GSM Palm Pre makes exclusive first appearance on Movistar

by Thomas Ricker posted Jul 7th 2009 at 3:25AM

There it is, the first official press shot (see that HSDPA icon?) of the GSM version of the Palm Pre. The "more information" link isn't working at the moment but it's clear that Movistar has exclusive rights to the Pre in Spain. Of course, Movistar, like O2 in the UK, is owned by Telefonica which so far seems to have clinched exclusivity throughout Europe. We're still waiting for all this to get officially official sometime this week, if not today.

[Thanks, Enzo]

Filed under: Handsets, Palm, Movistar, GSM, HSDPA, UMTS, webOS

Tags: breaking news, BreakingNews, europe, germany, gsm, gsm pre, GsmPre, ireland, movistar, palm, pre, spain, telefonica, uk

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

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Brian @ Jul 7th 2009 3:45AM

Hm...my wife is in Spain for thenext few months visiting her parents. I was telling her to sign up with Movistar to get an unlocked iPhone 3GS but maybe she should get this instead. I wonder what it would sell for on eBay in the US. If I am correct, all phones in Spain by law have to be sold unlocked.

Neutral

Phil @ Jul 7th 2009 4:08AM

Will this pre work on US AT&T 3g?

Highest Ranked

andonemorething @ Jul 7th 2009 9:28AM

@Phil: No NA 3G frequencies are supported in the EU model. Quite incideous, really.

Low Ranked

Brian @ Jul 7th 2009 9:42AM

andonemorething - According to the press release it supports HSDPA/UMTS with EDGE/GSM. HSDPA/UMTS is what 3G is while 2G and 2.5G is called EDGE/GSM.

Low Ranked

Brian @ Jul 7th 2009 9:48AM

And also to note, the Pre is quad band which means it supports 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900. Depending on your carrier one or more is supported. Just like the iPhone is quad band and the hardware is exactly the same throughout the world. My wife lives in the US with me, she has a iPhone we bought in the US through AT&T. I unlocked it and now she is in Spain for th next 2 months and is using a SIM from Telefonica’s Movistar with no problems at all. If you want you can Google what carrers use what frequencies and for which technology.

Highly Ranked

andonemorething @ Jul 7th 2009 11:23AM

Brian: Are you under the misinformed impression that NA [North American] and EU HSPA frequencies are identical? They're not, and there is no information that Palm is producing this as a 'universal' HSPA variant.

Neutral

Chris Stevenson @ Jul 9th 2009 9:21AM

andonemorething - You have this all wrong. Brian is correct in what he is talking about. Also to add to this, 3G also can be used for voice and data. Look at Sprint, their 3G supports boith voice and data which is why you can not use data while also being on a phone call, where as AT&T only uses GSM for voice.

Highly Ranked

andonemorething @ Jul 9th 2009 10:05AM

@Chris Stevenson [AKA 'Brian' Yorks-in-drag]:

You're a microscopic tool AND a liar. Go Cheney yourself, idiot.

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/profile/462237/

Neutral

Brian @ Jul 7th 2009 4:19AM

That it would since AT&T uses the same standards as the rest of the world. T-Mobile uses GSM but their 3G operates on a different frequency which is why the iPhone 3G and 3GS won’t work with T-Mobile’s 3G.

Actually looking it up it looks like what the law in Spain is after a year of your contract they have to unlock your phone if you ask. So I guess we wouldn’t be getting one unless it’s already unlocked when if we were to buy it.

Neutral

Brian @ Jul 7th 2009 1:04PM

What I said is that carries use different frequencies, and they all can be different. The Plam Pre is Quad Band which means it can run on 850, 900, 1800, and 1900. This is the same as the iPhone sold in the US and the same as the iPhone in Spain.

AT&T in the US uses both 850 and 1900. Vodafone and Movistar in Spain use 900 and 1800. There for, the phone works in the US and in Spain. Which without looking it up I’m assuming the other carriers in Europe also use 900 and 1800.

Why do you think factory unlocked phones come from Europe and Asia and they work fine? Why do you think you can roam over in Europe and Europians can roam in the US? Why do you think I unlocked my wife’s iPhone and she in Spain right now using a Movistar SIM card and we talk several times a day?

Now with T-Mobile in the US their 3G runs on 1700 which as far as I know, no one else uses 1700.

So obviously you don’t know what you are talking about where as I do. I work in this field, I deal with this 40+ hours a week. Mostly in Europe but also in Asia and the US since the company I work for is based in the US but we have offices and such in most major cities throughout the world.

Bottom line is the GSM version of the Pre sold in Europe will work in the US on AT&T and even T-Mobile, but 3G won’t work on T-Mobile, just the 2G/2.5G antennas.

Highly Ranked

andonemorething @ Jul 7th 2009 5:03PM

Brian is confusing GSM bands with HSPA bands. Read (alot) before typing, Brian. If you worked in this field only 1 hour per year, you would know more than what you are stating. Sad, but true.

Bottom-line is that the EU version of the Pre will "work" on any GSM carrier, since it's quad-band GSM. In North America, you'll only get EDGE support for data from any carrier.

Low Ranked

Brian @ Jul 9th 2009 2:18AM

No I am not getting it confused. I am talking about frequency which if your carrier supports 3G on a specific frequency it will work. This is exactly why the iPhone 3G works on AT&T 3G but not T-Mobile and why the same hardware works in Europe. AT&T runs their 3G on 850 and 1900. They also run GSM on 850 and 1900. T-Mobile runs their 3G only on 1700 while GSM (EDGE) runs on 850. This is why with the iPhone it ONLY works on GSM (EDGE) with T-Mobile because the iPhone does not support 1700.

Now Movistar supports GSM and 3G on both 900 and 1800. This is why the same EXACT iPhone hardware works on both.

If what you are saying was true that would mean the iPhone in Europe would never connect to 3G when in fact it does. It is the same exact hardware as sold in the US. There is no difference what so ever. Maybe you should use Google and check out UTMS standards on Wikipedia because everything you are saying would mean the iPhone only works on 3G only in the US only on AT&T.

Highest Ranked

andonemorething @ Jul 9th 2009 8:59AM

850/1900 GSM [read: VOICE support] does not equate to 3G data bands also being supported in the EU Pre. There is no indication from ANY source that North American 3G will be supported in the EU Pre. Plain and simple.

What you are claiming is that EVERY phone that is North America GSM (850/1900) is also a 3G phone (since HSPA uses the same frequencies). That is not the case, your idiotic claims otherwise notwithstanding. Your long, hard professional career in this industry should have taught you that by now, kid. ;)

Either locate and provide the specification sheet [blog entries do not qualify] which supports your claim, or simply stop posting misinformation that cannot be supported. Stop insulting every reader's intelligence.

Low Ranked

Brian @ Jul 9th 2009 9:21AM

What the hell are you talking about? Palm has stated what frequencies GSM runs on and 3G will run on. So I don’t know what the hell you problem is as you have no idea what you are talking about. I figured at first it was because you just ignorant but now I understand it is you are just plain idiotic as you have been told the facts and you still just don’t understand it. It’s like me telling you 1 + 1 =2 while you continue to tell me that 1 + 1 = 3.

Highest Ranked

andonemorething @ Jul 9th 2009 9:59AM

-Still- waiting for this readily available spec sheet which details that North American 3G frequencies are supported in the EU Pre.

Since "Palm has stated what frequencies GSM runs on and 3G will run on", the location of this spec for the EU model should be quite easy to locate for you, no?

tic-toc ... tic-toc ...

Must you keep chasing your tail in full public view? How embarrassing for you...

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