Palm Pre Release Date Confirmed for UK, Ireland, Germany & Spain Available from O2 & Movistar by Christmas

If you're based in one of the above mentioned locals and you're itching
to get your hands on the much hyped (and deservedly so) Palm Pre we can
now confirm that the Palm Pre is set to become available 'in time for
the holidays' (the Christmas holidays, that is) exclusively on O2 (UK,
Ireland, Germany) and the Movistar network in Spain.

Europe continues to be an important region for Palm, and we're proud
to work with O2 and Movistar to spread the excitement Palm Pre has
already ignited in North America, said Jon Rubinstein, Palm chairman
and chief executive officer. Since we showed Palm Pre at Mobile World
Congress in February, there's been a great deal of anticipation for an
announcement about European availability, and that day is here.

For those uninitiated with the Palm Pre (could there possibly be anyone
that isn't?) here's the low-down concerning its pretty impressive
specifications and features.
Palm Pre Specifications

HSDPA/UMTS with EDGE/GSM
Integrated GPS
Large 3.1-inch touch screen with a vibrant 24-bit color 320×480
resolution HVGA display
Gesture area, which enables simple, intuitive gestures for navigation
Slide-out keyboard (QWERTY in UK, Ireland and Spain, QWERTZ in Germany)
Email, including support for corporate servers with Microsoft Exchange,
as well as personal email support (POP3, IMAP)
Robust messaging support (IM, SMS and MMS capabilities)
High-performance, desktop-class web browser
Great multimedia experience and performance (pictures, video playback,
music), featuring a 3-megapixel camera with LED flash and extended depth
of field, and a standard 3.5mm headset jack
Bluetooth(R) 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support
8GB internal memory (~7GB user available)
USB mass storage mode
MicroUSB connector with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
Proximity sensor, which automatically disables the touch screen and
turns off the display whenever you put the phone up to your ear
Light sensor, which dims the display if the ambient light is dark, such
as at night or in a movie theater, to reduce power usage
Accelerometer, which automatically orients web pages and photos to your
perspective
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
Ringer switch, which easily silences the device with one touch
Removable, rechargeable battery
Dimensions: 59.57mm (W) x 100.53mm (L, closed) x 16.95mm (D)
Weight: ~135 grams
There's no word from O2 or Movistar concerning pricing at this juncture,
however, it you want to be pre-notified concerning the Palm Pre's
release in one of the above named countries, you can sign up for news
alerts relevant to your location via these links; here for UK and
Ireland, here for Germany and here for Spain.

Images for illustration only (showing Sprint Palm Pre).