[StevenX]

So we haven't had any announcement about any European Pre 2 (or release of webOS 2.0) outside of France yet...

What do we think the chances of a Pre 2 release are on o2 UK and Germany? I sent a tweet to o2 UK earlier tonight but haven't got an answer yet.

[Casion]

Please let me know your response. I jumped in a swimming pool with my Pre last week and bricked it *cry*.

I'm in limbo now. I don't want to buy a pre or pre plus if the pre 2 is just around the corner. I was also wondering if it would be possible to buy one in France and use it on O2 UK. I believe that it is mentioned that the Pre 2 is an unlocked version.

If anyone can help me with some information it would be greatly appreciated.

[marshalla99]

P
I was also wondering if it would be possible to buy one in France and use it on O2 UK. I believe that it is mentioned that the Pre 2 is an unlocked version.

Yes, it would be. French law requires that all phones are available in unlocked form. However, a French Pre will have an AZERTY keyboard (as shown in the pictures).

[msdavies]

I noticed that the Palm Pre Plus is no longer listed on the smartphone section of O2 site (since last week).

Mobile Phone Offers from O2

Perhaps this means that the Pre 2 will be available in the UK sooner rather than later which would be evidence of HP speeding time to market (absolutely required to kick start this platform). I'm hoping I can move to a webOS device in the next six months....

[rwhitby]

Yes, it would be. French law requires that all phones are available in unlocked form. However, a French Pre will have an AZERTY keyboard (as shown in the pictures).

Keyboard swaps are reasonably straightforward to do ...

-- Rod (I've done 4 so far myself)

[Casion]

Keyboard swaps are reasonably straightforward to do ...

-- Rod (I've done 4 so far myself)

Thanks for the info. Is there a post on how to do this and can someone please link it if there is?

[Casion]

Yes, it would be. French law requires that all phones are available in unlocked form. However, a French Pre will have an AZERTY keyboard (as shown in the pictures).

Do you think there will be an issue with...

a) the language if I want to use it in English
b) other regional issues such as the app catalogue

I'm worried that the phone is not going to be able to work in the UK because WebOS 2.0 will not be supported.

[spud101]

I sincerely hope that HP will open up webOS for the entire world already when releasing webOS 2.0, i.e. get rid of all the app catalog issues. Although, knowing Palm's (US centric) history I fear that it will only happen when the devices are officially available worldwide somewhere in 2011.

[whodo_voodoo]

Last time I was in an O2 store (last week so before all the official releases) the rep said he hadn't heard anything definitive about new hardware but reckoned it would all depend on what sort of deal HP was offering biased against the not great sales of the Pre. He seemed more positive about the chances of getting webOS 2 given that was essentially just a software update that could be covered by the deal they had for the Pre and Pixi.

Obviously pinch of salt and all given it's from a store rep but hey, better than nothing.

[leobloom]

Maybe 02 should have tried to promote Palm in the UK, supported it with it's own apps, got us the Amazon MP3 store, teamed up with BT for some kind of TV on demand, or even just got us a BBCi Player app, or enabled the MHS feature, they could have done a lot more with the brand.

Before I bought my Pre online through my upgrade earlier this year I went into half a dozen 02 stores and not one of them offered the Pre to me. It was all iPhone is this and Android is that. I actually asked one rep about the Palm pre and he said he doesn't think 02 will stock it... I pointed to the dark corner of the shop and said 'that is a Palm Pre, the stand there with nothing on it but a few empty boxes!'

I love my Pre it is by far the best phone I have owned and I like the homebrew support you get hopefully when we get the webOS 2.0 update the enhancements as I prefer to call them will continue.

[StevenX]

Maybe 02 should have tried to promote Palm in the UK, supported it with it's own apps, got us the Amazon MP3 store, teamed up with BT for some kind of TV on demand, or even just got us a BBCi Player app, or enabled the MHS feature, they could have done a lot more with the brand.

There were a lot of ads run both in print (full page ads every day of the iPhone 4 launch in the Metro newspaper) and on TV at times and both Palm and o2 have webOS apps.

I agree they could have done a lot more though, but just thought I'd point out they have actually made apps, one of which seemed to tie into a VERY under-advertised campaign strangely enough.

[cgk]

People in the UK simply did not want the Pre on 02, it make no sense to the average consumer to get the phone made by some company they'd never heard about when they could have the iphone for the same sort of money (on a pay monthly contract). By asking them to develop apps and do all sorts of thing is asking o2 to throw good money after bad.

