Palm promised that HP webOS 2.0 would be available by the end of 2010. In a way, they’ve delivered, if you want the updated operating system all you’ve got to do is buy a Palm Pre 2. Maybe that’s not the most ideal of solutions, as most of us would prefer that we get the update free-of-charge and over-the-air on our current devices, but it’s looking like the old frustrating but purposely vague “coming months” line is what we’ll have to wait for.

According to a post on O2 Germany’s official Twitter account, webOS 2.0 won’t hit Palm devices on their network until the first quarter of next year, otherwise known as sometime between the beginning of January and the end of March 2011. O2 Germany’s Twitter timeline has always been remarkably frank about the state of Palm devices, so we’ll take them at their word, disappointing as it may be.

Separately, the folks over at webOS en Castellano heard from “private forums” that current Pre and Pixi devices might skip over webOS 2.0 and head straight to version 2.1, though they were given no timeline. That’s 2.1, not minor bug fixes 2.0.1. Our guess as to what’s in this until now unheard-of version of webOS: optimizations for the lesser hardware of previous generation (i.e. not Pre 2) devices and the absent Exhibition mode.

As always, we advise that you season your reading of rumors like this with a dash of salt, though you should keep in mind that the American Heart Association recommends you not exceed 3,000 milligrams of sodium in a day.

Source: O2 Germany (Twitter); webOS en Castellano; Via: webOS Blog.de; Thanks to Julian, Herman, and Gizmo21 for the tips!

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So there’s plenty of uproar in the United States about the Pre 2 not looking like a possibility for Sprint, but what of the rest of the world? It’s not looking exceedingly good there either.

Both Vodafone Germany and O2 Germany have come out to say that they have no plans to offer the Pre 2 to their customers. The German carriers are uncharacteristically communicative with customers over Twitter, at least in comparison to their international brethren.

Most other carriers have maintained a stony wall of silence, or in the case of Sprint responded with a company line email to all inquiries noting that they don’t have plans to offer the Pre 2 to customers, who could just buy an original and aging Pre if they wanted one. Problem is, we’re fairly certain that 99% of those barraging Sprint on Facebook and via email (you can stop forwarding us their company line replies) already have a Pre and were miffed when they couldn’t get the Pre Plus, let alone the markedly better Pre 2.

There is at least one bright spot in this strange Pre 2 launch mess: webOS 2.0 will get to everybody, at some point in, you guessed it, the “coming months.” If "coming months" ends up being as short as we hope, then it might not be so long of a wait.

Of course, the question we’re all trying to answer is “why don’t any carriers want to sell me a Pre 2?” There are a couple of possible answers, and they’re wrapped up in the mystery of carrier-manufacturer contracts. It’s possible no carriers want to invest in training and advertising to sell the Pre 2 because of their lackluster experience selling the phones’ predecessors, or maybe they’re holding off for something more impressive, maybe something we’ll get to see at CES this year. Or maybe nobody told them.

Source: Palm UK (Facebook), Palm France (Facebook), O2 Germany (Twitter), Vodafone Germany (Facebook); via: Golem.de, webOSroundup, webOS Blog.de; Thanks to everybody that sent all of this in!

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If you’re a German who for whatever reason has been waiting to jump onto the Palm bandwagon, O2 Deutschland is doing their best to make sure you can get one for cheap. They’ve cut the price of the Palm Pre Plus down to 360€, while the Pixi Plus and the original Pre (with a Touchstone charger and back) can be had for 240€.

Now you might be thinking those are high prices, but we’ll take a moment to remind you why O2 Germany’s system is the one that we envy so hard: these phones can all be had for free upfront: You’ll pay 10€ a month over 24 months for the Pre or Pixi Plus, while the Pre Plus will cost you 15€ monthly. Yes, you pay precisely for the subsidization of your specific phone, and once you’ve paid it off, you’re done. It’s a clean and transparent model that we seriously long for. Oh, and all of these phones are sold unlocked. How’s that for awesome?

Additionally, we’ve been tipped that O2 Germany has received its last shipment of Pre Plus phones. This lines up neatly with the ceasing of Pre Plus sales at SFR and O2 UK. Europe, it would seem, is clearing way for the Palm Pre 2. We can only hope that the same is happening back here across the pond.

Source: O2 Germany; Thanks to Valentin and John for the tips!

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While Verizon webOS users struggle with workarounds because Verizon still hasn’t fixed the hobbled GPS on the Palm Pre and Palm Pixi, O2 is continuing their longstanding trend of doing right by their customers. To wit, they’ve released Navigation, based on Telmap. It has local search, voice prompts, and turn-by-turn directions. Maps for German, Austria, and Switzerland are all available – just make sure you don’t go over your data limit.

Thanks to everybody who sent this in!

