O2 confirms UK Pré launch date

O2 has finally confirmed a UK launch date for the Palm Pré smartphone. O2_Pre_tarrifs O2 will release the Palm Pré across Blighty from 16 October The network operator will release the must-have device, both in stores and online, to panting punters on 16 October. O2 has exclusive UK distribution rights for the Pré, but …

[DrunkenMessiah]

Well now...

I think they've left it too late tbh. With better Android phones out now and the 3GS already doing well in the market, I think the Pre will struggle to make much of an impact. Maybe it's just me but £73 a month for 18 months is absolutely ridiculous pricing. They're pricing this the same as an iPhone and anyone who's willing to pay that will only want the phone for bragging rights. In which case you'd be better off just getting a fucking iPhone.

[Anonymous Coward]

Much ado about nothing

"Much noise has been made about the Pré’s wireless charging dock – known as Touchstone."

My Panasonic electric shaver from 2001 could do this. Not as quick as using a cable though...

[Matt.Smart]

Shame

I really liked the look of the Pré when it debuted in the US. But leaving it until October to launch in the UK is ridiculously stupid. If Palm had made the effort to launch it before the iPhone 3gs came out here, they would have sold a tonne more of them. Now we're getting the Pre when it's already on the downward slide of sales in the states. Rubbish effort, Palm.

For what it's worth, I really hope the Pre does well. Palm are (were?) a great company.

[Chimpofdoom!]

The one thing...

that I really hate with o2.. is their pricing structure for these "exclusive" phones.

Fair enough, I am an o2 customer, have been for like 6 years... but my contracts have always been better deals than what they offer on the likes of the iphone and now the pre.. so what gives?

Ah well, will need to stick with plan B when it comes to renewal... get a cheaper contract and by a Nokia N900!

[Robert E A Harvey]

thanks, but no thanks

The pricing has changed the pre from something I was very interested in into a no-thanks deal. I'd have paid up to 360 quid for a non-tied one.

Bye bye Palm.

[CitizenErazed]

Expensive

Why are O2's smartphone deals so prohibitive? I've got the HTC Hero from Orange, and I'm paying them £40/month for 18 months, for 1200 minutes, unlimited texts, 500mb internet, free satnav and exchange. And I got the phone for free. Yes, okay, they say 'unlimited' internet, but their terms and conditions are quite clear on what they mean by that.

[Kent Brockman]

so...

is that really UNLIMITED or "unlimited**..... i can hazard a guess.

I was actually looking forward to the pre, but my sweet deal with vodafone makes it unlikely i'll swap operators. especially so on those tarrifs.

[Mark Richardson]

Warranty versus contract

But what's the warranty period on the phone ? 12 months I'd guess.

Is this another phone and contract package that is storing up trouble for the user ? I'm currently onto my fourth iPhone after three warranty replacements. The last of these replacements was awarded to me in Apple's "grace period" (i.e. the three week period after the initial 12 months has run out). A week later and I'd have been £140 out of pocket for a "repair" (read "replacement") or faced with using a cheap handset for the remaining 5 months of my contract. And, no, none of these were down to poor care on my part, they were all either known manfacturing faults or random component failures.

Thinking back over my pre-iphone mobile ownership it was rare for me to have a phone that lasted much longer than 12 months before something went wrong. It never mattered though because the contracts were always 12 months.

Now with these high priced handsets the carrier needs a longer contract to make money but it puts the consumer in the position of potentially having 6-12 months of a high priced contract and a knackered phone.

I understand the reason for the contract length but surely the mobile carrier should either be offering higher priced 12 month contracts or warning you of the warranty versus contract issue when you take out the contract. Maybe they could even offer a warranty extension as standard. Or maybe the manfacturers could build things that actually last.

[jackharrer]

Exclusive deals

All those exclusive deals are totally anti-competitive ways of screwing customers. Shame that Ofcom cannot grow 2 and stop that abuse.

If it still goes like that, soon there will be no free selection of handsets as all networks will do exclusive deals on best ones. Ripping customers off at the same time.

