Orange may be the first major carrier taking on the HP Pre3 in the UK. The smartphone, although not yet appearing on any of the carrier’s sales-related pages, has cropped up on Orange’s support page. The phone, had been showing up for pre-sale at several UK retailer’s sites, with an expected ship date of July 8 but has now had one of its first official appearances.
The Pre 3, which runs HP’s webOS 2.2, sports a 3.6-inch capacitive display with an 480×800 resolution, both of which are the largest for a webOS phone to day. The processor is still up for debate, as HP announced the phone with a 1.4GHz, single-core Snapdragon processor but has seen a mention of a dual-core 1.2GHz version at one point. A five-megapixel camera and 16GB of built-in storage define the more substantial features.
HP has had problems finding a major carrier to sell the Pre3. Sprint, which at one time had exclusive rights to sell the phone in the US, backed away from the deal in July.
Although there is no pricing or availability for the phone from Orange, UK seller Play.com is accepting pre-orders for £350 ($573 USD) with a revised availability of September 9. Mobiles.co.uk is indicating that Orange will be offering it for free with a £35/month ($58 USD) 700 minute plan.
