The Cell Phone Junkie

HP Wednesday announced two new smartphones, the Veer and the Pre 3.

The Veer comes with webOS 2.2, and has the same river rock form factor as the original Pre with a slideup keyboard and 2.6 inch 320 by 400 pixel screen.  The Veer has an 800MHz snapdragon processor, 512MB or RAM 8GB of storage, HSPA+, WiFi mobile hotspot, and a 5MP camera.  The device will be available starting later this spring.

One notable change with the Veer is the lack of a 3.5mm jack or microUSB port.  HP says that because of the small size of the device, the Veer will ship with a pair of these magnetic clips, one for a USB cable for charging, and the other for a headphone jack.  Touchstone charging of course does not require a port-style connection to invoke the conductive charging.

The Pre 3 has a similar form factor to its namesake, though the sliding screen is now a 3.6 inch capacitive touch display with 480 by 800 resolution.  The phone has a 1.4GHz processor, WiFi b/g/n, Bluethooth, 8 or 16GB of storage, 512MB of RAM 5MP camera with LED flash and HD video recording, WiFi hotspot capabilities and a VGA camera on the front for video calling.  The Pre 3 runs webOS 2.2 and will be available in either HSPA+ or CDMA Rev. A this summer.

With the announcements today, the Palm brand appears to be officially gone.  All manufacturer mentions are now of HP, meaning that after 20 years, the Palm brand is no more.

Engadget posted this comparison of the Pre 2 vs. the Pre 3, showing the differences between the 2 models:

And here’s a comparison of the Pixi Plus vs. the upcoming Veer

Source: BGR