Pre would launch on Sprint.

Now, however, Palm has issued the details that everyone outside of North America has been clamoring for. Before the end of this year, Palm's first webOS-based device will arrive in the UK, Ireland, Germany and Spain on each nation's respective Telefónica network, which means O2 for the first three countries mentioned and Movistar for Spain.


Palm has promised folks in these lands that the Pre will arrive "in time for the holidays," while O2 Germany has pointed out that its GSM Pre will be available on October. Jon Rubinstein, Palm chairman and chief executive officer, had this to say about the announcement:

"Europe continues to be an important region for Palm, and we're proud to work with O2 and Movistar to spread the excitement Palm Pre has already ignited in North America. Since we showed Palm Pre at Mobile World Congress in February, there's been a great deal of anticipation for an announcement about European availability, and that day is here."

Pricing for the phone in these regions has not yet been determined, but those hoping to stay in the loop can register for updates at the following links:

• UK and Ireland: http://www.palm.com/uk-pre-notify
• Germany: http://www.palm.com/de-pre-notify
• Spain: http://www.palm.com/es-pre-notify