Palm recently made it's webOS kernel source code available for public consumption. Within a few hours the webOS internals team released a custom kernel capable of overclocking the Palm Pre/Pre Plus to 1GHz. unixpsycho, one of the members of the webOS internals team states in a recent Twitter post that webOS 1.4.5 kernels will now be deprecated in favor of the new 2.1 kernel tree. They will remain available but not be actively maintained. Running the 2.1 kernel requires upgrading your Palm Pre or Pre Plus to webOS 2.1 as part of the process. The custom read more

This week, HP introduced two new smartphones: the mini-slider Veer and the successor to the Pre line, the Pre3. Today, the two devices are being shown off in videos emphasizing on the looks as well as the features they will bring to owners. The miniature Veer sports 512MB of RAM, 8GB of storage, 2.6-inch 320 x 400 sub-HVGA screen, five-megapixel camera and 910 mAh battery. The Pre3 on the other hand is packing a 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 8x55 CPU, 512MB of RAM, 3.6-inch WVGA screen, 8GB and 16GB configurations for storage as well as a 1,230 mAh read more

HP's just-announced Veer manages to squeeze a full smartphone experience into one of the tiniest packages you'll find, making it look great for someone who wants a powerful phone that won't take up all their pocket space. Obviously, when you're shrinking hardware down to this level, certain sacrifices need be made; consider the downsized 910 mAh battery. HP may be going too far, though, as the Veer will have neither a USB nor headphone jack, requiring the use of external magnetic adapters. The adapters use their magnets to stay in place while read more

Got some bad news from HP's webOS update tool? Not looking forward to a long wait for webOS 2.0? Right on schedule, Verizon's bringing the Pre 2 to its network, with HP now accepting pre-orders for the smartphone. We had previously learned that the Pre 2 would be released on Verizon on February 17, which has now been confirmed as when pre-ordered phones will ship. The $100 on-contract price tag also checks out with earlier leaks. The coolest part of Verizon's offer is the inclusion of its Mobile Hotspot feature for no additional charge. Normally, you'd read more

The new direction HP is taking in regards to webOS 2.0 upgrades for existing webOS devices surely has lots of Palm users feeling confused and a bit betrayed. Yesterday, the potential for getting these updates suddenly changed from "all devices will get them sometime this year" to "don't expect an easy OTA update, if we even come out with an update for your phone at all". While HP said that it would work on some sort of plan to bring existing users along to a current webOS release, it still left a lot of ambiguities hanging. Now the company has put up a read more

HP had plenty of news for its users today about upcoming hardware and expanded availability of recently-released devices, but what of the the original Pres, Pre Pluses, Pixies, and all? Users have been waiting patiently for a webOS upgrade to version 2.0 for these devices, with an early 2011 release seeming probable. That possibility is looking very unlikely now, as upgrades have clearly taken a back seat to the current roster of HP's smartphones. The company revealed at today's event that those phones will never get webOS 2.0 over-the-air, though read more

Verizon sure has been taking its good, sweet time in bringing HP's Palm Pre 2 to its customers in the US. Europe's had the phone since November, and Canadian users have been able to pick one up since December. Sure, if you were in the US and itching for a Pre 2 you could buy an unlocked model for $450, but most people interested in the smartphone have probably been waiting for a subsidized deal to come along. After several false starts, like the phone showing up in Walmart's inventory system, Verizon is finally set to start carrying the Pre 2 tomorrow, read more

Update: Palm now has their official Pre 3 page up! Looks like 512MB of RAM is a go. Battery is 1230mAh (compared to 1150mAh on the Pre 2). If you weren't too impressed by the Pre 2 as the successor to the Pre Plus and original Pre, you'll be excited to know that the new Palm Pre 3 ups the ante by offering a much larger 3.6" WVGA (finally, a resolution and screen size bump!) screen with a larger QWERTY keyboard than the Pre 2. It's powered by a beefy 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 8x55 CPU. No word on RAM(we're thinking the same as the Pre 2, so 512MB), read more

Turns out that HP's trademarking of the name "Veer" wasn't a coincidence, as today, the company revealed the new miniature QWERTY slider that's as small in the face as a credit card. Powered by the new 800MHz Snapodragon MSM7230 processor and webOS 2.1, the Veer features HSPA+ data, 512MB of RAM, and 8GB of storage. Veer is coming "early spring," although carriers and pricing have yet to be announced; AT&T; is a likely candidate with that HSPA+ radio on board. Screen size is just 2.6 inches, with a 320 x 400 sub-HVGA resolution. The camera sports read more

Verizon hasn't exactly been the quickest in getting the Palm Pre 2 to market, but now a release date may finally be in sight: according to screenshots published by Engadget and Pre|Central, a third-party retailer is said to start selling the handset on February 17th for $100 on contract. However with HP Palm throwing a hardware launch on the 9th that very well may reveal upcoming smartphones along with the known tablet(S), we're not sure how many people will be interested in what might be deemed last-generation hardware by the time it hits shelves. The read more

Palm has been rather coy with its promotion of the press event planned for February 9, playfully responding to sites posting leaked data with claims that we haven't even scratched the surface of what it's got planned. Keeping up with the teasing, the company has release a very short video clip of what can only be its soon-to-be announced hardware. The safe money's on Palm announcing a tablet, possibly the "Palmpad" or "Touchpad", but maybe that's too obvious, and Palm wants to keep everyone guessing. A new webOS smartphone would be a great treat, as read more

Like animals heading for high ground before a flood, when we start to see whole flocks of smartphones disappear, it's a good bet that something big is coming. Apple's well known for depleting its stocks of certain hardware in advance of a new release, but this time it's Verizon with the vanishing gadgets. Check out Verizon's website today, and you won't see any Palm models listed along with currently-available smartphones. The obvious guess is that Verizon's move has something to do with the webOS event HP has been promising for February 9. If HP was read more

Hewlett Packard has sent another trio of tablet-related applications through the USPTO, "HP Duopad," "HP Touchslate," and "HP Touchcanvas," following "HP Touchpad" from last week. When you include PalmPad, that makes five possible brandings for what are rumored to be only two or three upcoming units, so we suspect that some of these may either be red herrings or simply different potential names that the company is in the process of choosing among. Still, with tablets as in vogue as they are right now -- over 100 were reportedly introduced at CES alone -- read more