It has already been known that the Pre will have stuff like searching through Twitter, iTunes syncing and the App Catalog, but now Jon Rubinstein, Palm executive chairman, and Roger McNamee, Palm director, have officially presented the features. Here is a quick reminder of what the Pre does: first off, we have Palm Media Sync, which will be used for synchronization between your phone and iTunes, allowing you to transfer DRM-free music, video and image content in a snap. Score one for Apple’s app. The officials have also talked about the new functionality, built in the universal search capability of webOS. Searching will include Twitter’s current events and news, delivering fresh info fast and easy, without you having to register a Twitter account. Last but not least, a demo version of the App Catalog has been demonstrated as well. The Palm Pre will come with the App Catalog beta, bringing applications by developers like AP News, Citysearch, Fandango, Pandora and uLocate.

via: BusinessWire

We have to admit, we didn’t see this one coming.  After promising never-before-speculated features Palm delivered at the first day of D7, revealing that the Pre will not only be capable of syncing with iTunes (provided its not DRM content), but that iTunes will actually recognize it as an Apple device!  This may very well be a key piece of dethroning the iPhone; for as many flaws as it has the seamless syncing capabilities is one of the major selling points of Apple’s hardware.  With an advanced OS, and now iTunes support, the Pre looks to keep swinging and hitting it out of the park, much to the chagrin of Apple.  Palm went on to say that they don’t forsee future iTunes updates breaking this compatibility.

The interview also produces some other interesting tidbits.  At launch there will only be a handful of apps through the App Catalog, though personally we’d expect to see that number grow rather quickly.  Palm admitted that it has made SDK access scarse in order to keep the quality high, and while it has hundreds of developers on board now they also have thousands of applications queued.  They also confirmed that they are at full production and delivering shipments to Sprint daily, but that they still expect demand to outpace supply.  With the launch just over a week away we wonder who will be first in line.

source: All Things D

The folks over at BGR (The Boy Genius Report) claim to have the first hands-on of the long-awaited Palm Pre, and they are giddy about it!  Although they promise a full review forthwith, their first impressions are a mixed bag.

According to BGR, although the Pre feels good in the hand, it has a “plasticky” feel.  They are also rather nonplussed about the QWERTY keyboard, particularly the top row of keys, claiming it’s difficult to avoid smashing multiple keys at the same time.  On a positive note, they rave about the quality and responsiveness of the capacitive touch screen.  Stay tuned here for more and more Pre news to come!

source: BGR

We haven’t heard too much about the Pre’s App Catalog, but our Sprint insider has just informed us that the App Catalog feature all free apps at launch.  Furthermore, there will be a free demo available for every app.  This is wonderful news to consumer’s ears, and seems to be yet another shot across Apple’s bow.  Their App Store offers screenshots, but most apps don’t offer a trial which forces you to either rely on user reviews (which we’ve found less than helpful) or pay and pray.  The free model is similar to what the Android Market did at launch, but with big name programs like SlingPlayer and Epocrates on board “at or near launch” we’re a bit more excited this time around.

More good news out of the Pre camp as a tipster at PreCentral confirmed that IMAP IDLE is used to push Gmail- and presumably any other service that uses the technology- to the device nearly instantenously.  The tipster went as far as to say “It actually comes in faster than my Blackberry,” which is just short of fightin’ words.  BIS/BES is of course the king of mobile email, so if the Pre can deliver a similar experience with a MUCH better OS we have to say score another one for the Palm camp.  Is it June 6th yet?

source: PreCentral

By now almost everyone has seen am image of the Palm Pre in the real world with the aid of a camera phone. If you’ve been wondering about the quality of the Palm Pre’s camera, it looks like your prayers have been answered. There was an image uploaded to yfrog from Palm’s official Twitter account showing a photo taken from the Pre. It provides a good look into what the 3-megapixel sensor can produce. Although it looks good from far away, zooming in reveals some very muddy details. Sure it might not be the best, but will it actually replace a traditional digital camera? From the expression of the girl in the photo, she’s probably excited to know that launch day is right around the corner.

source: yfrog via Engadgetmobile

If you think you have seen or heard everything that the Palm Pre can do, guess again. The Dean of technology writers, Walter Mossberg, is co-hosting the D7 show that is currently running until Thursday. In a video, Mossberg discusses the speech expected Thursday at the show by Jon Rubinstein and Roger McNamee and says that Palm will be showing more detail about the Pre than has been seen before including some “cool  features” that haven’t even be speculated about on the blogs. With just a little more than 1 week left until launch day, these never seen before functions should capture the attention of both those who definitely plan on buying the new smartphone, and those sitting on the fence. Any guesses as to what these never seen before features could be?

source: precentral

Whether you are one of the close to 2 million (!) followers of Ashton Kutcher (aplusk) or his Twitter arch-enemy CNN Breaking News (cnnbrk), the Palm Pre is going to make your Twitter addiction much, much easier with the ability to search Twitter from Universal Search.  This little news item, along with the expected availability of a Twitter client at the time of the Pre launch, is good news indeed.

The Universal Search feature for the Pre is demonstrated in one of 22 videos posted on YouTube covering the webOS emulator.  This video series will give you a good idea of what webOS will look like.  If you aren’t “tweeting” already, then get a Twitter account so you can follow @aplusk, @cnnbrk, and millions of others, including @webosarena! Check out the video after the break!

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The waiting continues for that great and awesome day when we can hold the much-anticipated Palm Pre in the palm (ahem) of our hand, but until then, take a gander at the leaked palm pre Gesture Guide, compliments of Engadget.  Just follow the step-by-step and you’ll be finger-flicking and moving between apps like a pro.  What better way is there to hit the ground running once you actually own a Palm Pre?  Just be careful, though – don’t sprain a finger! More pics after the break.

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Engadget has posted a leaked image of the Palm Eos – a super thin device expected to run webOS and providing a front-facing QWERTY keyboard as an alternative to the slider keyboard of the Pre.  It lists it to become available in the second half of the year and we hope it will happen in the early part of this period. The Eos sports the following specs: 2.63-inch 320 x 400 capacitive touch screen, email and Exchange support, 4GB storage, Bluetooth 2.1, A-GPS, and a removable 1150 mAh battery, to name a few.  Also notice on the leaked slide that pricing is set at $349 with a $50 mail-in rebate.  Who is going to jump on the Pre, and who is going to wait for the Eos on AT&T?

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