We’ve already noted how the unlocked Palm Pre 2 is available for order in the United Kingdom and Germany, but there’s something we didn’t notice until now: that same unlocked Pre 2 also shows up in the European Palm online store (eurostore.palm.com) for France, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, and even Russia. Asking price: 499.00€.

You might be thinking that this is the first time any webOS device has been available in Italy, Russia, or The Netherlands, and you’d be correct. Now if only we could get it in the US… or for that matter, the rest of the world.

Source: Palm Store (France, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Russia); Via: webOS en Castellano; Thanks to hgc2002 for the tip!

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Europe, Canada, and Mexico, hold on to your hats, because in one week you’ll be able to buy apps from the Palm App Catalog. Palm has informed developers that March 31st is the go-live date for the international App Catalog e-commerce program. Developers wishing to distribute their apps in other countries are encouraged to resubmit their apps with an update that will provide localized content and/or meta-data. But if you don’t want to do that, Palm’s cool with that too.

In order to get as many paid apps in the various international App Catalog incarnations as possible, Palm’s Developer Relations Team will expedite the review process for apps tagged for international distribution (so expect plenty of updates in the coming week with no version change for the app). Apps submitted for sale in the United States, Canada, and Mexico will receive payment in US dollars, while apps submitted for Germany, Spain, the UK, and Ireland will receive payment in Euros (and from Palm subsidiary Palm Global Operations Ltd). Additionally, Palm is now accepting applications submissions for the upcoming launch of the webOS on SFR.

Developers: start your submission engines. International webOS users: start chilling the bubbly, for next Wednesday we celebrate.

Thanks to anonymous tipsters!

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While the Germans were busy getting the Pre out into the hands of anxious customers, O2 United Kingdom decided to celebrate the launch with a party featuring a slew of UK celebrities like Matthew Horne, Alphabeat, Mel B (aka Scary Spice), VV Brown, and Jade Jagger. Members of the press, O2 employees, and some invited special O2 subscribers hopped onto the roof of the fashionable Shoreditch House in London. So a ton of celebrities got their hands on the phone early, and the rest of the UK, along with Ireland, will have to wait until Friday to get their own. Meanwhile, the cats on Telefonica in Spain can buy the Pre today, as in now.

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O2 announced today that the GSM Palm Pre will be launching in Europe in the middle of next month. The staggered release will see Germany getting their hands on the hot little smartphone on October 13th, with the United Kingdom and Ireland getting it on October 16th. Yup, that announcement really did come quickly.

Plans will vary by country. United Kingdom O2 customers will have several plan options for the Pre. On an 18-month contract you can sign up for a minimal contract of £29.38 a month (75 minutes, 125 texts, unlimited data) and get the Pre for £96.89. Alternatively, they can pay as little as £44.05 a month (1200 minutes, 500 texts, unlimited data) and get a Pre for free. Customers signing a 24-month contract for a minimum of £34.26 (600 minutes, 500 texts, unlimited data) will also get a Pre for free. All available plans for the Pre come with unlimited data on O2’s HDSPA network and access to 7500 affiliated WiFi hotspots.

German shoppers can pay €1 upfront for the Pre on a 24-month contract, with the rest of the phone subsidized at €20 a month over the contract. In total, you can expect to pay €481 for the phone, or an extra €2 to get the Pre contract-free (no word if that also means its SIM-lock free). The Pre will be available on any contract with O2 Germany, though they recommend you sign up for at least the €10/month data plan (otherwise you’ll be loaded down with by-the-kb data charges). O2 Germany is also giving away 10 Palm Pre phones.

In Ireland, you can sign up for plans ranging from €40 (175 minutes, 100 texts, 10 MMS, 1 GB data) to €65 a month (450 minutes, 150 texts, 15 MMS, 1 GB data) for 18 months and get a Pre for just €99, while forking over €100 a month (700 minutes, 250 texts, 25 MMS, 1 GB data) for a year and a half will get you a Pre for free. All plans are limited to 1 GB of data month, though they do also all come with unlimited access to O2’s WiFi hotspot network.

The German O2 website has also confirmed that the GSM Pre is indeed a Quad-band phone, with dual-band UMTS support (all told, we’re talking EDGE, UMTS, and HSDPA). Apart from that, the phone is practically the same as the CDMA Pre seen on Sprint and Bell Mobility.

Thanks to everybody that sent this in!

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[ youtube link ]

You may remember that soothing morning coffee video from way back when we were still waiting for the Pre to launch over here in North America. In preparation for the impending invasion of Europe, Palm has redone that video in Spanish (as seen above), German, and The Queen’s English for Ireland and the United Kingdom. While it doesn’t quite cover the gamut of O2/Telefonica’s European coverage area, it is one more sign that the European (and thus GSM) launch of the Pre is indeed on the way, even if we don’t get to take any pictures.

Oh, and don’t bother translating the videos – they all say the exact same thing (funny how everybody has business in California these days).

Thanks to Akitayo in our forums for the tip!

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Europe, it’s time to celebrate. As previously rumored, Telefonica has scored the rights to distribute the Palm Pre in Europe, on the O2 network in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Germany and on Movistar in Spain. Palm’s official press release (after the break) says that the first GSM webOS phones will launch “in time for the holidays,” but according to O2’s German update notification sign-up page, the Pre will be launching in October. So far the only published (and expected) difference between the Pre that the Telefonica networks will be receiving and that made for Sprint and Bell Canada is the GSM radio, which will come complete with HSDPA (3G GSM). It’s as-yet unclear whether or not the European Pre will support the 3G bands in the US.

Thus far there’s been no mention of price or plans, but if our experience with other smartphones in Europe is any indication, it’s not going to be cheap.

Update: Gizmo and Enzo let us know that that O2 Germany changed their date from October to Fall 2009. Update Update: Goyena notes it’s now changed to "In time for Christmas."  We’re just going to say end of the year, OK O2?

Thanks to everyone that sent this in!

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