Literally unexpected and out of nowhere, especially when HP gave little hope to it, but the Palm Pre Plus is surprisingly seeing light of webOS 2.1 – but it seems to be good only for O2 Germany’s model. However, that’s not stopping some people from taking it to other versions.
Right now, there is a new [...]

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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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As best as we can see, there aren’t a whole lot of reasons not to buy yourself a smartphone, especially one running webOS. Maybe we’re a little bit biased, but that’s just how we see things. And seeing how prices seem to keep falling on Palm’s current offerings, the list of reasons why not to just keeps getting shorter.

Of course, we can empathize with those who don’t want to get tied into a long-term contract. Fortunately, if you are in the UK and have been tempted by the Palm Pixi Plus, you can scratch contractual obligation off the list. O2 UK now is offering the Pixi Plus will on Pay & Go for a mere £109.99 upfront. So you can now get your teeth into the remarkably tasty webOS pie (mmmmm…) without having to worry about any monthly fees. Not only that, but O2 will throw in a limited edition Artist Series battery cover (worth £29.99) for free.

If Pay & Go is not your style, then fear not, the Pixi Plus is now free on £25 a month contracts with it’s big brother, the Pre Plus available for free on a £35 a month contract.

In true O2 UK style, they haven’t publicized this new offer very well, with no mention of it on their website, even though it was supposed to be available online from today, but it has appeared on a number of sites including the Palm UK Facebook page, so you can either pop down to your local O2 store or wait a few days for it to appear on their online store.

Source: Palm UK on Facebook

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It’s hard to say concretely as to what is Palm’s strategy for the upcoming holiday season, but from the looks of it all, the Palm Pre Plus might not be making itself presentable in a couple of markets for this crucial time period.
Reports are coming in that O2 UK has removed the webOS powered smartphone [...]

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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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Apparently we should get ready to say our final goodbyes to unlimited data, as our favorite cellular plan feature is not looking long for this world. At least that’s the message we’re getting from AT&T and now O2 UK. AT&T announced their new data plans last week, with unlimited going the way of the dodo and now topping out at 2GB for $25 a month, with the option to purchase additional gigabytes at $10 a pop.

O2 UK has taken a similar approach, though they’re offering even less to start. Plans will range from £25 for 500MB and 100 minutes to £60 for 1GB and unlimited calling (all plans include unlimited SMS and Wi-Fi hotspot access). While AT&T offers the option to add in more data as its needed, O2’s plans call for you to add a bolt-on to your plan, to the tune of an extra £5 a month for 500MB, or £10 for a full gig’. O2 will be sure to help subscribers monitor their plans by shooting out text messages to keep them updated on their data usage.

The press release states that 97% of O2 customers would not need to buy anything more than the 500MB plan, and that that much data is 2.5 times more data than the average O2 subscriber pulls down in a month. We’ll be quick to point out that the average O2 customer also likely has a dumbphone with horrible web browsing capabilities.

The new plans take effect for new and upgrading customers on June 24, until then subscribers can pick up any smartphone on O2 UK (including the Palm Pre, Pre Plus, and Pixi Plus) with unlimited data included on any compatible plan.

Source: O2

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The Palm Pre isn’t going to be the sole webOS offering on O2 UK’s web site as the Plus models have finally invaded the turf. O2 UK customers can now take part in the pleasures of owning either the Palm Pre Plus or Pixi Plus that of course offers a tad better overall experience. From [...]

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The Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus are set to launch in on O2 in the UK tomorrow, but Murray just let us know that his local O2 store has them out on the floor and available for sale today, along with the above in-store photo of the Pixi Plus. If you’ve got a hankering for some new and improved webOS action, it might be worth a quick call to your local shop to see if they’ve jumped the gun as well.

Thanks, Murray!

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