pre

According to the Palm web OS Blog, the popular Palm Pre smartphone will be hitting the UK in the end of October. Of course, this is not confirmed, but sounds very reasonable, as pre-Christmas period is always hot for sales, and O2 definitely won't miss the occasion. Regarding the price... the source says it will be the same as the iPhone – which model, we don't know yet.

Palm looks to be aiming at Chinese market: according to Financial Times, "China Telecom is planning to offer the Palm to its subscribers". It makes perfect sense, considering that Telecom's competitor Unicom is planning to launch the iPhone, which is a serious entry. China Telecom is a CDMA carrier, so Palm Pre is a natural choice for them seeing that the CDMA version of the handset is already available from north American operators Sprint and Bell.

Here's the latest Palm Pre ad from Canadian carrier Bell. Doesn't remind you of anything? Just in case we've added a couple of iPhone related ads for you to compare.

Bell's Palm Pre release date was a mistery up until now, but they've finally decided to announce it. The phone will be available starting August 27 for CAD $199.95 (about $187) on a 3-year deal, and up to $599.95 with a minimum 500MB / month data plan and no contract. Bell stores are now accepting preorders.

If you want a Palm Pre, you can now order one at Amazon. It is available for $199.99 on contract, or $499.99 outright, which is $50 cheaper than getting it directly from Sprint, and a great choice over Best Buy's $749.99 deal. What really sucks is the fact that you'll have to wait from 4 to 6 weeks before the phone arrives at your doorstep.

According to Verizon's latest announcement, thet'll start offering the desired Pre "early next year", right after the Sprint's exclusivity ends.

Palm has released a new update for its megapopular Pre. The new webOS 1.1.0. build "resolves an issue preventing media sync from working with latest version of iTunes (8.2.1)", and adds a number of new features. Here are soe of them, according to the source:

• Added NFL Mobile Live application for watching games and audio from the handset;
• Scrolling through long lists (like contacts) seems improved;
• Push email now seems to actively delete (and represent the count properly) in the background;
• Folder orders for IMAP Gmail accounts are now correct;
• The email alert sound is softer;
• App load times seem a bit snappier;
• There seems to be a new animation for the drop-down menus

In addition, PreCentral has an extensive list of undocumented features.

Just in case you've missed this, Sprint's Palm Pre smartphone is now available online for $199.99 after a 2-year contract and mail-in rebate.

A SprintUsers forums member has posted some information regarding an upcoming Palm Pre software update, which due to be out “on or near 7/22/09”. He said that he received the list of changes through an e-mail from Sprint.

According to that list, it seems the demo software currently installed on the Pre will de deleted after the update is applied. Moreover, Facebook users will be able to keep their friends synchronized with a PC.