All those waiting in line for the make-or-break smart phone from Palm to touch down in the UK finally have a release date for the Pre – the 16th of October.
Arriving far earlier than expected with rumours of the handset even slipping as far as early 2010, the Palm Pre serves as a slightly cheaper alternative to O2’s ‘other’ smartphone, with the handset to be made available from Phones4U and the Carphone Warehouse, as well as from the network directly.
How much? Well, the Pre can be in your palm for free for £34.26, on a 24 month contract of 600 minutes and 500 texts, but another option is to go for the 18 month deal which asks that you spend a cool £96.89 to purchase the handset.
It might more up front, but saves you a bit in the long run and offers exactly the same number of minutes and texts… Those requiring more minutes with their mobile can opt for the £44.05 and £73.41 deals respectively.
All the Palm Pre deals offer unlimited data and Wi-Fi as well as support for The Cloud, O2’s public wireless hotspot service, whilst the popular TouchStone that offers wireless charging by magnetic induction will thankfully be boxed in, but with an RRP of £44.11.
A slick slider smart phone, the Palm Pre hasn’t set the world alight as far as the US was concerned, but the alluring form factor, physical keyboard and forthcoming array of apps could be enough to cater more to the refined European patate…
With a German release date of the 13th of October and the device arriving in Ireland soon after the UK, we will soon see if the wait was worth it!