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From a leak we feel dubious about to a leak that looks solid, Engadget has photos of webOS 2.0.1 running on a Sprint Pre. Exhibition mode is here but not fully working yet - just the clock works now, but more modes like photos, agenda view, and Facebook are in the works.

This version is "Barley" with another called "Barleywine" in the works, both codenames we've seen dropped before. Apparently the OTA update won't come until the whole shooting match is updated to 2.1, which lines up with the 2011 release rumors we've heard as well.

Looks like all the Sprint custom app are here, with one addition called "Sprint Music Plus" that we look forward to never using. Also, it looks like there is a new voice dialing feature! It looks like the feature will search for contacts as well as accept straight-up numbers for those of you who actually remember those anymore.

Source: Engadget

FoxNews has uncovered the above sketch detailing the upcoming palmPad, which they say will debut at CES in January. They say there will be four models of the palmPad, all running webOS 2.5.1. They claim that all four will be "a spin-off of the never-released HP Slate." That latter claim is incorrect, of course, as the Slate was released, albeit in limited form.

One version, for consumers, will run on Sprint's WiMAX 4G network with specs "nearly identical" to the iPad, but adding HDMI-out, front and rear-facing cameras (1.3mp and 3mp). The palmPad is apparently slightly thinner than the iPad, with a 9.7" inch screen, weighing 1.25 pounds, has a USB 3.0 port, and what they are calling a "multi-switch" that presumably is designed as a silent switch.

The image above provides further details - including an optional dock. Up top we see what appears to be power, volume, and that "multi-switch" switch. On bottom we see a dock connector and two audio ports, presumably one is a speaker and the other is a microphone. On the right we see a headphone jack and the aforementioned USB 3.0 port. The lefthand side is more curious, there is a section that looks like it could be a SD card slot and what looks to be a Mini-HDMI port for video-out.

Another version will have an 8.9" screen and be targeted towards education. That will be debuted later in the year. Clayton Morris suggests that the palmPad (note the lowercase p in Palm) will be announced at CES in January and released in March.

UPDATE: Not to toss too much cold water on these rumors, but a couple things to note. A closer look at the supposed palmPad sketches next to the Windows 7 HP Slate seem to strongly indicate that what we are looking at is simply sketches of the Slate with the palmPad name attached to them. The Press Shots from this Engadget Gallery show that all of the ports line up exactly with the sketches above, including the supposed 'palmPad dock' above.

Whether this means that the rumor is false or the result of a mashed-up leaked document that happened to include the Slate's photos pasted with the PalmPad's specs or... something, we don't know. In any case, consider this one to be developing instead of confirmed.

UPDATE 2: We might feel a debunk coming on. This is the HP quick speck sheet from HP in PDF form. The images match the above images from FoxNews exactly except that "Optional HP Slate Dock" has been replaced with "Optional HP palmPad Dock." The numbers match as well. In other words, the image from FoxNews is most definitely a repurposed HP Slate. It's still possible that somebody from within HP simply used those images as a stand-in on the palmPad specs, but again, this one's up in the air, folks.

Source: FoxNews

The new flagship Android phone from Google and Samsung, the Nexus S, was "rooted" from day one of its availability. Our pals at Android Central noted the event and today pointed us to a blog post by a security engineer who works on the Android team at Google, Nick Kralevich.

Kralevich notes that with the Nexus S and the Nexus One, it's not quite right to call it "rooting" the phone, as those two Android devices are designed from the get-go to easily let developers get root access to hack away at the device. To say that you've "rooted' the Nexus S is a bit of a misnomer, all you've really done is turn on the access that was there waiting for you. Other Android devices, he rightly notes, are locked down by manufacturers and carriers and so must be "rooted" by taking advantage of some kind of insecurity to open them up for full development playtime. 

....all of which should leave users in webOS land slightly bemused. Read on.

read more

PreCentral reader Sean points us to this page on HP's Canada site claiming that the Palm Pre 2 is "Now available from Rogers." That the Pre 2 is hitting Rogers is no surprise at all given that there are already dummy units (with dummy pricing) on display in stores.

A quick perusal of Rogers' website doesn't yield up the ability to purchase the webOS 2.0 wonder; ditto for Palm's Canada site. Can we just announce and officially release this thing so we can get back to our other weird Pre 2 release question? To wit: figuring out why the Verizon Pre 2 was pulled from big V's internal systems and dummy units pulled from stores. We still think the Pre 2 will hit Verizon in the "coming months," but have to admit it's frustrating watching Palm, Rogers, and Verizon soft-pedal this launch.

Update: Kevin points us to the Pre 2 page on Rogers. It's $99.99 Canadian with a 3-year contract, $349.99 at 2 years, $399.99 on 1-year or month-to-month. Thanks Kevin!

Source: HP Canada, Palm Canada, & Rogers; Thanks Sean!

$9.99 might seem like it's on the high-end of the app cost spectrum, but if you're bought into Logitech's SqueezeBox WiFi radios, then getting a quality remote for them on your smartphone seems to be worth at least that cost. Enter Squeeze Control by PreCentral pal Wayne of angryGoat software. It's just hit version 2.0, bringing a really-great new interface, landscape controls, and the ability to easily manage multiple players.

Check out the angryGoat forums for more info on the new release and some hints that there are webOS 2.0 features in the pipeline as well. Like we said: a must-buy for Squeezebox owners.

While we've been tracking Pixi 2 rumors for some time now, it seems that the codename guessing game has just gotten more interesting. Along with the news that Palm's codename for the PalmPad is 'Topaz,' Engadget reports that Palm plans on releasing a "low end teen phone" without a physical keyboard on Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T.

We don't know if this maps to the Pixi 2 / Broadway rumors (Strangely, this new teen phone is supposedly codenamed "Castle."), but it perhaps it could be the "smallest smartphone ever" that Todd Bradley told HP employees about in the last all-hands call - which Bradley said would launch on SFR next month.

In any case, after so many months of not hearing much at all in the way of hardware rumors coming out of Palm, having too many codenames - from Broadway to Windsor to Mantaray to Stingray to Castle (redux) to Myte, Gyst, and Veer to Topaz - feels nice, eh?

Source: Engadget

Looks like HP and Palm are thinking ahead, preparing a keyboard to go along with the PalmPad. Engadget snagged the above slide which points out that the keyboard is "ultra slim" and lacks a number pad. It also sports "WebOS [sic] function keys."

The keyboard is designed to work with the tablet, which is reportedly codenamed "Topaz." As we expected, the tablet won't have any buttons on the front. It's said to "echo" the design of the keyboard.

Source: Engadget

HP's Senior Vice President and General Manager, Palm Global Business Unit (say that ten times fast), Jon Rubinstein, has joined Amazon's Board of directors, reports All Things D. Rubinstein received 5,000 shares of limited Amazon stock as well.

Good to see Palm making more connections in the industry. Let's hope that Palm is making one more connection with Amazon - getting their Kindle ebook app available for webOS devices - the Android Kindle app is looking mighty nice after the update.

Source: sec.gov; via: All Things D

Evernote was an early favorite on webOS and an example of some of the momentum webOS had from major app developers in its early days. Since then the app had seen a rough patch, but as we reported in October the company is hard at work on an updated version. Kudos, Evernote.

To that end they just posted a new beta, 1.3.5 Beta 1, in their forums. It brings notebook filters, an updated list view, editor improvements, and plenty of bug fixes. For reasons beyond our ken they've opted not to put their app up in Palm's Beta feed, but if you know how to install an IPK (hint: WebOS Quick Install or Preware), you can head on over to the Evernote forums and grab it.

Souce: Evernote forums; Thanks hertzi!