It's official, Palm just kicked out a press release saying that the UK, Ireland, and Germany will have access to the Palm Pre exclusively on O2 while Spain's Pre will be offered exclusively on Movistar -- so it's all Telefonica, all the time. Unfortunately, launch timing was only narrowed down to "in time for the holidays" which is just another way of repeating Palm's European-launch mantra of before the end of the year. Palm also doesn't provide any prices and chose not to list the radio frequencies for the HSDPA/UMTS with EDGE/GSM version of the Pre. See the 1,260 word press release posted after the break that says almost nothing.

Update: Seems as if O2 Germany has word that it'll be launching the GSM Pre in October.

Update 2: Hmm, seems as if O2 Germany has swapped out banners to show "Fall" availability. Make up your mind, won't you?

There it is, the first official press shot (see that HSDPA icon?) of the GSM version of the Palm Pre. The "more information" link isn't working at the moment but it's clear that Movistar has exclusive rights to the Pre in Spain. Of course, Movistar, like O2 in the UK, is owned by Telefonica which so far seems to have clinched exclusivity throughout Europe. We're still waiting for all this to get officially official sometime this week, if not today.

[Thanks, Enzo]

US Americans, go ahead and enjoy your Netflix streaming over your Xbox 360, Brits are about to land a deal that'll put live football, TV, and films over Microsoft's broadband-enabled console -- a first live television service for Xbox 360 anywhere. Beginning in Autumn, Xbox Live subscribers in the UK and Ireland will gain access to Sky's Sky Player service that includes subscription-based live, on-demand, and pay-per-view access to your favorite shows without the need for an additional set-top-box or satellite dish. Unfortunately, specifics like prices and channel line-up have not been announced, though content is expected to be similar to the Sky Player service already available on Macs and PCs. Of interest, Xbox Live users will be able to watch sporting content together virtually and sling insults and taunts at one-another via avatars or virtual personas. Something that will lead to slurring songs in a fit of semi-social inebriation or fisticuffs, depending on the score.

[Via Gadgetoid]

With that May launch window closing fast, it looks like Nokia might get Ovi Store in under the proverbial wire: it just went live on Vodafone in Australia, which was soon followed by other carriers, and then Ireland and Singapore. According to a post that was subsequently pulled from Nokia's Conversations blog, Nokia confirmed the rollout and said that it was progressively moving the Ovi Store to "production servers," and that we could "expect a broader announcement and consumer availability soon." Unfortunately, since that post has been pulled, we're not really sure what to expect, but at least the lucky few with Ovi can beam back important missives on their Twittix apps about what life is like in the future. Above are shots of the store live on an N97.

Yes, it's another international blow for electronic voting. We've seen the things proven to be insecure, illegal, and, most recently, unconstitutional. Now the Emerald Isle is taking a similar step, scrapping an e-voting network that has cost €51 million to develop (about $66 million) in favor of good 'ol paper ballots. With that crisis averted Irish politicians can get back to what they do best: blaming each other for wasting €51 million in taxpayer money.

[Via Techdirt]

DVD rental kiosks have been lighting up pharmacies and supermarkets across the US, but it seems that UKers and Irish lads / dames will soon have the great, great privilege of interfacing with Movie Booths in the near future. This particular unit doesn't seem all too different from other variations we've seen, boasting a simple touchscreen display and a built-in android tasked with fetching your selected title and spitting it out for a nominal (read: undisclosed) fee. Apparently, trials have been deemed a success in outlets like Tesco, Centra and Applegreen, thus paving the way to see these pop up everywhere by the year's end. Any chance we'll see a Blu-ray Disc or two popped in there?

[Via Pocket-lint]

And you thought $49.99 was cheap. Word on the street has it that Microsoft's Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on, which has been seen as slightly less valuable since Toshiba pulled the plug on the once mighty red format, has stooped to €9.99 across the pond at GameStop (among other locales). For those not savvy on the absurd depreciation of the US dollar, we're talking $15.47 -- and that's with a Media Center remote bundled in, too. We're totally straight-faced when we say that's actually not a half bad deal if you're a fan of the media already out there, but the parsimonious among us are definitely waiting for these to come bundled with our favorite cereals before pulling the trigger.

[Thanks, Conor]

As we expected, Apple just loosed the iPhone into Ireland and Austria. €399 nabs the 8GB model while €499 takes the 16GB unit home. T-Mobile has the honors for Austria as it does in Germany while O2 carries the flag in Ireland as it does in the UK. Interestingly, Irish subscribers are not entitled to Visual Voicemail or free WiFi even though you get both on O2 UK -- neither country offers an unlimited data plan. Tsk tsk. Regardless, early adopters from those countries already had their unlocked iPhones months ago which makes the launch just a formality at this point.

[Via MacRumors]

Read -- Austria
Read -- Ireland

We got wind of this in the early AM, but now it's official: O2 is picking up the iPhone in Ireland, selling the 8 gigger for €399, and the 16GB for €499. Tariffs range from €45 for 175 minutes to €100 for 700 minutes, and all plans include 1GB of data. It sounds like quite the scam compared to O2's iPhone plans in the UK, but we're going to just chalk it up to cultural differences not explored in Colin Farrell's latest masterpiece, "In Bruges."

Update: Some tipsters have pointed out that O2 Ireland makes no mention of Visual Voicemail on its iPhone pages, which is odd considering the fact that O2 UK highlights the feature. It could be a oversight, or it could mean that those unsightly tariffs are, in fact, true highway robbery.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Looks like the iPhone is launching in Ireland with O2 on March 14th, according to Pocket-lint. It's supposed to go for the low, low price of €399 (including VAT) on the 8GB and €499 for the 16GB; we haven't heard anything solid either way, but we'll let you know if we do (and you do the same, would ya?).

[Thanks, John and Ronan]

If you think you're at risk of identity theft and targeted assassination attempts with your new RFID-enabled passport, just think of the Irish for a moment: they started getting e-passports last week that don't even include the little mesh jacket that supposedly keeps our version safe from unauthorized readers. With Dutch and German passports based on the same ICAO guidelines having already been successfully intercepted and decrypted, people are understandably concerned that the US didn't think this policy all the way through before making it a requirement of the Visa Waiver program, and now it seems that some of the affected countries are willing to implement even shoddier security than a type that is already deemed risky. According to Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs, shielding the new documents is not necessary because they can only be detected when open and close to a reader, even though the general consensus is that the read distance of the chips they're using can be as much as several meters. Apparently the immediate fear is not so much over stolen identities (because of encryption), however, as it is about terrorists being able to use so-called RFID skimmers for targeting groups of people based on their nationality.