HP Pre 3 is coming soon to the UK

MAKER OF EXPENSIVE PRINTER INK HP's Pre 3 smartphone will be coming to the UK soon on Orange, but probably earlier from online retailers.

The wait goes on for the release of HP's latest phone featuring its own WebOS operating system. The phone could tip up in eight days time from Expansys.com with an availability of 23 August and price tag of £394.

It is highly likely that the HP Pre 3 will be available from Orange, as the mobile operator has put a support page up for the phone even though it doesn't appear on its coming soon page. Orange was unable to confirm any further details when questioned.

Clove.co.uk has the Pre 3 for £360 and a note saying, "Release delayed until end of August". Rival online retailer Play.com has a release date of 9 September and the phone can be pre-ordered for £349, the least expensive of the three.

We contacted HP but it told The INQUIRER that the official release date is still to be confirmed. It is unclear why the handset has suffered the delay.

HP's product page for the Pre 3 reveals that the phone will have a Qualcomm 1.4 GHz processor, but Orange says the phone will have a 1.2GHz dual-core processor. We'll have to wait and see which is correct.

We do know that the Pre 3 will have a 3.58in touchscreen, 512MB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, a 5MP camera and a slide-out Qwerty keyboard.

Owners of the HP Touchpad tablet might be looking forward to the arrival of the Pre 3 because of its 'Touchstone' wireless capabilities, which will enable the Touchpad to share content and also enable the tablet to be used as a phone for calls and text messages. µ