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The speculation as to the UK release date of the SIM-free Palm Pre 2 has been put to bed as of late last night. The official Palm UK Twitter account announced the Pre 2 will be available starting on Monday at a price of £399. Being free of carrier commitments will cost you. As of today, that’s a hefty price of $643 US dollars for the privilege of purchasing the Palm Pre 2.
webosroundup via @palm_uk via @mechanicalmind
The past week or so we’ve seen Amazon offer the Palm Pre at $99 and Walmart get into cost cutting action at $79.99 promotional price (after a $100 rebate). In Canada, Best Buy dropped the price to $149.99. Those across the pond will get a better deal than all of these. O2, the exclusive carrier of the Palm Pre in Europe, will offer the Pre for free with a two-year contract starting on October 16th.
O2 currently offers the iPhone 3GS for free, so it only makes sense to offer this subsidy out of the gate to keep the Pre competitive. In Germany, customers will pay $73, which is still less than the current US price.
[via Information Week]
O2 has announced details regarding pricing and availability for the Palm Pre in the UK, Ireland and Germany. The Palm Pre will be available on Ocotber 13th in Germany and on October 16th in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
O2 will be the exclusive carrier in these markets for the launch of the device. Pricing and plans are available at the respective O2 websites.
For those in the US, this marks the first release of a GSM based webOS device. Could AT&T be in the cards for early 2010? Any interest from our readers?
The Palm Pre will reportedly be unveiled in the UK on September 15th. According to PC Advisor, a press event for next Tuesday is set. It’s not clear if the event is a launch event or simply a chance for UK journalist to get more hands-on time with the Palm Pre. The invitation to the PlayBite event isn’t that subtle.
….the PlayBite event lists brands such as Sony, Netgear and SanDisk showing off their Christmas wares alongside “Palm – UK launch of the ‘iPhone killer’ Palm Pre”.
The actual release date is still rumored for sometime in October, but it’ll be interesting to see if an actual date is announced on Tuesday.
Thanks @michaelmanna
According to an O2 employee, the Palm Pre will release in the UK on October 30th. Our tipster says that management informed staff of the date today. Tariffs will be the same as the iPhone. The next official release date we have is August 27th, when the Palm Pre will release on Bell in Canada. Of course, the O2 Palm Pre will be the first Palm Pre of the GSM variety. It will also mark the first head to head competition for the minds and hearts of consumers who will have a choice between the iPhone 3GS and the Palm Pre, both on the same carrier.
Thanks anonymous!