Gartner has released its mobile phone sales report for the second quarter of 2009. Worldwide mobile phone sales totalled 286.1 million units in the second quarter of 2009, a 6.1% decrease from the second quarter of 2008. Smartphone sales surpassed 40 million units, a 27% increase from the same period last year, representing the fastest-growing segment of the mobile-devices market.

The report also includes an estimate of the Palm Pre's performance during the quarter. Gartner claims the Pre has sold 205,000 units to date based on sales at the cash register. Read on for the full report.

webOS tinkerer Joey Hess has discovered some concerning information about the Palm Pre. Allegedly, the Palm Pre smartphone and presumably any future webOS device, has been programmed to transmit daily detailed usage reports and information to a server controlled by Palm Inc. on a daily basis.

This information includes potentially identifiable details, including the users physical location (via specific GPS latitude and longitude coordinates) and a detailed event log that shows what applications were used on the device and for how long (including any unofficial third party apps).

Palm's own "Terms and Conditions" (.pdf link) statement, along with their Privacy policy, detail that Palm basically maintains it has the right to indefinitely collect, process, store and share this information. Users must accept this multipage collection of fine-print waivers and disclaimers in full during the initial device setup process before being able to utilize the device.

Unsubstantiated rumors are spreading that the Palm Pre will see a release date of October 30th on the O2 network in the UK. Until now the company has only acknowledged that the smartphone will be available "in time for the holidays." O2/Movistar is also slated to offer the Pre in Ireland, Germany and Spain.

The source of this rumor appears to be an anonymous O2 employee, according to the UK site TechRadar. The site notes that the date occurs on a Friday, which is the traditional day of the week that O2 likes to release more high profile phones.

AT&T Wireless has begun sending out both SMS and written notifications to Treo 680 users that the 2.11 ROM update is now going to be a requirement to continue using their devices on the carrier after September 15th 2009.

Citing a pending "network upgrade", the AT&T letter claims that the 2.11 update, originally released way back in December of 2007, will give users "optimal call performance". The update contains a number of overall improvements in Bluetooth stability, the added Push-to-Talk capability and updated AT&T branding.

Palm's most recent Windows Mobile-based product, the Treo Pro, has now reached its one-year anniversary with no word of a refresh or replacement on the horizon. The newer Sprint CDMA version of the Pro does differ slightly in hardware and software than its older GSM sibling and has only been officially available for less than six months. However, speculation is mounting that Palm's Windows Mobile flagship device may be entering the twilight of its lifecycle.

This growing sentiment is primarily due to Palm's aggressive push of WebOS and a lack of rumors or commentary about future Windows Mobile products. In addition, Palm's only other relatively recent WM 6-powered device, the Treo 800w, has already reached EOL status. Even more telling, a number of users on sites such as TreoCentral are reporting that Sprint Treo Pro stocks are becoming scarce on retail shelves.

PreThinking has posted a good look at a couple of new extended battery packs designed for the Palm Pre. The site takes a look at three new models from a company called Amzer. The company makes a 1400 mAh OEM sized battery, as well as two massive "super extended" batteries that bring new meaning to the rump-shaker accessory category.

What is most interesting about this set is the sheer size of the super extended batteries which is documented in the photo gallery. The largest battery comes in at 3800 mAh which is more than 3x the capacity as the OEM pack. Such a capacity requires a specially designed replacement back that about triples the Palm Pre's footprint.

A new version of Chatopus has been released. Chatopus is a Jabber/XMPP client for instant messaging (IM) on the Palm OS platform. It works with multiple IM services including Google Talk, MSN Messenger, ICQ, AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, GaduGadu, QQ, Sametime and others. Version 2.50 brings the ability to connect to Facebook chat it also adds support for Nimbuzz servers and support displaying nicknames for some XMPP gateways, such as Nimbuzz's Facebook Chat and Windows Live Messenger gateway.

Chatopus v2.50 supports Palm OS 4.0 and later. For limited-time, the program can be purchased for a one-time charge of $6.95 (previously US$ 16.95). There is a free fully functional 30-day trial period.

Pre users have a new option for browsing and watching YouTube videos. The company has updated the mobile version to provide a better browsing experience for more advanced smartphone web browsers such as the ones included on the Palm Pre, iPhone and Android platforms.

To access the new site, simply browse to youtube.com and you will be auto forwarded to the new site. Users can also log into their account and view your personal favorites and browse and share videos. On the Palm Pre, clicking or attempting to watch a video will continue to open and display in the built in YouTube application.

The PreDevCamp events are being held today with many just getting underway. You can check out the site for the closest event location near you. If you can't make it out to an event you can also follow along online as a few locations will be streaming presentations and content throughout the day. There is also a IRC get together as well.

Palm's own Developer guru Mitch Allen has posted a welcome video (embed after the break), in which he also talks about Palm's webOS development efforts to date and the potential of the Mojo SDK. He points out that the App Catalog has already dished out over 2.5 million downloads even with the limited amount of early developers. In any case, campers can feel free to treat this post as an open thread for anything PreDevCamp or webOSdev related.

Palm Pre users can now use their device as a modem and even as a 3G router with newly available unofficial software. A developer has created a application called My Tether which enables users to utilize the Pre's 3G connection much like a WiFi hotspot. This lets users share connections and link up laptops on the road over USB, Bluetooth or WiFi.

There are currently two versions of the application. A free version 1.5 requires some technical know-how and Linux hacking in order to install and configures, while a more user friendly version 2.0 comes with its own automated installer. The later option is available with a $10 donation. A tutorial for Windows users is available online here, and you can check out a video demo after the break.

The long planned, unofficial grassroots Palm Pre developer event goes down this Saturday, August 8th. preDevCamp is an independent not for profit group that aims to help facilitate developer coding sessions, application development and meet and greets about the Palm Pre and WebOS.

Interested attendees can check the preDevCamp.org site for the nearest location. The event is being planned and held in over 60 locations worldwide. San Francisco's event will be held at Palm Inc.'s headquarters in Sunnyvale.