O2 UK on the Pre 3: thanks but no thanks 71
by Dieter Bohn Wed, 04 May 2011 4:11 pm EDT
If you're a member of the webOS faithful in the UK who hasn't come down from the high of watching that there royal wedding, let us help out you. O2 UK has tweeted out that, just as they did with the Pre 2, they're planning on opting out of carrying the Pre 3.
Not much else to say, really, except that there's two things guaranteed to change a carrier's mind when it comes to picking up a handset in their offerings: sales and consumer demand. If HP can drum up enough interest and sell enough Pre 3s, well, we're sure some carrier in the UK will pick up the phone. Whoever runs O2 UK's twitter account seems to have found the decision "unfortunate," so you've got that to hang on to, right?
Source: O2 UK Twitter; Thanks sepherous!
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71 Comments
So what about this page: https://service.o2online.de/portal/;jsessionid=96289ECBA70D4BC579EFFE5AD5D74C83?$part=PreviewProductcatalog.content.detailView&hardwareId=949&commercializationId=preview&tariffId=O-ACC-H
?
Is that English? No wonder I failed my literacy exams.... ;-)
That would be O2 Germany, not O2 UK as discussed in this article.
Right! My bad. Sorry.
First "what" exactly?
First Row, short bus.
clear he was not first in preschool class when they taught counting.
Doesn't surprise me - O2 are pretty useless anyway. As long as HP sell them unlocked direct.....but then what to do with my Pre- and Pre2??!
Selling direct is awesome but we need the carriers faith and support in the product !
Yes, the carriers support is not as critical in Europe as it is in the USA, but it still helps to drive the sales up.
I personally think, that for the UK they have another carrier that will sell the Pre 3 (as for sure they want to sell it in the UK, so they will look out for another carrier).
For me personally it doesn't matter, as I want to buy my Pre 3/Veer (not sure now what I'am going to buy) unlocked anyways. But I hope for HP that they find a strong partner in all the countries to sell a lot of their phones.
Unfortunately O2 never advertise phones, just their services. If you ever see a phone advertised as being available on O2 then the manufacturer is paying for the promotion.
More than happy to buy my Pre 3 straight from HP.
If there's no "official" carrier in the UK, then if you buy an unlocked direct from HP, will you get access to paid Apps???
You need to activate the phone with an O2 sim card to get UK paid apps. You can then use any other sim card.
HP says they are working on the paid app issue. But at their pace it will take another few years to fix, so the O2 sim card is likely a speedier option.
Who's the top carrier in the UK?
Vodafone !
In europe it doesn't really matter which carrier has a device since all carriers have all the same GSM-Bands. You can pick up a device everywhere and put your o2 simcard in it ;)
thats actually awesome. I wish that were the case here in the U.S. :-/
That's true and that's why many people get unlocked devices. The bad thing is though that if no carriers get the new HP devices, then they will be sold by the Palm Eurostore who has very high prices.
in germany, devices usually have no simlock. it was only in the beginning of the smartphone-thing in 2000-2007
The iPhone still has a simlock afaik...
you got the point: it's an iphone
What about Expansys? Any indication whether they'll carry the UK Pre/Veer?
If anyone does, Expansys will. They already have placeholders for both. But they are expenisive. You can get better deals by googling around.
Most people get their phones via carriers in Europe. You sign on the dotted line for 12 or 24 months and get the phone discounted. "Unlocked" sales are probably VERY marginal, no more than 10% of total sales for sure.
I buy all my phones "direct" without a carrier lock-down, but that's good ole early-adoptor me...
I like this level of honesty. I wish Sprint would say one way or the other so I could move on with life (likely to another carrier) in the event that they do not offer the Pre 3.
And that's exactly why they DON'T tell you this ;)
They hope that by the time you will blame HP for it or will have found some Android-Phone that you like and stay with them.
I agree! If Sprint does not pick up the Pre 3 me and my company and my family are outta here and off to another carrier. (hope you guys are listening Sprint; 16 lines may be small to you but if enough of us jump ship....)
I am genuinely perplexed at people mad at Sprint here for not announcing something.
