An anonymous tipster has sent in screenshots and impressions from the upcoming AT&T Palm Pre Plus. We still don't have a firm release date for the device, but we're expecting it sooner rather than later (EverythingPre suggests May 14th might be the day, we have also heard the 16th recently as well.)

Our tipster's main impression: it's fast. The device is running webOS 1.4.2, which could account for some speed improvement. While it's likely that part of the speed improvement is due to there not being much on the device, our source says that it definitely seems faster than even the Verizon Palm Pre Plus. Also better: the keyboard, we're told the keys are super responsive. Build quality also seems better, with the slider feeling much smoother than the original Pre. We're definitely eager to see if both impressions pan out on a production device after a couple of months of use.

YPMobile also gets kudos for being preloaded - it's an app we're fairly fond of ourselves. There's not much more to say except we'd love to see it released soon. Oh, and that the above default wallpaper is completely gorgeous. Check out a handful of screenshots after the break.

Thanks, Anonymous!

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We've been waiting for this since the first GSM Palm Pre phones hit the market and the day is here: A true SIM unlock solution for the Palm Pre developed by jictechnology in our forums and sold by nextgenserver is now available. They have various pricing plans, but the default will run you £ 25.00 for a single unlock code. We spoke to the developers behind the unlock and they say that there are a couple of bugs to work out with the process, but that this is a 'permanent unlock' that should persist after webOS software updates - good news for those struggling with the post 1.4 issues the Rebel SIM solution has been facing. Check out this thread for the giddiness and joy the unlock seems to have unleashed.

Those who are super-antsy to get the Pre Plus in the US on AT&T will probably still want to wait as we're hoping that the launch is coming soon (not to mention you'll get the Plus version). Developers, however, should be downright giddy - it might make more sense for many of them to test on the lower-end regular Pre anyhow. Combine a 20%-off, non-contracted developer phone from Palm (go with the Telcel version from Mexico for AT&T 3G compatibility), the latest version of WebOS Meta Doctor for bypassing the first-run activation process, and this unlock and it seems to us you have a free, clear, and proper dev phone.

You'll need a Windows XP or Vista machine to get it done and note that it's worth a scan through the unlock forum thread starting at this post to check out some of the potential install issues.

Still looking to pick up a GSM Palm Pre on O2? If you’re the type to sign a contract in exchange for a subsidized price on the phone (admit it, you are), then you’re in luck. Not only will a two-year contract with O2 get you a subsidized Palm Pre, it’ll cost you less than before. New O2 contract customers can expect to fork over just €49 upfront to get a new Palm Pre. They’ll then pay €15 a month over the 24-month contract to pay back the rest of the reduced €409 total cost (down from €481 previously). Or you can just buy it for €409 without any contract. And to sweeten the deal, O2 is also throwing in a Touchstone with the appropriate back for free, regardless of whether you’re going to contract route or not.

Thanks to docjones for the tip!

We're afraid we may have to throw some cold water on everybody waiting in line for the October 13/16th launch of the GSM Palm Pre on O2's networks in Germany, Ireland, and the UK. That cold water is a big old bucket of webOS 1.1.3 - which is likely to be the newest version of the OS that Europeans will be able to use. 1.2 may not hit until November.

The info comes courtesy of Gizmo21, who points us to heise online, who suggest that the UMTS Pre will start out with 1.1.3 and won't get the update until November. This forum post at ppc-welt (we know it's just a forum post, but seems accurate) backs that up, adding that the Pre may even come out of the box rocking webOS 1.1.2 and require a software update for 1.1.3 action.

If this is true and Palm can't get 1.2 GSM-ready in time for the pending European launch, it stacks all kinds of bummerage on the webOS platform - paid apps won't hit Europe for who knows how long (no surprise, since even Canada can't get 'em) and Europeans won't get all the benefits in 1.2 right away.

