Palm’s PR department dropped us a line earlier today to let us know about some of the cool new features that are going to be included in Palm webOS, the new mobile operating system that will power Palm’s Pre smartphone.

Palm Unveils More webOS Details: Palm Media Sync, Twitter Integration, App Catalog

CARLSBAD, Calif., May 28, 2009 — Today at The Wall Street Journal’s D: All Things Digital conference, Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq: PALM) introduced attendees to the latest features of the Palm® webOS™ platform, including Palm media sync, the integration of Twitter in universal search, and a beta version of its App Catalog. Jon Rubinstein, Palm executive chairman, and Roger McNamee, Palm director and co-founder of Elevation Partners, debuted the new webOS features, which will be available on the new Palm Pre™ phone when it launches June 6 on Sprint’s mobile broadband network.

Palm Media Sync

Palm media sync is a feature of webOS that synchronizes seamlessly with iTunes, giving you a simple and easy way to transfer DRM-free music, photos and videos to your Palm Pre. Simply connect Pre to your PC or Mac via the USB cable, select “media sync” on the phone, and iTunes will launch on your computer desktop. You can then choose which DRM-free media files to transfer.

“We designed Palm media sync to be an easy and elegant way for you to take the content you own and put it on Pre, and it’s just one of the ways we think you’ll be amazed by webOS,” said Rubinstein. “We’ve had an overwhelming response since we introduced Pre at CES, and with availability just days away, we can’t wait to let everyone see firsthand what the excitement is all about.”

Pre also acts as a mass storage drive, letting you side-load your media content. Once connected to a computer using the USB cable, Pre will appear as a drive on the computer desktop. You can drag and drop music, photos or video files onto your Pre, or drag files from your Pre to the computer. And, just like a digital camera, Pre works directly with your computer’s default desktop photo software to seamlessly import photos captured with Pre’s built-in 3-megapixel camera.

In addition to listening to music transferred from your desktop, you can use the on-device Amazon MP3 store to purchase individual songs or full albums over-the-air. You can search by artist, song and genre, and preview and purchase music files. You can then download purchased tracks when you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network.

Twitter in Universal Search

Palm also announced that Twitter search is integrated into webOS universal search. Universal search is about finding what you want quickly, whether it’s an on-device contact to call, a place you’re trying to get to, or a Wikipedia article for encyclopedic information. Just start typing and Pre will figure out if you’re looking for a contact, an application, or even let you search the web via Google, Google Maps, Wikipedia and now Twitter. Universal search uses Twitter’s search service to sort through real-time current events and news, so universal search now covers every aspect of search on the web: general info, location, encyclopedia, and news.

Twitter’s ability to show what’s going on right now is a perfect fit for what universal search and Pre are all about. You don’t have to be a Twitter user to benefit from Twitter in universal search. It’s available for all users, even if they don’t have an account, so anyone can keep on top of real-time news and the latest trends.

App Catalog

Rubinstein and McNamee also gave conference attendees an advance look at the beta version of the App Catalog, which will be available on Pre at launch. The beta version will feature applications from developers such as AP News, Citysearch, Fandango, Pandora and uLocate.

“We’ve received excellent feedback from participants in the Mojo SDK early access program and look forward to the SDK’s public release. Developers are very enthusiastic about the platform’s ease of use and industry-standard development model,” said Rubinstein. “We’re excited to launch Pre with the beta version of the catalog, which will give a taste of how the overall webOS ecosystem will work.”

The App Catalog was demonstrated at the conference using Fandango’s webOS application, which takes advantage of Palm Synergy™, a key feature of webOS. It also uses Pre’s location-based services to find theaters near you, and lets you watch trailers, buy tickets, add showtimes to your calendar and get directions to the theater. Also included in the beta App Catalog will be Pandora, which makes use of the platform’s multitasking capabilities, running elegantly in the background while you’re using other applications. It highlights a unique aspect of the notification bar that lets you know what song is currently playing, and control pause and play without having to go back into the application.

The Palm Pre phone will be available from Sprint on June 6 for $199.99 with a two-year service agreement and $100 mail-in rebate. More information is available at www.sprint.com/palmpre and www.palm.com.

You can check out some of these new features in action on the All Things Digital videos page.

The Sprint Palm Pre launch guide for business customers has been leaked and in the process, even more details about the Pre have been detailed.