The Veer is widely known to be GSM only. NO US carriers have been announced for the Pre 3 yet. So the fact that Sprint has said nothing yet should only be encouraging since a carrier would only speak out at this point to REJECT WebOS devices.
And as for those constantly threatening to leave if they don't get the WebOS product they want...think about it. Do you believe Sprint wants to ostracize ANYBODY right now with them just starting to really grow again? Of course not. But for every "I'm taking my 74 lines and leaving if you don't get the Pre 3!!!", there are scores of customers who did leave or who were very unsatisfied with previous WebOS phones. Palm gave them junk phones and didn't even provide upgrades after 12 months for the devices they sold. If Sprint is being cautious about re-upping they have every right to be.
Good point. A lot of us Pre users didn't leave Sprint because we really didn't like any of the other platforms despite our frustration with Palm's lack of new prodcut availability.
Truth is that my Pre minus worked from day one and I don't share the horror stories of others. I have gripes like everyone else, but I look back at the phones that I used in the past and what my coworkers use now (Blackberrys and iPhones) and they aren't compelling enough for me to switch. Besides, my two-year contract isn't up until September.
I bet there are still a lot of people like me who are anxious to know what will be available and where, but not yet in panic mode. However if my Pre were just limping along, then I suppose I would be seriously looking at the new Blackberry Bold. I need that physical keyboard.
Forget O2 UK !!! They were Palm's failure in UK. Palm you should have picked VODAFONE !!! At least LISTEN to this and make the new phones available to VodaUK.
I guess that's probably what they did :)
Palm have always been very weak with phones in the UK. They introduced the old Treo on an Orange exclusive, which despite having one of the highest data usages (aka profits) on their network (and that is on the old GPRS network), it disappeared onto a a virtual oblivion within 6 months. Palm could not match the marketing and "shelf space" budgets of other manufacturers.
So yes, some of the debacle was due to Palm's lack of big budgets and hence marketing muscle. But RIM also started from a very low budget base and see where it got them until the iPhone and Androids arrived. So some of it was also due to bad marketing in Europe and their total indifference to its unique features and needs.
I guess there was a similar issue with O2 and they were stung by unsold Pres.
Personally I think HP needs to replace the European marketing division of Palm if they have not done so already .
Hi, in response to your comment about Sprint: Sprint it going to drag this out until the bitter end b/c that is they way they treat everything and everyone!
Take care,
Jay
My only concern is what will Pippa do now?! Oh, and who names a kid "Philippa", only to give her an even weirder nickname, "Pippa"?! We should go back over there and retake our ancestral lands back from our Spam-eating and warm beer drinking cousins!
Haha you're right - 'Malia' is much less weird!
... just another carrier that will not be supplying WebOS to its fan base...
HP has some work to do... now is not the time to keep quiet and let the buzz die, which is exactly what they have done here...
That's pretty rough when you have carriers already saying they are NOT taking the Pre3, but no one who has said they are taking it.
Well, they were asked directly and that's how O2 treats these things (what I actually like on them, the german O2 is even good with their plans and prices, I don't know how it is in the UK).
Some of the other carriers might not be as responsive as O2.
BAAA HAAA HAAA!!!
I don't see why this is interpreted as they said no to the Pre3...
Perhaps they we're seeking to carry it, but hp has certain exclusivity agreements in the works?
I guess I'm trying to be an optimist here... :-)
Ehm... having an exclusive deal is not considered positive in Europe *g*
It would be nice if they do (for instance) a special yellow Veer for one carrier and a special Royal-something edition of the Pre 3 for another carrier, while still selling the normal devices unlocked on most carriers and directly via Amazon, Shops etc.
this is bad news any way you spin it. if the veer fails to generate buzz and the 3 carriers pass on the pre 3 it won't matter how much the price is. out of store=out of sight= out of mind
Things are not looking good here for us ! I think HP has missed the boat it's too late guys ! My worst fears are starting to surface ! Even the big HP can't make this happen ! Please proove me wrong !
Carriers !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Need to Love WebOS and believe it !
same here, i been on the believe bandwagon for a while now. I really hope this isn't the start of the downfall. I think the veer is make it or break it. if the veer can get some buzz then maybe the pre 3 gets stocked.
