O2 Officially Unveils Palm Pre in Europe [Palm Pre UK & Germany Release Date Confirmed]

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If the new studies have positioned the Palm Pre second only to iPhone 3GS in mindshare (we’ll let you define the term, yeah), it’s only natural for the multi-touch smartphone to be released in Europe, too. Although long craved for, the European Palm Pre has been officially announced for a debut in the UK and Ireland on October 16th, with a quicker German release date on October 13th.

Virtually the same phone that launched on Sprint in the US — with a 3.1-inch touchscreen, a 3-megapixel camera, GPS, Wi-Fi connectivity and 8GB of built-in memory, Palm Pre’s European version switches to GSM for calling and HSDPA-based 3G for data.

UK users will have the new Palm Pre available for free if they subscribe to a £34.26 plan (that includes unlimited data & WiFi) for 24 months, while those who’d prefer shorter 18-month contracts get it on a £44 or £73 monthly rate.

For Palm, the European market is like a life jacket that is supposed to make the company more profitable, and should take them closer to Apple’s market share.