[Anonymous Coward]

@Mark Richardson

Bugger, I just bought a 3GS on a 2 year contract and the warranty is 1 year ? My phones from Vodafone came with a 2 year warranty.... I should have done more homework and my phone is already causing me concerns (keeps on telling me I've not fully charged it so I don't get the metrics on usage).

Still, I like the phone, very easy to use, well designed. Far too many apps to choose from (i.e. knowing which ones are good and which ones are useless is not that easy).

[Mark Richardson]

@ Anonymous Coward

If you've only just got the phone then you can buy an extended warranty care package from the nice Mr Jobs (http://www.apple.com/uk/support/products/applecareiphone.html ). It's an extra £59 but worth it I think. I believe you can take this out at any time during the first 12 months.

A cracked casing in the area of the charging port was my first fault. This is a known issue apparently and is caused by people plugging in the charger and flexing the casing slightly in the process. The advice is to always connect/disconnect the charging lead with the phone on a flat surface.

[Rob Haswell]

Oh my god!

Those tariffs are literally an order of magnitude worse than my deal with Orange.

[Robert E A Harvey]

@Anonymous Coward 09:04

I thought the EU rules were a minimum 2 year warranty on consumer goods?

[Danny 14]

stupid pricing

I cant see them shifting many. Most punters would buy the iphone at those prices. I'd stick to other phones elsewhere (in reality).

[Gary F 1]

Palm what???

"The network operator will release the must-have device...."

Must have for who? The Reg "Journalists", iPhone haters and the Nerdcore?

A sad last gasp from a once reasonable company.

After watching previous Palm devices and Palm OS stagnate from lack of support and development, there is no way I would trust Palm again.

The will it / won't it sync with iTunes debacle is a good indicator of Palms desperation.

They are either too lazy / unable to develop their own music syncing software or are desperate to sell the device by piggybacking onto someone else's technology and success.

Palms protest about Apple blocking itunes syncing it laughable.

Itunes is Apples own software (continuously developed at Apples expense) used to sync with Apple hardware.

Defending Palm in this case is pathetic (and obviously only done by the Apple haters).

Would these people listen if Epson moaned that HP Printer drivers didn't support their devices?

No.

Palm should develop their own support software for their own hardware, and not expect Apple to do the work for them. If they don't want to fund that development, then accept that your device will not offer those features.

Do the same detractors expect Apple to allow Microsofts Zune to sync with iTunes too?

Anyway,

Good luck with your 2 year contract with a Palm Pre. That contract is looking very likely to last a lot longer than Palm itself.

[Tony Hoyle]

No thanks

Was interested in the Pre.. then I see those prices, the mandatory 18 month contracts - and 24 months on these devices? The market is too fast moving for that.. It'll be superceded in less than a year - quite possibly less than 6 months.

If they'd sold it unlocked it would have an immediate advantage over the iphone. Instead they're putting it head to head at the same price with the 3GS. Good luck selling any..

[JeeBee]

O2 again, argh! A lose for the consumer.

I can't see how it isn't abusive that O2 is grabbing all the exclusive smartphones for its use only. It means that O2 can charge high fees without competition if you want these devices.

Also a bad choice for Palm, there are many people who don't want to use O2, and thus they've avoided the iPhone, and now they'll avoid the Pre, which could have been what they would have picked up if there had been general availability across the carriers, or an exclusive with Vodaphone or T-Mange or Three.

[2FishInATank]

re: Warranty

From: http://www.moneyweek.com/personal-finance/moneyweek-saver-the-law-that-can-save-you-money-64003.aspx (possibly quoted here previously)

"(UK Law states that) what you buy must meet the following criteria: it must be as described; fit for purpose; and of satisfactory quality.

<snip>

The third element – satisfactory quality - is the trickiest. Most people take this to mean that what you buy shouldn't fall apart within quite a short period of time. But the law actually states that one aspect of satisfactory quality is that the goods are 'durable'. And this means that for up to six years after purchase – five years in Scotland – consumers have the right to reasonable durability. In practice, this means that goods should be built to last. So if your £1,000 television breaks after three years, don't just bemoan the shoddy manufacturing and set off to buy a new one - exercise your consumer rights."

Basically, were I to fall for this 'deal' and my new toy visited titsup land within the period of the contract - or even beyond - I would demand a replacement with the certain knowledge that I was fully supported in law.

