14 DAY TRIAL // We might see a GSM version of the highly-expected Palm Pre mobile phone coming to the European users on Vodafone's network; at least, this is what the latest news on the Web suggests. The company came at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, with a few GSM handsets, although no such version of Pre was spotted among them.
The rumors regarding the future presence of the Pre on Vodafone's offering are generated by the fact that a Vodafone Spain SIM card was spotted inside one of the GSM devices demonstrated by the mobile phone maker at the show, coupled with the presence of Vodafone ES on the list of the active carriers for another showcased device.
On the other hand, neither Palm, nor Vodafone commented on the signing of an agreement for GSM distribution in Europe, yet the two were reported to be in talks for a possible deal regarding the handset last month. At the same time, such a move would be a legitimate one, given the fact that Vodafone's rival in Germany, O2, has an exclusivity deal with Apple for its iPhone 3G, which might drive the carrier into adding the new device to its lineup.
According to a post on PalmPreBlog, the discussions between Vodafone and Palm were real, although the two companies rather deny such a move. The blog post cites the following email received from a Vodafone employee, “With regrets, I can not currently share any information regarding the Palm Pre handset; we are still in early negotiation with Palm, but nothing is solid. I can double check next week but as of this point in time that is all I know.”
It is a common fact that Pre will be launched in the United States exclusively on Sprint, and rumors set the launch date of the handset close to March 15, roughly a month from now. For the time being, it is rather uncertain whether the device will come to the carrier's lineup later during the first half of the year, but we hope that it will hit store shelves sooner.