UK network O2 launched the Palm Pre yesterday, and declared sales figures to be a “roaring success.”
The company said that it shifted more Palm Pre handsets on Friday than the total number of handsets that it sells on an average day, which is encouraging news for Palm who are keen to make a big impression with their new handset.
Despite the curiously low key approach leading up to the launch date, there seemed to be no shortage of interest in the slider phone which runs Palm’s innovative webOS.
Punters warmed to the Touchstone charger too, with around half buying the wireless charging for the device – and some buying two.
The device rather smartly lets you charge the handset just by placing it on an electromagnetic induction pad rather than faffing about and plugging in a cable.
A poster on our sister site, urban75, picked up a Pre Friday morning the Westfield o2 shop and noted that there were three people behind him queuing up to grab a Pre.
Nothing to match the high-fiving hysteria that accompanies iPhone launch dates, of course, but it looks a solid enough start.
We also managed to pick up a handset yesterday – served by staff wearing natty Palm Pre T-Shirts – and our initial impressions are very positive indeed. Expect a full review shortly.
The Pre handset is only available from O2, with rates starting £30/month (plus £90 for the phone) up to free on 24 month contracts.
Hmmm can’t see O2 saying anything than it’s a massive success tbh. Wonder what the actual sales figures are…?
Very low, sold 1300 so far. That’s a little over 1 pre per o2 store per day.
hmmm let me guess, a nay sayer already trying to dispute what o2 are saying about the sales figures of the pre !! we dont have another iphone fanboy here do we? is anything wrong with just believing what o2 say?
Hmmm .. I went into two of O2’s shops yesterday (Saturday) at Yorkshires biggest shopping centre (Meadowhall) and there was only me in them at 11am ish.
My intention was to buy the Pre as my Nokia 95 8GB contract is now up. After having a go with the Pre and looking at the spec, I think I will stick with my 18 month old Nokia. I think the Pre will be a failure to be honest and I really don’t see the point of a wireless charger that has a wire!
@Dave
The wireless charger is a great little innovation.
Instead of fiddling about plugging in a cable every time, you just slap the phone on the Touchstone – and if someone calls you when it’s charging, pick it up and it takes the call automatically – and you’re not tethered to a cable either.
I was there for the 9am store opening and I was the only one who queued up for it which I found a little bit of a let down. An Apple fan turned up as the door was opening and flew right to the stand to check it out but not sure if they were just checking out the competition. As I was waiting for the store to open they put up their adverts and once inside I was told that they weren’t allowed to advertise the phone in store (other than there little stand) until the release date.
Saying that my initial happiness about the phone was a bit of a low as I struggled to use it (the O2 store didn’t offer a quick walkthrough as the Sprint stores in the US did) but after several hours of playing with it I’m quietly impressed.
I hope some of the other stores had a larger queue than just me waiting outside. Oh and I’m one of the touchstone owners and I like it!
I can pick my phone up now while its charging, the wire causes me no problems at all … you just push it in .. or pull it out … simple really. Don’t get me wrong, if I bought a new phone and it came with it, I would certainly use it.
Certainly not going to switch over my 18 month old nokia N95 for a phone that is my opinion is not as good and a lower spec. To be honest .. I’m struggling to find something to tempt me … maybe the HTC HD2 when it come out ?
@dave
Dave, setting aside your childish attempt at flame baiting, only a fool would believe corporate pr!
I wanted to get a Pre.
I’m 3 months into my 24 month O2 contract.
But, even offering to BUY the phone outright, I was refused.
It would cost me £1,575 to get out of my existing contract, and then I’d have to re-sign to acquire the Pre.
Ridiculous.
O2: Let us buy the damned thing outright!
For a relatively new smartphone…the Palm Pre is a very cool device indeed. It does more than an iPhone right out of the box…particularly multitasking. Meanwhile, the Palm App Catalog is projected to surpass the number of apps for the Blackberry by the end of the year. It now supports 3D hardware accelerated games and let’s you tether multiple laptops for internet access (A portable WiFI Router). Palm is apparently expanding to more and more consumers.