Carriers and Palm have been absolutely silent on the matter, but let's be honest: there's very likely been one of the most heated, no-holds-barred wars over the past few months to score European exclusivity on the
Pre since the
Storm and the
iPhone -- and with launches broadly expected by mid-year, time is running out to secure a deal. Spanish media is reporting that Telefonica has now locked up that deal, not just for Spain and the UK (where it operates as
O2) but for Latin America as well under the Movistar brand. If true, that'd be a nice, big "screw you" to archrival
Vodafone, which has the mighty Storm /
Magic two-pack under its belt. Even more interesting, though, is the fact that most of Latin America operates 3G on the 850 and 1900MHz bands -- the very same used in the US and Canada -- which means that our assumptions that the Pre would be 2100-only may have been wrong all along. Awesomely wrong. We wouldn't get our hopes up that the Pre will be a walk in the park to unlock and use on AT&T or Rogers just yet, but it's a glimmer of hope that we'll gladly take.
[Via
Palm Infocenter]
posted Mar 11th 2009 5:46PM
If this is true I will be very happy. Will be able to ditch my iPhone without having to switch networks. Always found O2 to have the best reception around where I live
Ditch the iPhone?
AHAHAHAHAH! no way
Apple has all you dumb sheep by the Mc.Nuggets!!!! :o
It's alright for some; I'm already on a super-long Orange contract. I'd happily pay £lots to buy a Pre out of contract, though; is this generally possible with exclusivity deals?
O2 are pretty good in the UK. This is a pretty massive coup for them - having the two hottest smartphones in the UK market (iPhone and Pre). Too bad nobody in the UK can afford to communicate any more.
my little sister, who is 14, and I have to say pretty stylistic, threw her iPhone into the toilet and took a piss on it. I was shocked. I asked her afterwards, " Do you regret doing that ? ", she replied rather calmly, "The only regret I have is that I couldn't poop at the time".
Bless her, she is so sweet.
@kccboy2004 Haha, if you're going to hate, hate with style. Props all around.
It will be interesting for the Latin American market (specially Brazil) to be using this phone before USA... Palm tough has a long way to regain it's customers.
You're a moron. Please do not reproduce.
ohh men hope is true am moving to south america by the end of the year this baby will be waiting for me yeahh baby!!
I also hope this is true, I will get this instead of an iPhone.
here's a question. how much do the rumors say that the pre will be without a contract so that you can unlock it and put it on another cdma carrier here is the US? or for that matter an out of contract european gsm version that could be put on at&t?
Don't know how much it will be in Brazil, but considering how other models are charged around here, it won't be worth. For example, an 3G Iphone without contract goes for about US$ 1,000.00!
@ a ham sandwaich,
Belgium bans locking of all phones and in France requires the possibly to unlock them for a small feee.
So...is Spanish media more reliable than US media?...
If you're speaking about the US media which includes the Fox News network as one of the most significant players... then yes: Spanish media is almost certainly more reliable.
Let's not forget MSNBC and the Huffington Post, Maria. You know you love reading both on your MacBook while sippin on your vanilla latte at starbucks. I can see your Nissan XTerra with your barry obama/hope and change bumper sticker from here too.
@No.: No. bias, No. bull.
Waiting patiently for this to pop. Hopefully Tmob USA will be able to secure a spot.
When will Palm starting shooting out all the TV ads? Come Palm. You gotta let the voices be heard at Cupertino and let the fanbois scream!
So does that mean the Pre will have 2100MHz 3G for Europe and 850/1900MHz (American) 3G for Latin American countries? If so, we can run down to Movistar in Mexico and grab one for use on AT&T (after unlocking)...
I hope they will understand it's cheaper to have one version of the device to have 850/1900/2100 than have 2 different versions. Also makes for easier world roaming.
If this is true for Latin America that's a huge hit for Movistar. That would finally give them something that America Movil does not have exclusivity to. If Telefonica will launch the Pre in Latin America then yes, it would have to have 850/1900 Mhz to work. At least in Mexico those are the frequencies used, and I'm pretty sure the whole American continent uses these frequencies.
So pre on att,..,,hmmmhh. Wow iphone n pre on same network. The beginning of the end for verizon.!!!!!!!!!!
Another way of looking at this is that the largest carrier in Europe said "No thanks" to the untested Pre?
But Vodafone also not only said "yes" to the BlackBerry Storm, but also was heavily involved in its design, so I'd be hesitant to declare them the all-knowing guru of phone design.
Though I thought Vodafone and Palm had a fairly good long-term relationship, Palm has made Vodafone-exclusive phones in the past (like the Treo 500, basically a WinMo Standard version of the Centro), and the two were considered to be about as close as Palm is with Sprint... if this is a case where Vodafone actually said "No" to the Pre, rather than Telefonica sweeping in and offering more money or something, maybe that does say something.
I don't really care about anywhere but Australia. I guess someone has to, since no one else cares.
