We’re not dealing with price estimates anymore, here’s an honest-to-goodness pre-order for the HP Pre 3 . Amazon Germany, a traditionally quick retailer to put device listings up, has added the webOS 2.2 QWERTY slider to its online catalog at a price of €449 ($640) — though availability is predictably undefined for now
Living within the screwy reality of the subsidized phone world sometimes results in rather comical distortions.
Okay, it’s not exactly the new webOS hardware we’ve been waiting for, but we just got this shot of a Palm Bluetooth keyboard from a trusted source — we’re told it’s an accessory for Palm’s upcoming tablet , which is codenamed “Topaz.” Interestingly, we’re told the keyboard features a Windows key in addition to some webOS-specific keys — we’d guess that HP will sell it for general use as well. As for the Topaz tablet, it’s said to be extremely slick, with no hard buttons on the front and a design that echoes the design of the keyboard — we’re told it’s due out in the first half of 2011, which matches up with what we’ve heard from Palm . We’re also told Palm’s planning a low-end teen phone that’s something like a Pre with no keyboard — it’s codenamed “Castle,” (just like the original Pre and Pixi ) and due to hit Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T.
Running webOS 2.0 and sporting a 1GHz processor, the GSM version of the Pre 2 is now on sale unlocked for $450 over at HP’s site. [ HP via BGR ] More
We don’t quite know how to break it to you, but if PreCentral sources are correct, Palm’s hit a very interesting landmark: its comeback device, the Pre for Sprint, has reportedly reached End of Life (EOL). Warehouse quantities are said to be limited, and after that…
Underwhelmed by the feeling of sameness with the Pre 2 ? Well, you may or may not be in luck; Chinese-based CENS.com is reporting that manufacturers Foxconn and Compal now have contracts to manufacturer up to six new Palm devices for 2011
This one is still very much a rumor, but PreCentral is reporting that it’s heard from a “very reliable tipster” who says that Palm is prepping a new phone codenamed “Mansion,” which may or may not be the same device that recently turned up in a certification database under the name P102. The real kicker, however, is that the phone is supposedly a touchscreen-only device, and that the screen is said to boast a fairly high 800 x 480 resolution — no word on screen size, unfortunately. Not much more than that to go on at the moment, but the “Mansion” codename itself does at least make a bit of sense — as a PreCentral commenter has noted, the Pre was originally codenamed “Castle.” Palm planning keyboard-less ‘Mansion’ with 800 x 480 screen
Resisting pressure from AT&T and Verizon , Sprint had stubbornly held out and refused to significantly lower pricing on its aging Palm Pre and Pixi — despite the fact that they’re not even the Plus versions offered by the other guys. Well, that finally changed a few days ago: you can now score a Pre for $50 and a Pixi for a nice, fat zilch on a new two-year contract after rebate (the Pre’s deal will require a $100 mail-in, unfortunately). With webOS 2.0 hardware presumably around the corner, buying any of this stuff might be a tricky proposition at the moment — but then again, it’s always hard to resist a free smartphone, isn’t it?
Incredibly popular mobile game Angry Birds is now available on WebOS—specifically on Palm Pre and Pre Plus devices running webOS 1.4.5.
WebOS device hacking has reach some considerable heights recently with a mod to bring WiFi to a Sprint Palm Pixi , but it looks like even that’s now been topped by this hack that finally brings the Pre Plus to Sprint. As you can probably guess, that involves a Sprint Palm Pre , a Pre Plus (from either AT&T or Verizon), a slew of software tweaking, and plenty of tricky hardware modding to get the Sprint Pre coms board into the Pre Plus.
A few iterations beyond the last time we checked in , the Palm webOS Facebook app is now up to beta version 1.2.30. New features this time around include landscape viewing, improved photo tagging, and the ability to clear all notifications by selecting view all, then using a back gesture to exit the menu. Other changes that are more immediately noticeable are the news feed dropdown menu option (before & after picture after the break) which should be quite useful for those following our tips on managing your Facebook friends , plus the ability to see comments directly in the news feed, instead of just a number indicating how many there are.
The worst of Palm’s fears may be over now that HP has played the knight-in-shining-armor role , but Sprint — the States’ number three carrier — still has a ways to go before it can claim it’s out of the woods, having gone a solid string of fiscal quarters now without posting a profit or a net gain in subscribers. Of course, this is the kind of situation that puts dudes with the word “financial” in their titles on the hot seat, and sure enough, Sprint CFO Robert Brust came out swinging at an investor conference this week. Brust points to narrowing losses and an expanding prepaid presence as reasons he thinks the company can grow revenue by year-end, not to mention an expanding 4G footprint and — on a closely related note — the imminent release of the EVO 4G
The boardroom drama behind the HP acquisition wasn’t the only Palm news today — the company also launched the AT&T Palm Pre Plus . No surprises here — it’s going to $149, decidedly more than Verizon’s $29 with free Mobile Hotspot service — but hey, at least it’s out there, and you get a free Touchstone in the deal, so that’s nice. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Palm Pre Plus launched on AT&T originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 16 May 2010 19:43:00 EST.
Starting May 16, you’ll be able to pick up the Palm Pre Plus at AT&T . It will sell for $150 with rebate, and for a limited time, that deal will come with a free Touchstone charging dock. Ooohhh! More
You’ve waited long enough AT&T customers. So long that the Palm Pre is now the Palm Pre Plus and Palm, well, isn’t even Palm anymore .
