Palm Pre 2 Unlocked And Sold By HP Directly

Tweet

HP Palm is now selling their new top smartphone, the Palm Pre 2, unlocked without a contract, for just $450. The phone, packing webOS 2.0, seems to be meant for developers. The fact that it’s a GSM device is interesting because the Palm Pre 2 is only available on Verizon at the moment (which is a CDMA carrier, of course).

This move isn’t unexpected. HP said that they would be selling an unlocked GSM Palm Pre 2 in the United States some time ago. As mentioned, you’ve got to believe that this is meant as a developer phone, with it being a cheaper-than-usual unlocked generic GSM phone. Remember that Google has done something similar with them now selling the Nexus One as the ADP3 (Android Developer Phone 3).

Let’s run down the specs of the HP Palm Pre 2:

• 3.1-inch display with slidering vertical keyboard
• 1GHZ processor
• 512MB RAM
• 16GB storage
• 5MP camera

Big improvement over the first Pre, don’t you think? Plus, it’s packing webOS 2.0, which has been getting critical acclaims.

We’ve put in a word with HP Palm regarding the UMTS (3G) bands that this device supports. The GSM quad-band means that it’ll get voice and 2G EDGE on either AT&T and T-Mobile, but most unlocked GSM devices sold in the United States support either the 3G bands for AT&T or T-Mobile, not both. The unlocked Nokia N8 does have support for both – so it’s possible that HP could follow in their footsteps.

We’ve contacted HP Palm regarding that and will update this page when we hear back from them about what 3G can be used in the US with the device.

You can buy your unlocked GSM Palm Pre 2 here.