The GSM version of Palm's Pre has surfaced in Vietnam. Next, the UK?
Palm Pre second act is set to begin in Europe, a month after its launch in the U.S.
According to British daily newspaper The Guardian, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-company chose O2 as the exclusive operator for the U.K. market. A press conference will be held next week to unveil the news.
O2 is also the sole distributor in the UK for the iPhone 3GS which comes free with an 18-months contract (for the 16GB version), spurring rumours that the Pre will also be available for free with an 18-months contract.
Palm GSM Pre has been ready since February
Palm first showed the “world” version (or GSM) of its smartphone last February at the Mobile World Congress last February in Barcelona.
Indicative of an imminent launch – presumably in September – Palm’s GSM Pre has recently been seen “in the wild” in Vietnam and reviewed by a local reseller.
However it first appears that Palm’s Pre data transmission speed will not match that of the iPhone 3GS.
Here’s the video excerpt of the Palm GSM Pre review from a local Vietnamese reseller:
