The Palm Pre made its first large-scale outing at a UK press showcase this afternoon, but what should’ve been an eye-popping star-turn turned into a damp squib, as Palm’s iPhone-battling smartphone appeared with software problems, hardware stuck in prototype limbo and uncertainty over a firm UK release date. All quite a surprise, given the handset has been on sale in the US since June.
Two solitary GSM Palm Pre models were on show today at the PlayBite event in London, but we were surprised to find that both were still pre-production models. Palm also prevented photography of the prototypes, presumably to guard against the bugs on show from its pre-production software. In particular, we witnessed Google Maps acting up all kinds of funny. Surprising, as the American retail version seems relatively glitch-free. So what’s going on?
Palm confirmed a UK launch for the Palm Pre a good two months ago, but little seems to have taken place since then. The press this side of the Atlantic are only being shown pre-production models, and the reinvigourated smartphone maker is still keeping schtum on an exact date for public release. Palm reps we spoke to this afternoon were still bullish on a launch date, despite Telegraph reports that the Palm Pre is expected to launch on O2 on 30 October.
We were told that “there’s been no delay” in moving towards a Palm Pre release in Britain, but the firm’s cageyness about a UK release for its iPhone challenger is starting to get us worried. When will the webOS wonder hit the UK? At the moment, the answer seems far from certain. We’ll keep you posted.
Out 2009 | £TBC | Palm