Haha this is so cool, I'm moving to Spain in a few months and was wondering where how I could get a Pre. Problem solved!
I bet we wont get it in Canada until everybody else in the world does. Seriously, Rogers sucks.
Cheer up Canada! You might get the Pre late, but you still get other stuff before Americans. Remember that cave-man episode of Spongebob? I saw it in Canada at least a year in advance before it came out in the states.
(I was just visiting Canada. The day I become a Canook is the day the Woz's head sprouts wings and eats his own Segway.)
If this comes out in 850/1900, then I am set. My wife loves her iphone, but I can't stand mine. I would love to jump to the PRE, but I definitly won't go to Sprint. Hopefully ATT secures it, but seriously don't you thiknk ATT and Apple have a secret agreement, not to relaease any rival phones, I mean real rival phones? There are no Android phones and the PRE is a direct competitor.
Yay!!!!! Salvi here i come :)!!!!
Is it possible that Palm will be offering an unlocked version from the get go? Or is it more likely that we're looking at an exclusivity agreement that won't allow them to sell unlocked version for like 4 months or something? And speaking of which, can someone explain the advantage of an exclusivity agreement to the device maker? I mean are you telling me that the carrier pays enough to compensate for the tens of thousands of potential customers that are lost due to the device being available only on one network?
@wrabbit
In a word, advertising. When a device maker goes exclusive for a high end phone, it is more likely that the carrier will advertise the device for them. Look at how much Verizon advertises the BB Storn for RIM, or look at how much ATT advertised the iPhone for Apple. Carriers don't have much incentive to advertise a non exclusive phone as the other competing carriers would also benefit from that.
Ah I see. Didn't think of that. Thanks.
God I so hope this is not true, O2 are crap, everyone I know is on Orange too, I wouldn't rule them out of the game either. I can't stand this stupid exclusivity crap, yeah lock the phone to your network for 5 years, like the iPhone, then they don't sell them Sim free!!
Well, if the phone is not Sim free or on Orange, I shall just never buy it and get the Sony Ericsson Idou instead.
Really looking forward to this one, but no way in hell am I going to O2.
What's so bad about O2? Great customer service, decent phone choice, excellent network coverage.. 3G is lacking in coverage but the speeds are fantastic when there is.
ive lost faith in orange...
they used to run a good game on coverage, but voda pickpocket that a whiles back.
i'm still with them though (until the pre drops), one thing i've never been able to fathom is why they insist on re-branding all the phones with a horrible custom ui... for no gain except customer frustration.
this rebranding also usually sees them dropping new handsets months after other carriers.
I've been with Orange for years and years with not one single problem. So I would rather stick with them, plus nearly everyone I know is on Orange and I get good coverage with them.
I can buy any Nokia sim free and most of them are on all networks, but I will only buy the Pre if it is sim free or on Orange. Why should I be forced to not choose my provider to get the phone I want? I hate Apple and O2 for what they have done cause everyone else wants to do the same and it's rubbish, the only people loosing out are the consumers like me. But ten again the pre may well be offered sim free anyway......I hope......
I haven't been able to understand why people are so badly wanting this for AT&T. Their network sucks. The "More bars in more places" is because they barely have any bars. It's not that difficult to increase the bars. The CDMA carriers in US (Verizon/Sprint) can't be rivaled in terms of coverage. Sprint is also the cheapest major network. Verizon is supposed to be highly reliable as well.
We like ATT b/c we travel with our phones (CDMA can't do that) and want 3G access (Tmo is only starting to do that).
movistar sucks balls, at least here, whats good bout a web based phone if the connection is CRAP?
Meh, I still have 5 months on my contract (Sprint), I can wait this out. Plus I don't think I get the full X off my next phone if I don't wait.
I just wish they would release the SDK!
850/1900...good news! Exclusivity contract...not so much. Palm can win me away from my N95 (or in the future, 97) if they make this available unlocked. I would actually prefer ATT never get this phone, that way we can use it as an unrecognized device/tether on the cheapo 15$/mo. medianet plan and not have them drag us into another 2 year contract.
Come on MCO, don't let me down!
palm seriously dont lock it to a network. i will be eternally pissed at you, im on vodafone and plan on getting this on upgrade i have due. network exclusives annoy me to no end. grr.
I can't wait for the iPhone to be knocked off it's pedestal! (Though I'm not saying the Pre will definitely do this. In fact, just because we're talking about the iPhone here, I'd be willing to wager it won't.)
if they're going to sell this in Europe then they also have to offer an unlocked version which is required by law!
No, thats not correct, in Spain at least many cellphones are sold only in locked version... by the way Telefonica sucks...
I really hope we will be able to get this sim free or unlocked.
Im fully willing to pay full price for it, as i always do for my phones.
I got really excited about tis last week and it changed my mind over a Touch Pro2, but if this news is accurate it will be really disapointing as Im not willing to change providers at all.
can't they just saw when the ƃuıʞɔnɟ thing's going to be available?!
*say