Palm Pre 2 European launch confirmed

HP has officially confirmed that not only does the Palm Pre 2 smartphone exist, but it is also nearing readiness for its European launch.

HP took control of Palm earlier in the year, after the smartphone firm was threatened with going bust and, since then, relatively little information about the plans for further mobile releases has been made public, despite the very positive reviews given to the original Pre and its Pixi sibling.

As well as confirming that the Palm Pre 2 will be launching in France this week, HP said that it is running version 2.0 of the well-received WebOS platform. The multitasking features of this software are said to be expanded even further, giving the user the ability to hit pause in a game and check their messages, before diving back into the action.

Social networking integration has been a common thread throughout new smartphone platforms and WebOS 2.0 will now have something called HP Synergy, which allows for various threads of social networking to be drawn together in a single interface, for easy access and management.

The Palm Pre 2 will not stray far from the design of the original, with a 3.1 inch display and a pebble-like slider style. A UK launch date is not confirmed but release seems likely.