What is really troubling, though, is the fear that Palm might be hitting a point where they're overextended and unable to release the webOS on multiple versions of the same device at the same time -- much less on multiple devices at the same time. That's nothing new in the smartphone world (cf. BlackBerry and Windows Mobile), but we were holding out hope that Palm had a bag of fairy dust that made the subtle differences between carriers, GSM, and CDMA magically disappear.

We've seen the prices and release dates for the Pre on O2's networks in Germany, Ireland, and the UK, but back when the GSM Pre was first announced, one other Telefonica network was announced: Movistar in Spain and Latin Amercia.  When will we know?

Próximamente, apparently - that's 'Soon' to us Yanks. Reader pitsop writes in to give us the heads-up that Movistar's site has been updated to include the barest of information on the device as well as the opportunity to register to find out more information when it becomes available.

The specs are no surprise -- the same (US-compatible) bands, the same memory, and so on. Palm's Spanish site reiterates that the Pre is exclusive to Movistar, but whether that means the Pre will be SIM-Locked remains to be seen.

Let's start with the good news: The Palm Pre will be Quad-Band on GSM and Tri-Band 3G. The devil's in the details, but it this case it's angels

• Palm Pre GSM Bands: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
• Palm Pre UMTS/HSDPA Bands: 850 / 1900 / 2100

Those bands, as ToniCipriani in our forums corrected predicted, support both European and US 3G on AT&T. Cheers and adulation.

Now for the tricky part: the Palm Pre in the UK and Ireland appears to be SIM-locked and since it's exclusive to O2, a SIM-Free version won't be available. This is in contrast to Palm's own Treo Pro, which was available unlocked from the get-go. Unlocked Palm Pre: not so much.

Hackers: Start your unlocking. Everybody else, sit tight and think about how you're going to get around the fact that you must sign a contract with O2 UK in order to purchase the Pre in the first place - so that even if we get a speedy unlock on the SIM, that doesn't necessarily make it a cakewalk to import and use the Pre in the US.

The German version, however, is a bit different. It's available "SIM-Free," which means that Germans don't need to sign up for a contract in order to purchase the Pre. Big ups to O2 in Germany for their ]]> http://www.palmpretouchphone.com/news/good-news-bad-news-gsm-palm-pre-bands-and-unlocking/feed/ 0 http://www.palmpretouchphone.com/rumors/rumor-gsm-palm-pre-announcement-soon/ http://www.palmpretouchphone.com/rumors/rumor-gsm-palm-pre-announcement-soon/#comments Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:09:49 +0000 Dieter Bohn 8152 at http://www.precentral.net

Buckle up, it's rumor time again.

We've received several tips that Palm Europe will be announcing the release dates and pricing for the GSM version of the Palm Pre very soon, quite possibly tomorrow. Unfortunately, since Telefonica operates differently in different countries, pinning down exact pricing and availability for each region has been difficult.

As always, things in the rumormill are to be taken with a grain of salt, but a previously reliable tipster has laid down some details. For O2 Germany, the release date looks to be October 13th. The Pre should be available fully unlocked for around 480€ straight up (That's just over $700 US), less of course on contract.

The UK, Spain, and Ireland details are still up in the air as of this writing, but it's no guarantee that they will be available unlocked given Palm's nastygrams to websites claiming to offer preorders. If they're not available unlocked, we'll likely see a race to figure out how to do that since the unlocked German version will come with a QWERTZ keyboard.

We shouldn't have long to wait and see whether this pans out or not, but we hope it does while at the same time are hoping a previous rumor won't.

Buckle up, it's rumor time again.

We've received several tips that Palm Europe will be announcing the release dates and pricing for the GSM version of the Palm Pre very soon, quite possibly tomorrow. Unfortunately, since Telefonica operates differently in different countries, pinning down exact pricing and availability for each region has been difficult.

As always, things in the rumormill are to be taken with a grain of salt, but a previously reliable tipster has laid down some details. For O2 Germany, the release date looks to be October 13th. The Pre should be available fully unlocked for around 480€ straight up (That's just over $700 US), less of course on contract.

