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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Palm has announced that the Pixi Plus will land in Spain on May 10th for the Vodafone network. Pricing was not announced, nor was the Palm Pre Plus – which we have to say strikes us a mighty odd.

Any Spaniards looking to make the jump to this little wonder, or will you be holding out for some Palm Pre Plus action?

Thanks to everybody who sent this in!

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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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Spanish Pre users needn’t worry about when they’re going to get 3D gaming, as Electronic Arts has come to the rescue. Available now in the App Catalog on Movistar in Spain is a new app: Need For Speed Undercover (GRATIS), for the price of gratis. Gratis being free. And as best as we can tell, it’s the full version that will run you $9.99 in the States.

Yep, that’s right, NFSU is available to Spanish Pre owners for zero dollars down and zero dollars a month. The in-game content has even been translated into Spanish. Amusingly, due to the size of the game, the App Catalog description carries a request to download it over Wi-Fi instead of the HSDPA network.

Oh, and Spanish Pre owners aren’t the only ones that can get in on the hot PDK action in Europe. Those in merry old England (as well as the rest of the United Kingdom and our friends in Ireland) can download the English-language version of Need For Speed Undercover (FREE) for, well, free.

We wouldn’t be surprised to see more PDK demo apps like Need For Speed coming to the European App Catalog in the near future. With paid apps due to launch across the pond next month, developers will want to get a taste of their apps in the mouths of webOS users starving for more application action.

Thanks to pitsop for the tip!

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One of the things that we liked about the App Catalog in webOS 1.3.1 was that it would be able to tell what device it was running on and subsequently adjust the apps listing to compatible apps. As it turns out, the App Catalog also gained the ability to figure out where you are and adjust the App Catalog accordingly. That’s nice and all if the App is something that is only available in a specific country for a reason (e.g. YPmobile for the US).

When it’s not cool is when the filtering cuts the European App Catalog down to a pathetic sixty apps, and even that number varies depending on the country. The problem lies with how App Catalog submissions work. Developers submitting an app will find that by default the country and language option selected is United States and English. While most apps have been and will continue to be created in English to reach the broadest possible market (nearly as many people in Europe speak English as in North America).

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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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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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The Palm Pre is about to run with the bulls in Spain, being offered up by Telefonica on October 14th. How much will it cost for new Telefonica customers? Nothing at all, depending on the service plan commitment selected. Telefonica is also the current exclusive carrier of the Palm Pre in the United Kingdom, Ireland [...]

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While we’ve known for awhile that Movistar would be the exclusive carrier offering the Pre, it looks like we’ve finally gotten a solid release date for Spain: October 14th.

According to Spanish tech blog Xatakamovil, the phone will be priced ranging from 0 to 219 euros on contract, depending on the plan selected.

There’s still no official word from either Palm or Movistar on the October 14th launch date,  when it’ll be available in Latin America, and if the Movistar version can be had SIM-Lock free. 

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Update:  It’s official, Palm has announced the October 14th release date on its blog.

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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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