Tuesday Evening Links > Palm Pre readies rollout for the EU

The Palm Pre smartphone is poised to take its inaugural bows in Europe before this year's holiday shopping season. Under Palm's new agreement with mobile network giant Telefónica Europe, the Palm Pre will become available initially on the O2 network in Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom and on the Moviestar network in Spain.

"I can't imagine Palm waiting until November," Reith said, "and I wouldn't be surprised to see something out toward the end of August. That is what I would be aiming for."

"They are launching with one of the biggest operators in Europe and in three of the biggest markets -- U.K., Germany and Spain," Jeronimo said. O2, the biggest mobile operator in the U.K., "needs to present alternatives to the Android devices launched by Vodafone and T-Mobile, which are expected to present good results this year."