14 DAY TRIAL // It seems that Vodafone is after all in talks with Palm for the marketing of the Palm Pre in the European market, at least in the Netherlands if not on the entire continent. According to Ivo Philipsen, spokesperson of Now-Mobile, exclusive Palm agent in Benelux, the companies are negotiating an exclusive deal with Vodafone for the first three months, reports the news site Tweakers.net.
For the time being, it is still uncertain at what point the negotiations between the two are. Joost Galema, spokesman with Vodafone, stated that the company was considering the deal. According to him, Vodafone is looking on how the handset would fit the carrier and is also considering the terms of a possible deal with Palm.
On the other hand, Vodafone might not be the only candidate for the launch of Pre on the European market. T-mobile’s spokesperson, Priscilla Tomasoa, also stated that the Palm Pre would prove a great addition to the carrier's offering, considering the success Apple's iPhone and the Google Android-powered G1 had. At the same time, the mobile phone operator refused to comment when asked whether Palm was negotiating with other carriers besides Vodafone.
Whether the mobile phone will come to Vodafone or another European carrier is not sure at the moment, but, for what it's worth, the device is certainly heading towards Europe one way or another. A deal between Palm and Vodafone was rumored to surface for quite some time, yet both companies kept everything under wraps up until now.
According to Palm WebOS Blog, it would be a great thing to see Pre added to Vodafone's lineup, mainly due to the fact that the company has some nice cloud services that are expected to be unveiled in the near future. It remains to be seen when and where the highly-expected Palm Pre will surface on the European market.