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).