What’s going on over at Sprint? First, it was reported that anyone porting their wireless number over to Sprint for a shiny new Pre would receive a $100 credit on their service plan during the first three months, provided they sign up with a 2-year contract before October 10th. Then, abruptly, this offer was pulled abruptly with this official comment from Sprint: “After further internal review today, the offer of a port-in service credit of $100 to new customers who buy the Palm Pre has been pulled, because it was put into the system in error.” That’s quite the snafu, Sprint. The wireless carrier will honor the offer for a lucky few that took advantage of it during the brief window of opportunity. Were YOU one of those lucky few?

source: BGR

The “Dashing Donkeys” are a couple of motorcycle enthusiasts that are riding for a good cause – filling up Food Banks Canada with donations from adoring fans! Using Palm Pre phones on Bell Mobility network to chronicle their adventures on their blog, website and Twitter (@dashingdonkeys), the “Dashing Donkeys” duo are crossing Canada and dining on “slow food” along the way. You should check out their blog and website to learn why they are the “Dashing Donkeys” and what “slow food” means. Keep on riding and Pre’ing, guys!

source: official Palm blog

An “anonymous tipster” has leaked an alleged document detailing a price drop for the Palm Pre sold at “indirect partners” – only $150 after mail-in rebate. This rumored price drop will not be for an indefinite period of time, but from September 8th to October 31st, the Pre can be yours for the bottom-line price of $150. Given that the HTC Hero will carry a $179 price tag on Sprint, it may be safe to assume that the $150 Pre price will not only be available on Sprint, but could be available beyond the expected October 31st time frame. We will all know very shortly!

source: engadget mobile via pre central

Thanks to jhoff80 from PreCentral’s forum, there is a video sneak peek of Palm’s webOS 1.2 update for the Pre posted on YouTube. Some of the new and improved features coming on the 1.2 update include:

• Copy/paste functionality in the browser for both text and images
• Browser image saving
• URL copying
• Improved zoom on text-entry fields
• Email searching
• Minor change in notification behavior

Although it may be tempting to find and download the 1.2 update from some unauthorized source online, we recommend waiting for Palm’s official release so that you avoid any potential problems. In order to whet your appetite until that day comes, take a look at the video.

source: Palm Infocenter

If the Best Buy $149 price is still too rich for your wallet, Christmas could come a little early for you this year if you are the lucky one selected to win a Pre from Palm. How do you do it? Just hop over to Palm’s Facebook page right here and post a comment under the section “Win a Palm Pre.” Will just any old comment do? No, not really. Palm wants to know what “top three activity cards that you’ll always have open” on your Pre. Perhaps this is a clever way for Palm to mine some invaluable user data for future webOS development and/or improvements? Whatever their motivation, it sounds like an easy way to qualify to be a lucky winner. Good luck!

source: Palm Infocenter

If you’ve managed to exercise the patience of a monk in order to wait for a good deal on the Palm Pre, this just may be the deal you are looking for. Best Buy is now selling the Pre for $149.99 after a $50 instant rebate. Considering the decent build quality of the Pre and the marvelous webOS operating system, getting a Pre for under $150 is almost too good to pass up. If you’ve been sitting on the fence up until now, does that fence still feel comfortable or is this new deal the tipping point?

source: everythingpre via SlickDeals

Little did you know that you may carry in your pocket or purse, not a Palm Pre, but the all-seeing eye of the HAL 9000. Palm’s location-based advertising patent is very revealing in their plans for serving up advertisements in webOS based on your location, even dipping into your calendar to better customize ads while you travel from A to B. “Stop, Dave. How would you like a nice, refreshing Keva juice before your sales meeting? It’s right on your way.” Here is an excerpt from their patent:

Based upon the location data from the appointment and the location of device 310 (or other alternative location provided by the user), processor 340 may then provide advertisement data (step 386), for example, along the driving route between the location of the appointment and the current location of device 310 within a predetermined distance of the location of the appointment and/or the current location of device 310, and so on.

We always thought the red eye of the HAL 9000 was creepy. Location-based advertising requires mining personal information from your Pre and feels Orwellian. Is this an invasion of privacy or the kind of brilliance that consumers are looking for – advertisements that are more personalized and useful? Tell us what YOU think in the comments!

source: BGR

Sometimes it would be nice to have the option to enter text on the Pre without having to slide out the keyboard, and for those that want to live this dream, the hard-working, creative people at WebOS Internals are making phenomenal progress on developing an on-screen keyboard for the Pre. There are still some bugs to work out, but now it’s easier to download using the Preware app and you can begin using the Pre’s multi-touch screen to it’s fullest. Check out the video to find out where to get it and how to download it.

source: engadget mobile

One of the Palm Pre’s strengths is it’s user-friendliness. It has an intuitive interface and is comparable to the iPhone for being able to pick it up for the first time and start making things happen. However, the Pre is a powerful device and there’s much more than meets the eye – so much more that USA Today personal-tech columnist Ed Baig has cranked out 287 colorful pages and a CD-ROM that promises to transform a newbie to a pro in no time. The book, Palm Pre: The Missing Manual, will be available this week for $24.99 in paperback and $19.99 for ebook. You may be able to save some cash by pre-ordering on Amazon here.

source: Palm Infocenter

As reported by our sister site, Phone Arena.com, some Verizon inventory screenshots have revealed some new handsets that are forthcoming, but alas, we have no further details. We can certainly speculate, though, and it’s fair to guess that the Palm P101 and P121 could be the Pre and Eos, given that Sprint’s original roadmap listed the Pre as the P100. We all know what happens when one assumes, but in this case, a safe assumption is that Verizon will soon (in time for the holidays?) have the Palm Pre and even the Palm Eos, the front-facing full-QWERTY keyboard webOS device. We will bring you more news as we get it.