Through a strange twist of fate and a bit of hacking, some European Pre users aren’t getting the short end of the app stick anymore. While the vast majority of Pre owners on O2 and Movistar are still only going to see less than a hundred apps, it turns out that those that have used the WebOS Internals Meta-Doctor to bypass the activation process for O2 are now getting access to the full App Catalog, which as of today totals to 441 apps.

Right now the App Catalog appears to still be noticing where the Pre is, as those outside the US still cannot purchase and download paid apps, though those select few can at least see them. It’s a weird glitch, but an interesting one nonetheless as these Pre phones could be considered “without region,” but the App Catalog still recognizes that they are not in the United States region, and thus shouldn’t be allowed to download paid applications.

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We’ve been expecting that Europe would get ‘parity’ by the end of November, and that doesn’t give Palm much time to get it done. If you follow the O2 Pre closely, last night was a confusing period for Palm Pre owners in Europe, with an official O2 Twitter account stating that webOS 1.3.1 would come last night and then it was “delayed” for unspecified reasons.

While Nexave.de forum moderator Deerhunter couldn’t offer a concrete reason for the delay, he did offer some insight into what may have happened. Essentially, the updates that Palm puts together have to be first verified and approved by the carriers. This is standard practice across the globe and likely the reason we were not supposed to see webOS 1.3.1 on Sprint Pre phones until after the Pixi’s release.

Anyway, back over in Europe the 1.3.1 update was apparently approved by O2 Germany and somebody at the carrier’s Bielefeld shop decided to run with it, even though it hadn’t been approved by the rest of the Telefonica network. That’s the trouble with running a multi-headed beast like Telefonica: there are at least four separate entities that need to approve the update (O2 Germany, O2 Ireland, O2 UK, and Movistar Spain).

Either way, the approval was revoked or silenced in some manner and as I’m sure you folks in Europe have noticed, you’re still not running webOS 1.3.1. No matter the cause, we are fairly certain you that the release of webOS 1.3.1 to GSM Pre phones is imminent, and we’ll be sure to let you know when it finally lands.

UPDATE: KarlD89 points us to a new post on the O2 Twitter feed claiming that webOS 1.3.1 will be coming to O2 Pre phones on November 23rd. We shall see.

Thanks to gizmo21 for the tip!

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Reader deCorvett gave us a heads up that along with the launch of Palm Pre in Spain on the Movistar network, they’ve started an advertising campaign on Spanish television. And surprise of surprises they decided to use Palm’s advertising instead of going off what the creative chaps at O2 Germany whipped up. Thankfully, it seems that they’ve skipped over the first set of bizarre Palm ads and borrowed those that actually showed the functions of the phone, even if they are pretty darned dull. But after those sweet German ads, we can’t help but be disappointed, especially considering that Movistar-owner Telefonica owns O2. At least Spanish-voiced lady isn’t quite as unnerving as the Dollhouse-serene version we got here.

[via: webOS Mania]

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When the Palm Pre debuted in Canada, it arrived with new applications to celebrate. Just a couple of days ago the Pre was launch in Germany, and it also brought with it new apps. Spain was not going to have it any other way. Today, the UK and Ireland will see the debut of the [...]

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While our Spanish is admittedly quite rusty, we can see what’s going on here: it’s a Palm Pre running on GSM carrier Telcel in Mexico. The conversation indicates that Telcel will be the exclusive carrier of the Pre in Mexico, which runs up against Telefonica’s Movistar brand that spans much of Latin America. And just to show us it’s not some variety of trickery, the phone is shown to have both no Sprint apps and a SIM card slot, and with the QWERTY keyboard we know it’s also not an unlocked Pre stolen from O2 Germany.

Strangely, the video also makes a mention of expandable storage, though it is not demonstrated or shown on the video, nor are any specifics discussed. Our money’s on the speaker mistaking USB Drive Mode for expandable storage. One more video after the break.

Update: EBPMAN in the comments, who is much more fluent en Español than yours truly, says that the video specifically says micro SD, but when talking about it he’s pointing at the instructions on how to remove/insert the SIM card. Confusion continues to reign supreme.

Update 2: Apparently the videos have been pulled. Take our word for it, they speak Spanish and have a Pre.

[via: PreThinking]

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We know the dates the Palm Pre GSM version is coming to the UK, Ireland and Germany. So España (Spain) was the only one left to come up with a launch date for the GSM Palm Pre, right? Well, say Hola! to the Spanish Palm Pre that will launch on October 14th 2009. Spanish people, [...]

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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.

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Finally there is a date for the GSM Palm Pre release, last time, we had an Autum release that now has an specific date. Surprisingly, O2 finally confirms today that the Palm Pre will be available in the UK on October 16th exclusively on the O2 network. Those who want to purchase the new device, [...]

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Who doesn’t remember the first official video from Palm showing off the calendar and synergy on the Pre. Yea…long time ago, back in February we got teased with that video and it made most of us feel this was the real Jesus phone. In a personal note, I still feel that way to date.

We waited [...]

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Just a little over a month we were invited to meet with representatives from Palm and O2, to discuss the announcement regarding the European GSM Pre. At that time, Palm announced that the GSM version of the Palm Pre would be exclusively available on O2 in the UK, Ireland and Germany, and Movistar in Spain.

Now [...]

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