GSM Palm Pre now looking at 'autumn' launch in Germany

You know, we admire Palm's patience. We knew a GSM Pre was in the works about 8.43 minutes after its CES presser ended in January, and we've been waiting all this time for some carrier in some part of the New World to grab hold of a GSM version of the world's first webOS handset. If you'll recall, we last heard that O2 Germany would be giving its loyal users the chance to get that very handset before the holiday season, but now an updated image on the site clearly indicates that it's coming this fall. As in, before winter. As in, within the next few months. As in, not nearly soon enough.

[Via PreCentral]

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 20th 2009 10:48AM]

And most likely sales of the Pre in Germany will be just like the sales of Pre in America. Compared with iPhone sales, this thing is just an "also ran".

And yes, I know I'll be downranked.

[Jakob Posted Sep 20th 2009 10:50AM]

Most likely.

[Derek Kessler Posted Sep 20th 2009 10:52AM]

And yet, you don't have to sell more phones than the iPhone to actually be successful. Imagine that.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 20th 2009 10:56AM]

Yes i down ranked you, but to your credit, at least you didn't say "First".

[andthemaniam Posted Sep 20th 2009 10:55AM]

I really wish people would stop comparing everything to the iPhone, it's annoying.

[Sibuna Posted Sep 20th 2009 10:58AM]

Friends don't let friends get iPhones...

[Ghen Posted Sep 20th 2009 11:21AM]

I'll be buying a Pre as soon as its non-sprint in America. I enjoy having a phone where the phone company doesn't tell me what I'm allowed to do with it.

[Craig Posted Sep 20th 2009 11:57AM]

@E-Man

That's an iPhone you're describing. Why not just buy one of those?

[PhoenixFox Posted Sep 20th 2009 12:41PM]

No true apps - only webapps (so weak) - not as bad as the iPhone's were
No voice and data at the same time (because of Sprint CDMA network) - Not Palm's fault, and this is about the GSM version
No voice dialing (WTF) - took apple 2 years
No video recording (WTF?) - ditto
No voice memos (WTF) - ditto
No visual Voicemail - wrong
No audiobook purchasing - no, but you can load your own
No true app store (60 is a joke) - took apple a year, and the SDK hasn't been out long, give it time
No podcasts - what... the... fuck... Just put the files on. Or download them direct from the browser
Crippled copy/paste (for example - you can't cut or copy a webpage or any part of it) - Been patched in the leaked update
No universal search (crippled - no e-mail search) - been patched in the next update
Tiny keyboard (iPhone landscape and portrait keyboards are bigger than Pre's real keyboard) - but some people prefer tactile feedback
No 7.2 Mbps network speed - the GSM version has it
Weak battery life - replaceable battery
More expensive than iPhone - Network dependant
No real music store (Apple can break the compatibility at any time and I don't want to take that chance) - Amazon
No Voice Commands (control music playing by saying "Depeche Mode" for example) - took apple two years
No Compass - ditto
No multiple and customizable home screens like iPhone (Pre only has one screen) - The iPhone's "home screen" is just a grid of icons. A true customizable, useful home screen is something like TF3D, but I'd take a launcher AND the cards over the iPhone's launcher
No Webclips - wrong. you can save a bookmark to the launcher

[husher Posted Sep 20th 2009 12:52PM]

lol voice memos.

[Average White Boy Posted Sep 20th 2009 2:44PM]

Actually, companies do have to sell more smartphones than the iPhone to be successful and in some cases that's not even enough. Nokia sells far more smartphones than Apple does and that company is suffering some pretty painful losses in market share and profits. There are even those that say the iPhone isn't successful when compared to RIM's BlackBerry sales, market share and Enterprise prowess.

I suppose it depends on how success is judged. Palm is way down in both market share and profits, so I'm not exactly sure how the Pre can be spun as a success especially from a company that was top dog not too long ago. I guess you can say the Pre will be a success if it stops Palm from going out of business. Then it's only a matter of talking about degrees of success.

Up- or down-ranking doesn't mean sh!t to anyone except ex-hall monitor 'tards.

[Levi Posted Sep 20th 2009 7:36PM]

LOL SOMEONE USED NO COMPASS AS A CON????

God, I am SO glad my 3GS has a compass. It's SO much better than the Pre. Just because of the compass.

I'm serious.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 21st 2009 4:01AM]

@Phoenix

With respect, defending the Pre by saying that a given feature wasn't available on the iPhone on Day 1 is kinda dumb. The iPhone was lambasted for the lack of various functions (and rightly so) but you cannot defend the Pre on these subjects - it wasn't OK for the iPhone to lack them and it certainly isn't OK for the Pre either. The fact of the matter is that the Pre, for all its good points, was ultimately rushed to market and it shows. Future versions may well sort out the issues and I wish them the best of luck but Version 1.0 just isn't good enough. Sorry.

This said, I rather wish the iPhone had never been mentioned in the Comments since this whole subject is dumb.

[lifebot Posted Sep 20th 2009 10:55AM]

Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger still not included is a major screw up by Palm.

