Well, seems that things are getting better for us Europeaniens here – Palm decided to release a GSM version of Palm Pre and distribute it all across the Europe. Well, not all across for now, as it turns out that exclusive operator for Palm Pre will be O2. So, we’re expecting to have Pre’s in Great Britain, Ireland and Germany  – and quite fast – from October 13th!

When it comes to prices, it seems that they won’t be too high, in fact, Pre’s are going to be pretty affordable for anyone who decides to sign up a contract with the O2. In Great Britain, you could get your Pre for 97 pounds (18 months contract) or even for free (24 month contract with some more expensive monthly rates). All rates will include unlimited WiFi access all over GB (The Cloud).

Ireland has some different situation – 99 euros for the device with 18 months contract on 45 euros of monthly rate, or a free device with 100 euros per month rate.

And at last, but not the least – Germany – whose O2 will offer unlocked Palm Pre device (price still unknown). This is probably the most interesting option for us, since there aren’t any news on any other mobile operator, or countries that don’t have a local O2 office.

But nevertheless, we sure hope to get one device for our selves, so we can drool on it all day long ;)

Possibly the best screen protector for the Palm Pre is the invisible SHIELD.  It’s a clear film that fully covers the Pre and protects it from scratches, dents, and blemishes.  The invisible SHIELD is unique because it’s an unusually tough, yet invisible cover.  The material was originally a military technology that was created to protect helicopter blades, and has since been used for a number of other applications.  As it turns out, it’s ideal for protecting touch phones like the Pre because of it’s toughness – and because it keeps the phone free from a bulky, or large covers, maintaining it’s original design.

A top distributor of the Invisible SHIELD is InvisibleSkinz.com.  They’re offering an exclusive discount to readers of PalmPre Base to get 20% off  a Palm Pre shield.  Here’s the discount code: 34828. Type it in on the checkout page, and it will give you 20% off the Pre invisible Shield!

GSM version of Palm Pre has been caught on tape in Vietnam, or so the “sources” say. There will be a short video after the break so keep reading. This probably means that the GSM version of Palm Pre after it has been spoted several times, first in Barcelona in February, then earlier today in London is getting nearer and nearer to its launch. The video below shows few Vietnamese gadget lovers fiddling with the GSM version (confirmed) of Palm Pre. Is it really true we dont know but we hope (for Palm`s sake) that they will launch it really really soon. Palm Pre has a great chance to become a hit in markets that are huge and liberal like India, Arab countries,Japan and the old continent naturally. That markets are almost exclusivelly GSM/UMTS based. Chech out the video below.

We've just confirmed that installing your PalmOS data is just as easy as installing PalmOS apps inside Classic.  With apps, you drag the PRC files into the "Classic" directory on your Pre.  With data, you do the exact same thing with your relevant PDB files.

...All of which may sound a bit like gibberish to many current Palm users.  So we're going to break it down for you here.  Read on for the step-by-step instructions for how to move your PalmOS apps and data over to the Pre.  Go ahead and bookmark this page -- when the Pre finally gets released, you just may want to come back to it.

We're going to take this step by step to ensure that you'll get everything you want from your PalmOS device and nothing you don't -- if you're a PalmOS user, skipping the first two steps will work but you're likely to have to wade through years of extra backup files.

1. Find your HotSync Backup Directory.
   • On a Mac, it will be inside ~/Documents/Palm/Users/HOTSYNCNAME/Backups . 
   • On a PC, you'll find it in C:\Program files\Palm\HOTSYNCNAME\Backup .  Note that depending on how long ago you installed hotsync, the "Palm" directory on your PC might be called "PalmOne" or "Handspring" or even "Sony Handheld."
2. RENAME that Backups directory to something else, like "Backup 4-9-09"
3. Connect your PalmOS device and make sure that you have the Backup Conduit turned on. This works slightly differently on different versions of the HotSync software, but chances are you have it turned on.  You can check your conduits settings on the desktop inside the Hotsync app.
4. Hotsync your PalmOS device.
5. If you head back to the directory we found in Step 1, you'll see that there is a new Backup directory that was created during your Hotsync.  Huzzah! Inside this new Backup directory you will find all the apps and databases you want to move to your Pre. 
6. Plug in your Pre and open the "Classic" directory.  This is where your files go.
7. Copy any programs you want on your Pre from your new Backup directory into the Classic directory.  Your programs will end in .prc.  Many programs also keep a database of their relevant info in .pdb files, they are almost always named so you can tell which apps they belong to, but there might be some trial and error in this step.
8. The important thing to remember is DO NOT just copy the entire Backup directory into the Classic directory.  There are a lot of files in this directory that are specifically designed to only work with your specific Treo or Centro (or TX).  Unfortunately some of the core pdb file names are slightly different from device to device, so again, you're looking at some trial and error here.  Here are a few from an AT&T Centro:
   • ContactsDB-PAdd.pdb - your addressbook
   • CalendarDB-PDat.pdb - your datebook
   • MemosDB-PMem.pdb - your memos
   • TasksDB-PTod.pdb - your tasks
   ...Of course, there will be plenty more depending on which 3rd party PalmOS apps you have.
9. ...and that's it.  Unplug your Pre, launch Classic, and go to town! 

A final note: as we've mentioned many times here, apps inside Classic cannot interact with apps on the Pre/webOS, so you won't be able to sync up your PalmOS contacts with your Pre's contacts.  Stay tuned for another How To explaining how to get your PIM data into the cloud so you can sync it all down to your Pre.