Es ist ein Überbleibsel aus Teenie-Zeiten, aber viele werden sich fragen ob das funktioniert: ICQ und Pre. Nun, bisher gibt es keine offizielle oder inoffizielle App, die das ICQ-Protokoll einbindet. Zurzeit wird aber an einer Lösung gearbeitet, die in den nächsten Wochen fertig sein sollte. Wer so lange nicht warten kann, kann es auch mit [...]

With the GSM Pre falling into the hands of anxious Germans as I type, we’ve found out that the Pre in Germany wants to provide support for Bluetooth tethering, at least if you ask the Help app:

Use Phone as Modem

If you use your phone as a modem, you can access the internet with your computer independently from your location as long as you have coverage. Ask your mobile provider whether you can use this function with your contract.

After that are instructions on how to set up your phone and computer for tethering. Unfortunately, it seems that all you get are instructions, as following said instructions and pairing with the computer only gets you the standard bluetooth services we’ve come to know on the Pre. But… it is one more step towards a land of tethering, now all we need is for Palm to flip the metaphorical switch.

Thanks to Carsten for the tip!

The fine folks over in Europe are finally getting in on the review fun that we had over here during the summer. Over at Golem.de they got some extended quality time with the phone, long enough to write up a 20-page review that covers just about every aspect of the phone. The conclusions are pretty much the same as ours, though there seems to be little difference between webOS 1.1.3 on O2’s Pre phones and the 1.1.0 version that we had on Sprint and Bell before webOS 1.2 hit. It is worth noting that webOS 1.1.3 does not come with the iTunes sync fix that 1.2.1 brought, so the Pre will be hitting Europe sans out-of-the-box music synchronization. An update to correct that and “bring parity” with the North American Pre is expected some time next month.

Heise.de aren’t the only ones that got their hands on the GSM Pre, as Trusted Reviews also put the phone through its paces. Their extensive review covered a lot of nitpicky items, but it’s the sign of a good product (or at least a product with good potential) when nitpicks are what take up space on the page and not huge glaring problems. Strangly, O2 sent United Kingdom-based Trusted Reviews a QWERTZ (i.e. German) Pre for their review. Slashgear did take a look at the UK edition and found no surprises.

Generally the reviews have come to the same conclusion as most stateside observers: the star of the Palm Pre is webOS. The build quality still leaves something to be desired, though we can easily point to the moving parts slider design as the culprit in the feels-flimsy category.

Thanks to Gizmo21 and Terry for the tips!