As 2009 draws to a close, more and more confirmations are appearing to suggest that several WebOS are headed to Verizon Wireless in early 2010. The latest rumor comes from a PhoneArena article claiming that some VZW tipsters are reporting the presence of a "Palm Pre Plus" in big red's internal inventory system. Unfortunately, there is no clear indication of specs, pricing, or release date thus far.

For quite some time the rumor mill has been reporting several different possibilities for an improved version of the Pre on Verizon. These claims have ranged from the likely (16GB of internal storage and/or a microSD slot) to the far-fetched (a larger-size LCD). Based on Palm's past history with upgraded devices such as the 700w/700wx, the most plausible scenario would see Verizon initially carrying refreshed versions of the Pre and Pixi, with webOS 1.3.5 possibly standard. Then those updated versions will presumably arrive on Sprint in the Q2/Q3 timeframe to replace the original '09 editions.

During this evening's quarterly investor conference call, Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein briefly talked about the next version of webOS and some of Palm's plans for CES. Mr. Rubinstein stated that Palm Inc. would be showcasing webOS v1.3.5 during the companies upcoming media event at CES. We can gather from the call script that the event will at least include a preview of 1.3.5, a focus on Palm's developer program efforts as well as some potential new carrier announcements.

Palm's CEO also disclosed a few details about what webOS 1.3.5 would encompass. The bullet points he mentioned reveal the new release will include improved battery life, better overall device and wifi performance, a removal of the app download storage limit and a speed boost for Pixi users.

Palm, Inc. today reported that total revenues in the second quarter of fiscal year 2010, ended Nov. 27, 2009, were $78.1 million. Gross profit was $5.5 million, and gross margin was 7.0 percent. These results include the effects of subscription accounting applied to Palm webOS products as required by GAAP. In accordance with this methodology, revenues and direct cost of revenues for Palm webOS products (currently Palm Pre and Palm Pixi smartphones) are deferred and recognized over the products' estimated economic lives.

"We are continuing to execute strongly against our long-term strategy with the delivery of Palm Pixi, the new carrier launches completed this quarter, and the upcoming opening of Palm's full developer program," said Jon Rubinstein, Palm's chairman and chief executive officer. "We're still in the early stages of a long race, and we're energized by the opportunity to compete in this exciting market. We remain confident that Palm's innovative product design capabilities, integrated cloud services and the differentiated and delightful Palm webOS experience will provide the foundation for our sustained success."

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Rumor: PhoneArena has published a screen grab reportedly showing an online training session for Palm and webOS for Verizon. According to the tipster this is one element of Verizon's campaign to get its employes up to speed on Palm's latest operating system. Combined with all the previous rumors, fcc docs and executive statements, this adds another bit of concrete info to Verizon's plan to offer a webOS device next year.

The leaked screenshot shows what appears to be the intro slide to a 20 minute online training session. Entitled "Why Palm? What is webOS?" the course aims to "re-introduce Palm and describes the new webOS platform." The training dates are listed as 12/15/09 through 1/4/2010.

Fortune has an article out this morning discussing the private investment outfits current state of affairs. The editorial paints a dim picture of Elevations track record to date with a focus on the firms $460 million dollar investment in Palm Inc. The article also points out the posibility that Elevation is considering raising a new fund, while at the same time hinting that they may need to force a sale of Palm to a bigger player.

[...] the fate of Elevation's first fund rests almost solely on one investment, its $460-million stake in beleaguered smartphone maker Palm (PALM). That investment is barely in the money for Elevation. It's worth about $500 million currently.

Elevation is demonstrably in for the long term: It chose not to sell late last year when the stock peaked around $18, compared to Tuesday's close of $11.65. Palm recently raised $500 million in a stock offering, so its near term is secure.

Palm Inc. has begun to send out email invitations to the media for a company hosted event. The invitation only event will be held on Thursday, January 7th at 11am Pacific, coinciding with the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Much like last year's event which showcased the debut of webOS and the Palm Pre, the event will be held in the Venetian Hotel. The invite was delivered early this afternoon via a plain bright orange rectangular email that states:

Please join us at CES.
to see and hear what's new from Palm.

Google has covertly released a significant update to the built in Google Maps application on webOS devices. While there has been no public announcement of yet, the new version number is reported as v6.7 and features a number of useful refinements.

Findings so far include: improved map loading, rendering and scrolling speed, more granular map details with sliceable location listings, more street level traffic detail, a new help menu and better support for selected mass transit systems. These new features are baked into your device right now, as the program pulls a majority of its content and interface from the web.

Engadget has spied a new FCC recordset containing some details on a yet to be announced Verzion branded Palm Pixi. The FCC reports go on to show a new CDMA based Pixi variant with the addition of WiFI to the standard feature set. The reports were originally issued on November 12th and mostly contain various technical analysts and related reports. Device photos and technical schematics have been withheld for the time being. The newly approved Pixi carries a model number of P121EWW, with the FCC ID of 08F-PIXEW.

With this regulatory hurdle out of the way, the path is now set for Verizon to begin offering its first webOS based device sometime in early 2010. The company previously made its intentions well known with a number of choice quotes from VZW's CEO and even big red's Twitter account gave some kind of confirmation it would at least offer the Palm Pre.

Sprint has begun to notify customers of an impending change to their general terms and conditions customer agreement. The changes will implement an increase in certain regulatory fees beginning Jan 1st, 2010. While the stated changes are minor, (the regulatory charge will increase to $0.40/line), the alteration of terms may be sufficient enough to qualify as a "material adverse change" which would essentially allow current customers to cancel their Sprint contract without having to incur the standard "Early Termination Fee."

Sprint's terms and conditions allow customers to terminate their contract in response to a materially adverse change we make to the Agreement. Customers will have a 30 day window from Jan 1st in which they can cancel service without incurring their pro-rated ETF. The company has made similar moves in the past two years as well. UCAN.org provides a handy guide and a sample phone script for use when dealing with company agents.

There were more than 450 million mobile Internet users worldwide in 2009, a number that is expected to more than double by the end of 2013. Driven by the popularity and affordability of mobile phones, smartphones, and other wireless devices, IDC's Worldwide Digital Marketplace Model and Forecast expects the number of mobile devices accessing the Internet to surpass the one billion mark over the next four years.

"The number of mobile devices with Internet access has simply exploded over the last several years," said John Gantz, chief research officer at IDC. "With a wealth of information and services available from almost anywhere, Internet-connected mobile devices are reshaping the way we go about our personal and professional lives. With an explosion in applications for mobile devices underway, the next several years will witness another sea change in the way users interact with the Internet and further blur the lines between personal and professional."