Verizon confirms it will offer the Palm Pre

Sprint's exclusive to end early next year

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19 October 2009 11:46 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

It's been revealed that the Palm Pre is to be offered via an alternative mobile phone operator in the States, ending Sprint's current exclusive on the handset.

Perhaps suggesting a similar move may take place here in the UK, where O2 has only just launched the phone, Verizon Wireless has announced, via its Twitter feed, it will be offering the Pre in early 2010.

"We will be carrying the Palm Pre smartphone early next year", read the tweet.

The Palm Pre and its webOS platform was officially announced in January 2009 but the phone did not debut on Sprint until 6 June. Here in the UK, it has just become available on O2 in the last few days, a successful debut according to O2.

This suggests Sprint's exclusive on the handset was just 6 months, which, if a similar deal has been done in the UK, means another operator - Verizon-linked Vodafone was heavily rumoured to be interested in the Pre before it launched - could be offering the mobile in the UK around spring next year.

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