Official: Palm Pre smartphone to be O2 exclusive

Posted by Chris Smith on Wed 1 Jul 2009

Palm sets up an in-house battle with the iPhone 3GS

Palm and O2 are set to end months of speculation next week by announcing that the long-awaited UK release of the Palm Pre smatphone will be exclusive to the network.

We had recieved word from Palm earlier on Wednesday that an announcement on UK selling arrangements was imminent almost a month after a hugely successful US launch.

- Palm Pre: 360 interactive video, hands-on test, review and gallery

- Smartphone Wars: Palm Pre vs iPhone 3GS

- Video: Can we tempt iPhone buyers with a free Palm Pre?

Now The Guardian has confirmed that O2 has beaten rumoured contenders Vodafone to the rights to T3's hottest gadget of 2009, strengthening its iPhone-bolstered grip on the smartphone market.

Rumours have been rife for months that Palm's hot comeback would be snapped up by O2's, and they were more or less confirmed a couple of weeks ago via an unfortunate leak on Vodafone Ireland's message board.

The Palm Pre enters the UK market at an all-time peak for the smartphone, with its network stablemate, the iPhone 3GS already in shops and HTC's Hero Android phone imminent, it's a three way battle for supremacy.

We'll be back with the full details of costings and tariffs as soon as we receive official word from Palm or O2. But the good news is, gadgeteers, that the Pre is finally on its way.

Link: Palm (via The Guardian)

User Comments

By herbi1969

1|07|2009 19:09

Jesus! Once again O2 get their filthy little mitts on another smart phone!! I wonder how much they charge for it?? If the iPhone is anything to go by, too much!!

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