Unlocked GSM Palm Pre 2 Coming Straight from HP, Somewhere Over the Rainbow

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The Palm Pre 2 was strangely launched in France first, of all worldwide markets, while the U.S. public still has no official launch date from either HP-Palm or Verizon.

So what made HP and Palm announce a device that’s mainly made for the U.S. market in a different country first? The BlackBerry Torch 9800, a smartphone some might say resembles the Pre and the Pre 2, and could be considered its main competitor, was launched in the USA first, with Canadian customers getting it only later.

HP and Palm apparently ditched Sprint in favor of Verizon but Big Red wasn’t ready to sell the device as early as October. Why else not launch the Pre 2 en fanfare in the U.S. first?

We have no idea whether the Palm Pre 2 will be a Verizon exclusive in the U.S. but those of you looking for a GSM version might get one in the very near future. In fact, according to Tim Pettitt, product manager for HP Palm, the GSM version of the Pre 2 will be available straight from HP’s online store although there are no official dates offered at this time. We have no idea whether the GSM Palm Pre 2 will come with 3G support for both T-Mobile and AT&T but that’s something we’ll discover in the future.

Pricing for the GSM Palm Pre 2 hasn’t been revealed yet but make sure you stash aside enough cash as this phone version will come unlocked and therefore unsubsidized.

Besides confirming the GSM Palm Pre 2, which happens right at the end of the video below, Tim Pettitt is also saying that the Pre 2 is going to be available from Verizon in the near future. In fact, while demoing various features of the Palm Pre 2, he reveals the carrier of this particular Pre 2 demo unit, which is, unsurprisingly, Verizon.

Anyone interested in the new Palm Pre 2, which comes with webOS 2.0 features under the hood, or are you rather more curious about those 5-6 HP Palm devices coming out next year?