O2 unveils date for Palm Pre

One of the most eagerly-anticipated smartphones of the year has finally received a date for launch following weeks of speculation from industry commentators and bloggers.

In July, O2 announced that it would be the exclusive carrier for the new Palm Pre when it went on sale across the UK but could only state that buyers could expect to get their hands on the device "in time for the winter holidays".

Now the carrier has ended online discussions about exactly when this date will be by confirming the mobile will feature in stores and online from October 16th.

Ronan Dunne, chief executive officer of Telefonica O2, explained the launch was significant in that it would help cement the firm’s position as the "home of the smartphone" – a comment which could be seen as referring to other network exclusives like the Apple iPhone 3G S.

"With the addition of the excellent Palm Pre to our already extensive portfolio, we will continue to offer our customers the widest range of the very best devices on the market today," he concluded.

Electricpig was forced to quash rumours that the Pre may have been scheduled for an early release in September, but explained that an industry event had been arranged for around this time to give journalists a chance to test the gadget.

The new Palm smartphone is equipped with the webOS software system that was designed especially for the handset – and a slide-out qwerty keyboard and 3G connectivity are among its other facilities.