Palm none too happy about UK unlocked Pre retailers

I’m sure plenty of you by now have seen that several retailers in the United Kingdom have been offering up an unlocked Palm Pre for pre-order. Apparently, so has Palm, and we wouldn’t go so far as to categorize their reaction as ‘pleased.’ The pre-order pages for the SIM-free Pre have caught the attention of Palm’s legal heads, which according to SlashGear, have been busy sending out letters that “requested in no uncertain terms that [the sellers] take down their listing.”

This is, of course, Palm stepping up to protect its exclusivity agreement with O2, and considering that many of the pre-order pages have hinted at a release timeframe (say, this fall?), it’s possible that Palm also wants to keep the spread of misinformation to a minimum. (Heck, even the Pixi has shown up for as a pre-order in GSM form). Though we at PreCentral will always advocate for more openness, we can also understand Palm’s point here: at launch the GSM Pre will be available in Europe only with O2 - though whether you can buy one from O2 without contract and/or unlocked is unfortunately still an open question.

We won't be linking to these pre-order pages here as even though many are through reputable dealers, none can yet fulfill the promise of an unlocked GSM Pre. Trust us, when it's officially available, we'll let you know.