COME ON VEER us clear of this ****
Maybe they passed on the Pre 3 because it is just an iteration of the current devices? Maybe they would be more interested in hardware that is more competitive with Android and iPhone?
The Top carrier in the UK is Orange/T-Mobile - now known as Everything Everywhere, they have 34% of the the market as a joint entity. Number 2 is O2, 3 Vodafone with Three catching them up.
I have O2 on my Pre Plus (originally an iPhone contract) and due up next month, can't wait to get rid of them. I will probably move to Three as they have good 3G coverage and also, not widely known, share services with T-Mobile so as Orange/T-Mobile merge we should get very good coverage.
Hi Sammoi. I run my unlocked Pre- on 3. It works well, but be warned that the voice roaming with Orange/T-mobile does not work as well as you might expect it to on the Pre. The annoying thing is that sometimes deep inside a shop or restaurant where 3G signals stop I only get SOS, whereas a tmobile or Orange phone get normal signal.
Overall I am happy with the 3 coverage, but do get a lot more black spots than on the O2 (though less missed and droped calls where there is a signal).
Another problem with the voice roaming is that it often sees a very faint 3 signal and switches the base station to 3, but that signal is too bad and it fails. If you are about to make a call, it can become a nightmare and you have to manually set the phone to be on Orange/T-mobile only.
I tried a PAYG 3 card for a couple of weeks first.
To HPalm,
Further to O2's apparent lack of desire to stock the Pre3.
Please do NOT make the same stupid mistake Palm did and give exclusivity to a carrier that had exclusivity on only the most major selling phone of the last couple of years(the iPhone if you have forgotten).
You really should have given it to a competitor that DIDNT have the iPhone and for that reason WOULD have pushed it as a viable alternative.
Obviously now all carriers have the iPhone, your only choice is to push it to all carriers, BUT, make it competitive AND sell it unlocked too.
Oh and whilst I'm at it, make some goddamn UK specific apps like you did for the US customers. a BBC iplayer app, Ebay UK and Amazon UK app would be a good start.
Rant over :)
The Veer is exclusive to AT&T. So they have not learned their lesson!!!! History is now repeating... once with Palm, now with HPalm! Pre 3 will be exclusive, mark my word. I wouldn't be surprised if it's 6 months too. LOL.
|---------|DON'T PANIC|---------|
Different countries = different markets
In the USA it's hard to sell a phone without exclusivity (I mean... even the iPhone had to be sold like this). In Europe this is a whole different beast and HP (and even Palm) has treated those markets always in a different manner.
I think you seriously have to ask at this point. Is the Veer exclusive to AT&T? Or did everyone else already pass? The way the Pre2 was handled in the US makes me think the latter.
All successful smart and data phones started with an exclusive agreement. Treo, Iphone, Evo, Droid...if you don't give a carrier exclusive access for a while, they dont promote it in advertisement, push from the sales staff, prime placement on their websites and special "developer symposiums".
AT&T has been the only carrier of late, caring about WebOS developers. Now you see why they cared.
So, go ahead, offer it on all carriers. See if anybody advertises it. Watch one carrier position a different, exclusive product against the HP general offer they offer. Have you seen any Palm ads since ATT launched their Pre Plus?
Hear hear! That thing with giving a carrier exclusivity is good only for the carrier... Palm, Europe is not = US.
Fret not, just get an unlocked Pre3 off contract from Germany. Well, if you don't mind that the y and z are switched...
Well, possibly you'll be able to buy one directly from Palm.
Exactly, I actually would be really surprised to see it not being available off-contract in the UK.
It just would be better if it would be sold with different carriers too, so that they do commercials for it and sell it in their stores. Every Pre/Veer sold is one more that makes them relevant again.