However as others have already said, I was very interested in the Pre - but not at those prices.

[Lutin]

*FacePalm*

Surely Palm can't be happy about this?

The only way to compete with the iPhone at this stage is to undercut its price. For most intents and purposes, the iphone at least matches the Pre (well for about 80% of people anyway), that's even discounting the iphone "cool" factor that makes it a draw for many.

How can they expect to get any sort of foothold on the market?

When the Pre first came out, I really wanted one as I am looking for any excuse not to get an iPhone (can't stand them, or Apple). Then I discovered it didn't have expandable memory and that made me think twice. And now the price. Seriously guys? Seriously?

[TeeCee]

re: Warranty vs. contract.

I'd have thought that if you've been given the thing on a two year contract, then in order for it to be of "satisfactory quality" the sodding thing would have to work for at least, er, two years.

I'd threaten the iThieves with an action in the small claims court to get your money back. If they don't play ball, take said action. It costs next to sod all, you'll win and it'll be *really* funny to watch the avalanche of similar claims that follow.

[jai]

tarrifs

i thought there was an article recently form one of the "expert" analysts who claimed that the iPhone tarrifs were loss-leaders for the phone companies and an unsustainable model?

but it seems that the model must have been successful enough for O2 with the iPhone otherwise they'd have changed it for the Pre, no?

[Bad Beaver]

Just as bad in Germany

Surprisingly good Pre-prices on O2 im Germany, and less than ten bucks for unlimited surfing! Well, "Unlimited**" apparently means 200MB via 3G, then it's back to GPRS, and… awww, fugget it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Tariffs...

... are actually pretty much the same for other phones too, if you go and browse on their Online Shop...

A BlackBerry Bold for example... 18 months, 600 mins 1000 texts (doubled for using the online shop) and 1 free bolt on, which could be unlimited internet OR unlimited Wi-Fi etc is.... (drumroll) - £34.26, same as the Pre, except the Pre tariff says unlimited data AND Wi-Fi.

So they are no more of a rip-off than O2's other tariffs really, and about the same as the iPhone, which is a shame... no lower end deals on these phones - too pricey.

And what about Tethering, because that's what makes the iPhone truly a rip off, an extra £14 to use it with my laptop again? I need that - killer feature for me and I can get it for free with a Nokia N series.

Shame you can get better deals on other networks, I like the look of the Pre but I might end up with an N900 or Android handset... (as soon as someone launches an Android set with the same more powerful CPUs etc as the Pre/3GS)

[Pop]

Passing on this one

As a current O2 customer I was interested in this or a 3GS.

After speaking to the upgrade people at O2 as my contract is nearing an end about this I was told, I could upgrade early if I paid off the remaining couple of months on my contract but,I would have to pay full price rather than the discounted amount I got at my last renewal and the 30 day early upgrade that the amount I pay entitles me to wouldn't be allowed on the pay off.

If I did that then they would quite happily allow me the privilidge of owning a 3GS (32Gb only, others out of stock) and that it would cost me approx £100 for the phone and there was no discounts on iPhone tariffs. I was offered the option of waiting for a 16Gb one to come in.

The discussion ended shortly thereafter when I pointed out that it was a a worse deal than I already had and got the reply that there was a credit crunch.

As I no longer have any interest in being an O2 customer after about 10 years, would anybody like to suggest an upgrade from my current XDA Stellar (HTC Tytn2) to something similar with another UK operator ?

[Matt White 1]

Balls to that.

Let's see, £75 for 18 months or £35 for 24 months and I get a free phone? You've got to be kidding me. I barely want a handset for 12 months before I want to upgrade, especially with new operating systems like this. Wouldn't get a Pre on this, wouldn't get an iPhone on this, wouldn't get any bloody phone on this.

[Anonymous Coward]

Are they fucking insane?

One contract is nearly £1400 at maturation and the other is nearly £900. That's assuming none of the limits are busted incurring even more cost. I paid less than that for some cars when I was in my early 20's!

It's on O2 as well; no chance I'll be buying this. A real shame because I admire Palm as a company. They should have done their homework before they agreed the deal with those clowns, though.