Good news for Palm fans and developers up North: The Pre has been finalized as coming to Bell on August 27th, available at retail locations and partners across Canada. The launch is a bit later than earlier rumors suggested, although Bell will be only the second CDMA carrier after Sprint (and first outside the US) to carry the new webOS handset, and may have a 6 month exclusivity period over rival Telus.
Launch partners will include Best Buy, Future Shop, The Telephone Booth, Wireless ect. and Wireless Wave. The Bell site is taking preorders online, and Future Shop is now taking preorders in-store. This comes at a good time for developers as PreDevCamp events will be kicking off this weekend in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
"Considering the highly successful US introduction of the Palm Pre by Sprint in June and fast-growing Palm Pre buzz among Canadian mobile users, Bell and our retail partners are preparing for high demand for this breakthrough phone," states Wade Oosterman, President of Bell Mobility in a press release. Palm's senior VP or Product Marketing, Katie Mitic, adds; "It's a new experience to access and connect the related but often decentralized information in your life, and we're eager to share the Palm experience with Canada through Bell Mobility."
However, being one of the first Canadians to get it will come at a price: The Palm Pre run $199.95 on a three-year contract or $599.95 without a contract (~$185 / $560 USD) with a minimum 500 MB data plan. As for the next carrier of the Pre, O2 is confirmed to get the device in the UK later this year. Is anyone planning on getting the phone on Bell, or are you still holding out for another carrier or a GSM version?
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