Palm Pre 2 Handset To Hit UK Shores This Monday

UK users will be able to get their hands on the Palm Pre 2 smartphone from Monday 15 November, HP has announced.

HP has also said that the handset will be launched SIM-free and unlocked, priced at £399.

The Palm Pre 2 was rumoured to arrive this Friday (today), although HP refused to confirm that when eWEEK Europe UK spoke to them earlier this week.

And HP could not be reached at the time of writing, to confirm the Monday launch date.

First HP Smartphone

However, the Monday release should be significant, as it will be the first smartphone to be released following HP’s purchase of the mobile phone maker. It will also feature the well regarded WebOS operating system.

Many users are eagerly awaiting the new OS, which is said to offer true multitasking; Flash 10.1; Skype; Quickoffice mobile suite; Facebook  2.0; as well as Just Type, that apparently allows a user to compose a message without opening an app.

Besides the 1GHz processor, the handset is also expected to offer 512MB of internal RAM, 16GB of onboard memory, a flatter 3.1 inch, 24-bit colour touchscreen capable of delivering a 320 x 480 pixels (HVGA) resolution, and a 5-megapixel camera.

It also offers a more intuitive user interface, a faster boot time, an “overlayed” view of related applications, and a redesign of the Palm App Catalog. And the slide-out qwerty keypad design also appears to be less recessed.

Support for USB mass storage is also supposed to be on offer, and it supports various multimedia formats including MP3, AAC, AAC+ for music and MPEG-4, H.263 and H.264 for video.

“HP webOS 2.0 is the biggest leap forward for webOS since it launched 17 months ago,” said Miles Norman, UK sales director for HP’s Palm division, was quoted as saying by PC Pro. “It expands the features that make webOS great for consumers, enterprises and developers, and introduces powerful new features that make it easier to get more things done.”

Delivery U-Turn?

The early arrival of the Palm Pre 2 represents a u-turn for HP, as executives have previously said the company would only begin introducing smartphones running the WebOS operating system in early 2011.

This reinforced earlier comments made during Palm’s 19 August earnings call, by Todd Bradley, executive vice president of HP’s PSG (Personal Systems Group), who said a WebOS-based device would be coming at the turn of the calendar.

“You’ll see us with a Microsoft product out in the near future and a WebOS-based product in early 2011,” Bradley said during the call.