@popologuy
She could be named Toadstool and she'd still be hot!
o2 never actively pushed the Pre and Pixi so this comes as no great surprise, they would much rather people bought the iPhone. Never did understand why Palm chose o2 when they had the exclusive on the iPhone :o\
RIght in my opinion HP/Palm (confusing) should stop acting like it is a big dog when its not it does not have the suport, it never had clever marketing and it needs to grow in recognition.
what they should be doing is flooding the market, no exclusivity it should be available from carphone warehouse to vodafone to whomever else.
now i dont really want to rag on about hardware but i think what we really need is options from a mid range smart phone to more expensive smartphone options from slabs to slide out keyboards.
last but not least marketing and lots of it, i mean good marketing not weird stuf (you all know what i am on about)
and to sum all that up life moves fast dont miss a thing, the whole years gone by and HP done nothing but miss the thing.
as for the O2 thing honestly i am not surprised really and the fact it was said in a tweet means they never really cared about palms anyway.
I think O2 offered the best 'cash incentive' to Palm...! I certainly don't think phone manufacturers 'choose' the carriers for any other reason.
I hope for Vodafone in the UK because A) they have the best reception coverage in the UK, B) They seem to have a far more reliable service than the others and C) I'm already with them!
Admittedly, the other carriers do offer slightly better tarrifs (including inclusive MMS messages)
Inclusive MMS? 02 dropped that from new contracts over a year ago now, I had to give them up when I got the Pre- from O2 last March. I still get unlimited data and texts but do miss the inclusive MMS.
I am kinda glad that O2 wont be stocking the new HP range if this turns out to be true and not just some ill informed customer service agent. O2 never supported the original range they were far too up Apples rear end.
I think the only reason they took the Pre- minus was to stop other carriers from selling it that way they controlled the competition at the time thus keeping the iPhone as their leading device. If another carrier had the Pre who didn't have the exclusive on the iPhone then it may well have sold far better in the UK for Palm just like it did in France and Germany.
unfortunately the pre 3 is going to suffer the same fate as the pre 1 and 2, time to **** change the look of this stupid looking phone.
Unlocked at $300 dollars and I would bite.
I really wanted a Pre 3 to replace my aging Pre Plus. The broken promises regarding Adobe Flash support, the 2.0 update and the lack of a response in the "coming weeks" about "making things right" really has not improved my view of HP one bit. I see more marketing mistakes, the Veer looks like it is going to miss the mark and is over priced. No idea what carrier is going to get the Pre 3.
Meanwhile I'm limping along with my Pre Plus which is only still in the game thanks to WebOS Internalz and the Homebrew community. Developers are just not cranking out apps for WebOS like iOS and Android. Even though I think WebOS is a superior OS, I'm really thinking about switching to the iPhone 5 when it comes out. I could not even comprehend thinking that just 6 months ago.
Thank god for that.
My biggest fear with the Pre 3 was that it would be tied to a terrible terrible carrier like O2. If an exclusivity had been announced, then I'd simply have needed to buy an Android phone next time around.
There is no worse network for data-intensive use (i.e. a smartphone) than O2.
At least O2 is giving is some definitive answers. Sprint just says that thy have relations with HP but won't say whether they're getting new webos hardware.
this is bad news. However I am in ireland , and o2 ireland have tweeted incorrect info in the past ....
o2 Ruined the Palm Pre in the first place by not advertising enough... and put more effort into selling the iPhone. So why are they not taking it? Because of their own pathetic mistake in not selling it first time round?
Lets hope the Pre 3 does end up with someone like Vodafone or 3.
The Pre3 is never going to compete head to head with the iphone in the UK. HP's best bet is to give all their phones to all the UK carriers and suppliers and flood the market a la Android. WebOS has the potentional to be far superior to iOS (which, be honest, for all its faults is much more polished than WebOS) but unless HP start to get some phones in peoples hands worldwide (and then a reason for app development) outside of this forum, then Android and Iphone will always be above them. Oh, and more hardware....
After my experience with my Pre- I'm not actually bothered by O2's announcement. As soon as Cupertino's next phone is announced and available I'll be jumping ship.
Really good software just poor hardware.
Having contacted Three UK on twitter too they say they have no plans to carry the Pre3 too.... looks like UK users are going to get a raw deal again.
Disappointed with this really am, I am long term o2 user and my contract with them(plus a good few years built up with them) means I really want to stick with them and is the pre 3 really good enough to drag me away from my prefered network? Will see what happens with the price of unlocked phones and such but this sucks