In the 23-page document, we learn that:

• Pre has a SRP of $549.99
• Support for Exchange Server EAS for PIM data synching
• Inviting people to meetings is not supported from the Pre
• Global Address Book lookup is supported
• Support for SSL encryption of Exchange Server email
• The Touchstone charger will cost $69.99
• A Palm vehicle charger ($31.99) and travel charger ($34.99) will also be available
• The current 450 minute Sprint Everything Data plan will be available for $69.99/month
• You must purchase a voice and data plan; SERO plans will not be allowed
• Pre will be an exchange only phone, no repairs will be done on site
• Documents To Go will be bundled in ROM to provide viewing capabilities
• Documents To Go will include editing capabilities in a future release (date TBD)
• You will be required to create a Palm profile account (required for multiple services)
• Software will be installed OTA only
• Palm will provide an OTA backup application/service
• A “kill pill” can be issued from a customers Palm profile web page

The leaked Sprint launch guide offers and interesting list of details that haven’t previously been talked about by Palm or Sprint. The inclusion of Documents To Go is a major plus. That is one application that I can’t live without and it my daily “go to” application.

I also like the idea behind the Palm profile. It sounds a lot like the now defunct MyPalm portal where customers where able to install applications to their device over the air (OTA), including the then beta Palm Backup application. From the new information gleaned from this document, it does sound as if the information that Palm learned from the beta tests of the MyPalm portal and Backup application will be leveraged to make the Pre and Palm webOS expereince even better for customers.

There is a lot to like about the new Palm Pre. I’m definately excited to get my hands on one of these phones and take it out for a test drive.

[Via PreCentral.com Forums…]

Palm and Sprint have finally revealed that Saturday, June 6th, will be the official launch date for the Pre smartphone. The Pre is first device to be powered by Palm’s new mobile operating system, Palm webOS.

“Sprint today announced pricing and nationwide availability for the highly anticipated Palm Pre phone, offered exclusively from Sprint. Palm Pre will be available nationwide on June 6 in Sprint stores, Best Buy, Radio Shack, select Wal-Mart stores and online at Sprint.com for $199.99 with a two-year service agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate. Running on the new Palm webOS mobile platform, Pre brings together your important information from where it resides – on your phone, at your work or on the web – into one logical view.”

“The argument that you need one phone for work and another phone for play, or that you have to make compromises between business and lifestyle productivity, is over,” said Dan Hesse, president and CEO of Sprint. “With Pre, compromises of the past are history.”

“The Palm Pre takes full advantage of Sprint’s Everything Data plans,” said Avi Greengart, research director for Consumer Devices at Current Analysis. “The Pre has been expressly designed for multitasking among multiple web pages and applications. It also builds on Palm’s heritage in PDAs by managing your digital information – whether that’s on a corporate server or on the web.”

“Pre is truly a new phone for a new web-centric age,” said Ed Colligan, Palm president and chief executive officer. “We’re a mobile society, and we want our people, calendars and information to move with us. With Pre’s exquisite design and the unique webOS software, running on Sprint’s fast broadband network, we’re changing the perception of what a wireless phone can be.”

Also debuting with the Pre is the Synergy synchronization engine that is built in to Palm webOS.

The new webOS platform introduces Palm Synergy, a key feature that brings together your personal and professional calendar, contacts and e-mail into one centralized view, making transitions between work and personal life smooth and easy to manage.

With Palm Synergy, users get:

• Linked contacts – With Synergy, you have a single view that links your contacts from a variety of sources, so accessing them is easier than ever. For example, if you have the same contact listed in your Outlook(3), Google and Facebook accounts, Synergy recognizes that they’re the same person and links the information, presenting it to you as one listing.
• Layered calendars – Your calendars can be seen on their own or layered together in a single view, combining work, family, friends, sports teams, or other interests. You can toggle to look at one calendar at a time, or see them all at a glance.
• Combined messaging – Synergy lets you see all your conversations with the same person in a chat-style view, even if it started in IM and you want to reply with text messaging. You can also see who’s active in a buddy list right from contacts or e-mail, and start a new conversation with just one touch.

Pricing and Availability

The Palm Pre phone will be available from Sprint on June 6 for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year service agreement on an Everything Data plan or Business Essentials with Messaging and Data plan. An array of compelling accessories also will be available for Pre, including the Palm Touchstone charging dock. The Touchstone™ Charging Kit, which includes the Touchstone charging dock and Touchstone back cover for Pre, will be available June 6 for $69.99. The Touchstone charging dock and Touchstone back cover also are available separately for $49.99 and $19.99, respectively.

For more information, visit the Sprint website at http://www.sprint.com/pre. You can read the full Sprint press release on the Sprint website.