Palm Pre comes to O2 in the UK
Move over IPhone
Thursday, 2 July 2009, 16:27
IT IS RUMOURED that O2 will be exclusively carrying the Palm Pre whilst also being the only UK network to carry the Iphone.
The Guardian is reporting that O2 has secured a Palm Pre deal, but O2 told us it can neither confirm nor deny the story. Meanwhile, Palm will be holding a press briefing next Tuesday to mark the UK launch.
With O2 carrying the latest Iphone 3GS, it does seem confusing that it should also pick up the Palm Pre, as surely the two smartphones will be competing for the same market, more or less.
It's been said that 300,000 Palm Pre handsets have been flogged in the US already, with a lot more sales expected worldwide. If so, that will go a long ways towards reviving Palm's fortunes. µ
L'Inq
Pocket Lint
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not entirely suprising. they (O2) could either take it exclusively and compete against themselves, as they are doing - it may cannibalise some iPhone sales, yes, but they still get the customer. alternatively, they compete against another carrier who may then very well take away iPhone sales. either way, they get the contract/customer, so I can see their logic.
And the only UK operator not to stock the N97 directly. grumble...grumble...grumble
Just look at Fudzilla. They say the first batch of the Palm Pre have quality issues and resulting with high return rates. The Pre that manufactured in China have plagued in build quality. Most users complain about large gaps in the case, dead pixels, wobbly screen and a tendency to power down when users try sliding the screen
Surya: The Fudzilla 'article' is based on a message board thread at Precentral.net. Those 'reports' are from a small subset of users that got the 1st manufacturing run of the device. Those problems have been fixed weeks ago and certainly won't be an issue for the UK rollout of the device. This is an example of 'crybabies in the internet echo chamber' making things seem worse than they are. By the same measure, one would expect the iPhone 3Gs to be practically catching fire based on other webforum based reports. Most users aren't seeing these problems. Not to mention that Foxconn manufactures the iPhone and the Pre.
@N97 - lucky really. Had a play on one at work - what a pile of shite.
Symbian can't hack it.