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It was bound to happen eventually, and we’re somewhat surprised it took this long. O2 Germany has confirmed to PreCentral forum member rot that the original Palm Pre has been declared end-of-life (EOL) on the network. With the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus also available on O2 Germany, the EOLing of the older Pre was to be expected.

According to rot, while O2 will continue to replenish their supply of Plus devices, they have no intention of ordering any more original GSM Pre after their current stockpile runs dry. So, if for whatever reason you still want one, you can get one. And it’s sold as a bundle with a Touchstone back and charger (the Plus comes with a Touchstone back standard) for 240€, the same price as the Pixi Plus, while the O2 Germany Pre Plus will hit your wallet to the tune of 361€. O2 Germany is following in the footsteps of O2 UK, who quietly stopped selling their original Pre without our even noticing.

Now: wouldn’t it be nice if Sprint could get caught up with the rest of the world and get some Plus action?

Thanks to rot in the forums for the heads up!

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While we can’t know about any other carriers in other countries, customers of O2 in Germany have something to smile about, the "next Palm update" will "probably" come tomorrow morning. The update is minor, yes, but it should bring PDK apps to the Pixi and open up both the Pre and Pixi to ‘indie’ PDK apps like 3D games from smaller companies.

Can we just say that we love O2 Germany for how they sell unlocked devices, how they have supported webOS, and how well the communicate with their customers? Viel Erfolg!

Update: Arthur lets us know that some folks in our forums are reporting that the update has arrived. At 9 megs, it’s not a huge update.

Source: @o2myhandy; Thanks Blacklight!

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If you hadn’t heard, the Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus are coming to O2 Germany and Vodafone on April 28th. As is (distressingly) becoming the norm, pricing wasn’t officially announced when the phones were officially announced.

We’ve got the prices for O2 now, anyway. They come courtesy of O2, and along with golem.de, you might say that Germans will be paying a bit of a premium over their French neighbors: 389 Euro for the Pixi Plus, 509 for the Pre Plus. Of course, you can also opt to purchase the phones at just 29 Euro to start and pay out the rest over time. It also helps that since this is O2 Germany, these phones are straight-up unlocked.

Thanks to everybody who sent this in!

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There’s no getting around it, we love O2 Germany, and we don’t even live anywhere near Germany. Our love for O2 Germany comes mainly in form of their advertising, which has been worlds better than what we’ve seen on the North American continent, and tends to peak out early. Let’s not forget Palm fans in Germany, we love you too, especially when you take pictures of these peaking-out-early ads. In this case, it’s a rather large O2 Germany poster, with the Palm Pixi, QWERTZ keyboard and all, standing front-and-center before devices like the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, the Motorola Milestone (known as the Droid stateside), and devices from Nokia and LG.

Looking at the ad, there’s no indication whether or not this is a Pixi Plus or the Wi-Fi-less Pixi as seen on Sprint (there’s no Wi-Fi icon in the top bar, but this is stock imagery here). The folks at German phone reseller 7mobile.de may have the answer and then some. They have a listing for a Palm Pixi, complete with UMTS data and Wi-Fi. Then again, they also say it will support video calls and T9 predictive texting. Either way, we would be stunned if the Pixi Plus was not the device that made it oversees, as that’s the device that AT&T is getting (albeit with different radio bands). 7mobile.de also claims an amusing "hours" of standby time and "minutes" of talk time.

At this point we have little doubt that the removal of Wi-Fi from the Pixi was Sprint’s idea, and not something that Palm wanted to do. While releasing the Plus on every other network is little consolation to Sprint Pixi owners, it’s still better than nothing. And it is worth noting that when and if the Pixi hits O2, it’ll be the first time it’s been available outside the United States, some six months after the Pre first hit European shores.

Thanks to gizmo21 and Jens for the tips!

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Have a Palm Pre on O2, but find yourself envious of your American compatriots on Verizon running Mobile Hotspot left and right? Fret not, for your quandary will soon be quashed. In a tweet on one of O2 Germany’s official Twitter feeds, the following (translated into English) was posted.

Coming soon: the Palm Mobile Hotspot App. Thus the Pre becomes a UMTS Wi-Fi router with WPA or WEP encryption – ideal for iPods & iPads.

Zing! Especially considering that at launch won’t be able to get a 3G iPad in Europe at all. This is the first official word we have of the Mobile Hotspot app making the leap to another carrier. Because the Pre on O2 is a GSM phone, users will be able to still place and receive phone calls while running Mobile Hotspot, something their Verizon brethren can’t do. No word on pricing, though we expect the app to be free, and O2 Germany currently runs a tethering plan starting at €25 a month. Correction: Tethering is offered free-of-charge for O2 subscribers, but watch your usage to avoid going over your plan’s usage cap.

Thanks to Ruben for the tip!

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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!

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