[Mitchell R Posted Sep 20th 2009 11:10AM]

Homebrew has made that possible - not sure if its released yet but I have tested it - it works.
Also, yahoo is supposed to be in the next update for sure.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 20th 2009 10:57AM]

New World? Surely it should be carrier in the Old World

[ugotamesij Posted Sep 20th 2009 11:06AM]

You'd have thought so...

[Raul7 Posted Sep 20th 2009 11:43AM]

Well you really can't expect Engadget writers to know that. After all, they still can't fix the stupid comment system!

[BlazeBlaster Posted Sep 20th 2009 10:58AM]

Yo, Palm Pre I'm really happy for you, and I'ma let you release in GSM, but CDMA was on of the best channel access method EVER!!

.....yea

anyways when can I get this unlocked on rogers...

[Craig Posted Sep 20th 2009 11:55AM]

OF ALL TIME!!!

[notice Posted Sep 20th 2009 11:03AM]

I only regret that I can rank you up but once.

[JeremyBenthem Posted Sep 20th 2009 11:04AM]

free with 18 month contract I bet

[Jeff Kibuule Posted Sep 20th 2009 11:05AM]

And probably no US 3G bands. =/

[pika2000 Posted Sep 20th 2009 11:16AM]

I think it may actually have 850 HSDPA band, which is used by AT&T in the US. But no 1700 band though (T-Mobile's 3G).

[ToniCipriani Posted Sep 20th 2009 2:30PM]

Although in the leaked firmware it says the chipset is tri-band HSDPA (MSM6260), O2 lists it as a "dual-band UMTS" device.

So it MIGHT be incompatlble. Shame really, because I've been waiting all this time to replace my GSM Centro.

http://www.pre-ticker.de/?p=183 (Click on “Technische Daten” PDF)

[Benson Posted Sep 20th 2009 3:16PM]

Hope it's got 850 MHz 3G, for the folks who need ATT coverage, or are stuck in Canada.

Between this and the N900, this fall looks like a great season for GSM smartphones.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 20th 2009 11:19AM]

Got an ipod touch and Im moving to movistar for the Pre, so hopefully the contract is a little bit better than the ones for the IPhone.

Im tired of WinMo/Android phones, I want a phone that is everything about usability, not just potential for someone one day making a frontend correcty; so as far as I have seen WebOS is the one I have been wanted.

[bleep Posted Sep 20th 2009 2:34PM]

Tell them yourselves or better yet, tell them yourself in lieu of posting.

[bleep Posted Sep 20th 2009 2:36PM]

Uhhhh WTF... This post ended up on the wrong thread.

It was meant to be a reply to Bad Beaver.

[Bad Beaver Posted Sep 20th 2009 11:22AM]

Another exclusive deal? Tell them to go fuck themselves.

[Wally Posted Sep 20th 2009 11:28AM]

Poor palm too little too late.

[soccersgreat Posted Sep 20th 2009 11:34AM]

Adblock plus isn't working

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 20th 2009 11:44AM]

Did it fix that problem where it uses those stupid "card" things and had less than 100 apps?

[CJ Posted Sep 20th 2009 9:33PM]

No, sorry.

You're going to have to stick with good old Clozraphil if you want to treat your accute schizophrenia.

[okeribok Posted Sep 20th 2009 12:13PM]

At least we europeans get to enjoy the glory that is a first gen WebOS device. With iPhone we had to wait untill the 3G to get it...

[thirdface Posted Sep 20th 2009 12:20PM]

I talked to an o2 guy a few days ago (when I was up to change my contract) They seem to be pretty enthusiastic about the Pre but we´ll see about that. Couldn´t or wouldn´t tell me a concrete release date but told me to come back by the mid of octubre. So I´ll guess around 13th till 20th we´ll see the pre in germany. Price without contract I´d guess around 550€ but we´ll see about that. With contract I would presume the same price range as the N97 right now so something between 180 and 220€.
I´ll guess I get it. It´s a cool device and you won´t see everybody having one like the iphone.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 21st 2009 4:06AM]

Seriously, who cares what everyone else uses? Buy whatever works best for you.

[thirdface Posted Sep 21st 2009 5:39AM]

True! But I don´t pay 500-600€ to afterwards feel like average German-Otto or Hans ;)

[Zodiac Posted Sep 20th 2009 1:23PM]

With Palm losing money every quarter, the germans may never get to hold a Pre.
Sad but very likely scenario.

[bleep Posted Sep 20th 2009 2:33PM]

You said last month: "You're right about 3 year contract. Palm is bleeding every quarter and will probably run out of cash in 10 months so
who with right mind would sign up for 3 years?"

So which is it? Will they go bankrupt before the fall or not? I will note that this was before Palm announced they sold upwords of 500k webOS phones. Are you revised your opinion?

[XChrisX Posted Sep 20th 2009 3:04PM]

WANT, a gsm pre in the states please!

[DariaMorgendorffer Posted Sep 20th 2009 4:33PM]

megaWANT, when is the next Oktoberfest?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 20th 2009 4:50PM]

actually it started just yesterday...

[Eternal Density Posted Sep 20th 2009 9:23PM]

I gave up waiting for the Pre in Australia and bought something which is neither a Pre nor an iPhone. Take that, fanbois!