The UK, Spain, and Ireland details are still up in the air as of this writing, but it's no guarantee that they will be available unlocked given Palm's nastygrams to websites claiming to offer preorders. If they're not available unlocked, we'll likely see a race to figure out how to do that since the unlocked German version will come with a QWERTZ keyboard.

We shouldn't have long to wait and see whether this pans out or not, but we hope it does while at the same time are hoping a previous rumor won't.

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Update: Picture and link removed at user request.

Looks like carrier branding won't be visible on the device (which should please unlockers). The only other difference we can see is that this Pre rocks a German-style QWERTZ keyboard and the symbol on the "h" key is a Euro symbol instead of a dollar sign. 

Beyond those keyboard differences, hopefully what we're looking at is essentially the same hardware that's in the process of getting the necessary approval for North American release.  Maybe that "Late October" release date rumor is less crazy than we originally thought?

Thanks EsOrOp!

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's fair to say that Palm Pre Silly Season, Part 2 is officially in effect.  As rumors swirl about what the European Release date will be, a PreCentral reader named Calvin has gotten down and dirty with the Google. He's sent his findings to us and we present them here to you.

First up, you can check this PDF to see that a new version of the Pre has been certified by Wi-Fi.org. That's where the hunt begins, as the unit certified here is P100UNA - Calvin notes that this matches up with the Treo Pro GSM version, T850UNA - the U is for UMTS, the NA is for North America.  In other words, there's a version of the Palm Pre GSM that Palm is at least getting certified for US use (a strong indication it will support US 3G).

Not enough?  How about this Bluetooth Gadget Guide listing with the P100UNA and P100UEU (that'd be UMTS-European Union) entries?  That could indicate that there will be separate version, but remember that there's a UNA and UEU version of the Treo Pro as well, add in Palm's limited resources and we're expecting one model for both regions. Note also the P100UEU was seen on that Pre Spy Shot in Vietnam.

Still not convinced that someday we'll see a US-compatible GSM Palm Pre? How about Certificate No. 72090412 at TUVdotCOM? That odd certification clears the P100UNA with both US and Canadian regulators like OSHA and CSS in one fell swoop.

It's not surprising and it's not like it gives us any indication of whether or not AT&T will pick it up, but it is very likely that the GSM Palm Pre will handle US 3G bands. Next stop: FCC?

Huge Props to Calvin for his internet sleuthing savvy!

Update: Chris Ziegler at Engadget makes the rather-smart observation that Bell will be transitioning from CDMA to GSM and mayhap this GSM Pre could be destined for their network - i.e. while we're definitely going to see something North American, the US isn't necessarily a lock.

The European Palm Pre is definitely coming, but which carrier and when is the release date? To start to pin that down, we present a little old, a little new, and try not to leave you a little blue.

Pierre lets us know that the Palm France page on the Pre has recently switched over from "Information mode" to "register to be notified about the release date" mode, which we take to be a good sign.  So perhaps our earlier "End of the year" estimates were a little pessimistic.  The Pre spotting in the London tube also backs up a 'sooner rather than later' guess. 

So we don't have an exact guess at the date but Fall seems likely.  Now: which carrier? That picture is quite a bit muddier.  When we had our hands-on with the GSM Palm Pre in February, the SIM card and service were most definitely Vodafone.  More recently, however, we've been hearing that Vodafone won't be the carrier from a few sources. One of them is Conor, who points us to this Vodafone Ireland forum post, where an moderator says no-go for the Pre on Vodafone in Ireland.

As Conor notes - if it ain't Vodafone it's most likely going to be O2 Ireland.  If it's O2 Ireland, O2 / Telefonica should be carrying it over the rest of their network.  All of which goes against our gut instinct that Palm would be leveraging their long-standing relationship with Vodafone, but there it is.

Ah Rumors, we know you treat us bad, but we can't stay mad at you.

Thanks to Conor and Pierre for the tips!