02 scoop next big gadget after iPhone

Posted by Ben Hall

May 25, 2009

pre_hero_dialpad After its success with the Apple iPhone, O2 is to scoop the country’s next biggest gadget with an exclusive deal to stock the Palm Pre.

Palm, the company behind the Palm Pilot and other PDAs, is looking to its new Pre device to launch itself back into popularity and into the smartphone market with competitors such as RIM, behind the Blackberry.

Competition for the exclusivity deal to stock the new Palm device was fierce, with rival companies Vodafone and Orange reportedly putting up a strong fight.

Palm has announced that its Pre will be available in the US from next month for $199.99 (£129) on a two-year contract. 02 have said that the Pre will be in UK stores before Christmas- no exact details on price yet though.

The new device boasts an iPhone-like touchscreen and a slide-out full qwerty keyboard (we’re thinking HTC Hermes?). Unlike any other competitor, the Pre goes back to its Palm routes with a dock used for recharging.

O2 who, according to the Guardian, have refused to comment, have now scooped the next must-have gadget after it brought us the iPhone. This comes at a good time for the company as Apple is expected to open up its iPhone availability to other network providers.

Some remain wary as to the ability of the Pre to take over the popular iPhone. Ashok Kumar told the Financial Times that if Sprint “does not match or beat AT&T’s subsidised iPhone price of $199, which translates to a subsidy in excess of $200, the Pre is DOA”.

Whether any device can recapture the smartphone market from the iPhone’s grasp remains to be seen. The Pre is a good-looking gadget but whether its substance can match its style to be a serious competitor is still to be discovered.

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