Hewlett-Packard and Palm just announced their smallest webOS device, the HP Veer. The tiny munchkin has a 2.6″ 320×400 pixels display, plus a small slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

The phone is “about the size of a credit card“, and has a Qualcomm 7230 Snapdragon processor, clocked at 800 MHz. It’s the same one we have in the T-Mobile G2, folks, so this tiny phone shouldn’t complain from lack of power, since the chipset is built with the 45nm technology. Whether the 2.6″ display will provide bearable screen real estate though remains to be seen.

There is a a 5MP camera, plus all the goodies expected from a modern smartphone, like Wi-Fi, GPS, microUSB port, Bluetooth and audio jack. It will run on HSPA+ networks, like AT&T and T-Mobile.

The HP Veer has 8GB of built-in storage, and same memory as the Palm Pre 2, 512MB RAM. Look for the tiny webOS 2.2 phone in the Spring. Sadly, it was not specified on which network the bite-size HP Veer will appear, or how much it will cost.

source: HP

According to Advertising Age, Palm has finally decided to fire ad agency Modernista and is currently looking for a new ad house. Modernista was responsible for the awful Palm Pre spots featuring a very pale looking woman. No surprise that the handset, once considered a worthy adversary to the iPhone, ended up selling poorly. While the weak sales cannot be blamed totally on the advertising, Verizon’s success with the Motorola DROID following a $100 million ad campaign shows the magic that can happen with a great phone and commercials that the public can relate to. At the time of its launch, the Pre had many good reviews but the low number of apps combined with the questionable ads did in the webOS device. Before Palm and Sprint could rebound, the beginning of Androidmania was underway and even getting a new lease on life at Verizon was not able to boost sales.

Where did Modernista go wrong? Commercials for two hot selling models, the Apple iPhone and the Motorola DROID, show each phone at work whether it is using apps in everyday situations or explaining in simple English that a certain handset does specific functions. Both models show useful things that real people want their phone to do. On the other hand, in the Pre ad below, the subject is reincarnation and the model says that before the Pre, she couldn’t keep track of the lives she was living much less recall her past lives. For most people, this would not be considered a function that they would need their smartphone for. Palm isn’t the only account that Modernista has lost recently. the ad agency lost its biggest account-GM’s Cadillac brand-late last year.
source: AdvertisingAge via Engadget

Palm looks like they’re taking the last steps in getting their webOS powered devices into the stores of all the major wireless providers in the country. We’ve already heard news back during CES about AT&T landing some webOS devices in the near future, but now there is word that T-Mobile is about to be graced with Palm’s blessings. The market as it stands right now is pretty competitive when you look at what’s around – it’s a clear cut indication to branch out to as many partners as possible to get ahead in the smartphone platform race. According to one of BGR’s connections, T-Mobile is now in the “final stages” of planning out their webOS handset launch with Palm. From the looks of it, they’re going to attack the lower end of the spectrum by making available a Palm Pixi-like handset at first. By making this move, it’ll put Palm in a better situation with their platform clearly having visible space among all of the major carriers – it’ll only strengthen them as yet another new platform is expected to be unleashed by Microsoft. Still, they have to duke it out with all the others that are currently available – so this moves bodes well for them; that’s unless they really stutter in providing great hardware to supplement their platform.
source: BGR

Now that the GSM version of the Palm Pre is being made available to the masses over in Europe, our friends using network providers that are GSM based in the US are eying that coveted device. Sure customers on either T-Mobile or AT&T can jump ship and head over to Sprint so they can experience the WebOS powered device. If the CDMA flavor doesn’t sit with them, they can choose to purchase an unlocked handset from gray-market retailers in Germany. Not everything will the same however – this version has the QWERTZ keyboard layout that will throw off US owners from speed typing. Actually the Z and Y buttons are swapped, so maybe there’s less adjusting required. Fortunately you’ll be able to choose the language – ranging from English, German, Spanish, French, or Italian. In addition, you’ll have to revert back to using EDGE because this version doesn’t support US 3G frequencies – then again you’ll have Wi-Fi if you really need a faster connection. With no word yet on whether or not AT&T and T-Mobile are planning on adding the Pre to their lineups, importing yourself one will probably be the only option for now.
via Brighthand