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With all the buzz over the Palm Pre, which is rumored to release either on May 17th or June 7th (officially due by the end of Q2), one easily assumes that Palm is gearing up to be a one-trick pony. However new information from TechCrunch has surfaced, with one of their "better sources" indicating that a smaller, Pre-like device is "very far along" and planned for as early as the Fall. Yes, it will be smaller, and probably slimmer, running the webOS operating system. And no, it likely won't be called the "Post" as implied by one of the many April Fools jokes.

Details are still scarce, but with rumors of an iPhone Nano debunked, it is possible that Palm is making the first move to appeal to a market segment that craves miniaturization (and possibly losing the physical keyboard in the process). A good question is that if the size and functionality were to drop, would the price be smaller as well?

A comment on TechCrunch also points to an early rumor on Palm Infocenter of a webOS-powered (mini?) Centro 2, but one would assume Palm would want to innovate, rather than recycle an old design. After all, if they wanted to bring back an old form-factor, a webOS netbook would be a more logical choice. What do you make of this latest rumor, and if it pans out would you hold out for a smaller webOS handset?

via Gizmodo

UPDATE: BGR has since posted a blurry image of the alleged handset, which definitely has Centro-like styling, including a physical keyboard and possibly a taller screen.

When Palm first revealed the contents of the appinfo.json file, we took a closer look at its contents in the first official Mojo SDK tutorial from Palm   released February 25th, 2009:

{
   "title": "MyApp",   
   "type": "web",   
   "main": "index.html"   
   "icon": "icon.png",  
   "id": "com.yourdomain.app.myapp",   
   "version": "1.0",   
   "vendorid": "com.yourdomain.app.myapp",   
   "removable": true   
}

We covered the basic elements including title, icon, and id, and took a guess at main, version, removable, and type.  We speculated that removable might refer to the ability to store applications on removable media in future devices and type might refer to native vs. web (Mojo) based (a stretch, yes, but what else would it mean)?

In any case, when chapter 2 of the Palm webOS book was released on March 19th, 2009, appinfo.json had evolved into this:

As we can see, there were a few differences:

• removable and vendorid are gone
• nowindow, minicon, and category were added

So what does this mean?  Perhaps nothing of long-term consequence.  However, it does show that when the developer webcast was held in February, webOS was still in a state of major flux as this core application configuration file was still undergoing changes of this magnitude.  Will it change again?  As the book is still only in the "rough cuts" edition and Palm is actively seeking feedback on Mojo with its early access program, it's possible.  We'll keep you up to date with any new developments.

It looks to be a very exciting day for Palm webOS and the Pre. The Pre is quickly nearing store shelves, predicted to be released on April 30 (...or is it out already?). Microsoft, Google, and Nokia, among others, finally made a simultaneous move today in response to Palm's dismal Q3 revenue reports. Industry sources from around the web quickly reported on the events.

MobileBurn: Microsoft to buy Palm, drops Windows Mobile 7 - Fearing the upcoming iPhone 3.0 software, Microsoft put in a huge bid to acquire Palm.

PalmWebOS: Google buying Palm (RUMOR) - The new Venture Capital division, Google Ventures, appointed Android development lead Rich Milner to aid the division's acquisition of Palm.

MyNokiaBlog: Nokia to buy Palm for $4.1B - Finnish mobile manufacturer Nokia Corp. agrees to buy US based Palm Inc. for 4.15 billion dollars (3.14 billion euros).

MobileCruch: Palm reveals new "Post' smartphone, still working on Pre - At the CTIA 2009, a 4G enabled "Post" smartphone was announced to be already in development, parallel to the Pre.

PalmWebOS Blog: Palm Pre is out! Launch on Sprint and O2 - Sprint and O2 have apparently pulled out all the stops, responding to an unexpected iPhone 4G launch on April 27.

jkOnTheRun: Pre Cancelled; Introduced Palm Peo - Palm CEO Ed Colligan addressed press in Vegas with plans for a Palm Peo ("Pay-o"), which merges all the advantages of the Pre and Foleo into one.

Feel free to comment below. After all, we only get one April Fools before the Pre really hits store shelves .

In the meantime, you can check out some (real) webOS tutorials to get a head start on developing for the Pre.

As the new webOS device gets polished and closer to store shelves, rumors abound as to the release date that Palm has kept under tight guard. Boy Genius first reported on leaked EOL documents that pegged the device around May (replacing the Treo 755P). We've only managed to slightly narrow it down, as the official word from Palm is continually "first half of 2009" (so much that a commenter on Precentral shortens it to "FHO 09"). The official word suggests a June release date for the Pre. So will the Pre be on track, arrive early, or keep us waiting until December?

With Q1 winding down and with the latest leaked Sprint documents, we can narrow it down to Q2, but which month? Through the process of elimination, looks like it won't be in April. Engadget Mobile has found another document from the inside, this time Sprint's product roadmap for April. And guess what? No signs of the Pre.