If they want people to pick up the pre2, the tariffs have to reflect the reality of Palm's brand value ie it doesn't have any. If it's cheap, people will try it.

[tholap]

Do you think there will be an issue with...

a) the language if I want to use it in English
b) other regional issues such as the app catalogue

I'm worried that the phone is not going to be able to work in the UK because WebOS 2.0 will not be supported.

Language shouldn't be a problem.
My german Pre has german, english, spanish, french and italian as language options under Regional Settings (mine is set to english). Probably the same on french phones.
Actually I would assume that the american Pres have the same list.

What do you mean by "WebOS 2.0 will not be supported"? French guy goes to UK and his phone stops working? I don't think so.

In doubt just be patient a bit. Just because the Pre 2 hasn't be announced for carriers in other european countries yet doesn't mean that it won't be there.

The Pre was relatively successful in Germany. Would be weird if the don't offer the successor.

Actually I bet that they will expand to more countries. Almost all the issues that hindered webos devices in the early months have been fixed or will be with Pre 2. Video, TMCs, screen cracking, mic api, Quick office, etc... Apps are in the thousands now and will soon be in 5 figures.
And with HP behind it the platform has renewed credibility, more channels and enough money for sustained ad campaigns.

[rwhitby]

Do you think there will be an issue with...

a) the language if I want to use it in English
b) other regional issues such as the app catalogue

I'm worried that the phone is not going to be able to work in the UK because WebOS 2.0 will not be supported.

a) No
b) Depends on which country you are in when you first activate it.

-- Rod

[Casion]

Language shouldn't be a problem.
My german Pre has german, english, spanish, french and italian as language options under Regional Settings (mine is set to english). Probably the same on french phones.
Actually I would assume that the american Pres have the same list.

What do you mean by "WebOS 2.0 will not be supported"? French guy goes to UK and his phone stops working? I don't think so.

In doubt just be patient a bit. Just because the Pre 2 hasn't be announced for carriers in other european countries yet doesn't mean that it won't be there.

The Pre was relatively successful in Germany. Would be weird if the don't offer the successor.

Actually I bet that they will expand to more countries. Almost all the issues that hindered webos devices in the early months have been fixed or will be with Pre 2. Video, TMCs, screen cracking, mic api, Quick office, etc... Apps are in the thousands now and will soon be in 5 figures.
And with HP behind it the platform has renewed credibility, more channels and enough money for sustained ad campaigns.

Actually, the reason that I am being impatient is stated above... I jumped in a swimming pool with my Pre in my pocket. Bye Bye Pre. It was the worst time too, as O2 have just stopped selling the Pre. The only WebOS phone that they sell now is the Pixi Plus, and nothing against Pixi fans/owners, but it's not the phone for me.

[Casion]

What do you mean by "WebOS 2.0 will not be supported"? French guy goes to UK and his phone stops working? I don't think so.

This made me laugh. I was actually thinking of services that are connected to the carrier, such as the app catalogue. Maybe I'm just being naive, but I want to check the hight before I leap.

[leobloom]

What 02 webOS apps did they release?

I saw adverts mainly for the pixi not the pre and at very odd times in the morning, to me they ie 02 in the UK did not support the Pre or Palm, if you take 02 Germany or SFR they seem to support it a lot more.

I wonder why 02 went with an exclusive contract with Palm if they didn't really have the heart to get behind it. It would be best if any future Pre or HP phones come out across all four major UK carriers.

[StevenX]

What 02 webOS apps did they release?

I saw adverts mainly for the pixi not the pre and at very odd times in the morning, to me they ie 02 in the UK did not support the Pre or Palm, if you take 02 Germany or SFR they seem to support it a lot more.

I wonder why 02 went with an exclusive contract with Palm if they didn't really have the heart to get behind it. It would be best if any future Pre or HP phones come out across all four major UK carriers.

Palm released an app named Get Social, which has listings of days out, exhibitions, etc. across the UK. It was tied into a Get Social campaign which didn't seem to be publicised much, but there were logos kicking about on the Palm UK page for a while relating to it.
O2 have released O2 Priority, which lists upcoming gigs for your favourite artists and lets you book tickets in advance of general sales. It's quite nicely done, surprisingly.

[THL]

I sent out a tweet to O2 Germany the day before yesterday and answer was that as of yet, they do not have any information about the Pre2 or when WebOS 2.0 will hit Germany.

[Griffinx]

I sent out a tweet to O2 Germany the day before yesterday and answer was that as of yet, they do not have any information about the Pre2 or when WebOS 2.0 will hit Germany.

Same for O2 IRL