The actual launch date isn’t until this Friday, October 16th, but that won’t stop O2 from throwing a rockin’ Palm Pre launch party with performing artists like VV Brown and Danish band Alphabeat. The event was held on a rooftop at the Shoreditch House in London’s East End. There is no word whether Claus made an appearance to guest DJ, but if he had, I’m sure he’d be sporting a Pre.

When Friday rolls around, we hope to hear from any O2 customers about the Pre launch and whether or not you got your hands on one. Congratulations to O2 UK on getting the Pre!

source: palminfocenter

Palm has just announced that divisions of Telefonica will have the exclusive rights to sell the GSM version of the Pre in the U.K., Ireland and Germany (O2) and in Spain (Movistar). As far as a launch date is concerned, the manufacturer said that the handset would be out in time for the holidays which doesn’t really narrow things down, although we’re pretty sure that Arbor Day isn’t the holiday in mind.

Palm’s Spanish division has released the first official photo of the GSM Palm Pre and outside of the HSDPA indicator on the display, you would be hard pressed to find any difference between the CDMA and GSM models on the outside. Last week, we reported on a film shot by some Vietnamese individuals that showed the GSM version of the handset and now we have the official word from Palm. A couple of items were not revealed in the press release, such as the frequencies used by the radios on the GSM Pre, and pricing.

Check out the via link for Palm’s lengthy press release.

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As it became clear yesterday, Palm is about to reveal details on the Pre’s UK launch pretty soon. Now, a word has spread that O2 has already acquired the exclusive rights for the device. According to The Guardian, what Palm is going to announce next week is that it has signed a deal with the carrier, so that it would be the only one in the UK to offer the Pre, just like it did with the iPhone. This actually confirms a rumor from March, going that O2 owner Telefonica is to take care of the webOS smartphone across a number of Latin American and European countries, including Spain and the UK.

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It´s not that there weren’t signs this was going to happen, but it’s more than great to see the Palm Pre’s GSM version officially coming to the UK. In short, the manufacturer’s UK website now says the phone is to be expected soon, while more details on carrier availability,  price and the exact release date of the webOS-based smartphone are to be revealed early next week. Congrats to all UK Pre lovers!

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