After all the rumors and leaks, the Palm Pre 2 has been officially outed by HP. This will be the first device to ship with HP webOS 2.0 that has been detailed for months now. The Pre 2 will pack all the software experiences we are used to in webOS, from multitasking cards, to the HP Synergy syncing solution. WebOS now has support for stacking cards for better viewing, and access to the Adobe Flash 10.1 beta. 

The Pre 2 is an upgrade in some ways, and looks like its standing still in others. The form factor is mostly the same, but with slightly flatter edges. The slider portrait keyboard is still there as well. The camera has been updated to a 5MP sensor, but it is still just extended depth of field, not autofocus. The CPU will be a 1GHz chip; presumably a TI OMAP. The screen is, disappointingly, still only HVGA resolution. 

France will see the phone this Friday on carrier SFR. US residents will have their chance in the next few months with the Pre 2 landing on Verizon. If this an intriguing phone for you, or is it just too little too late?

We have heard from Various Verizon executives that tiered data was probably on the way, and now we might have the details. The new information is still preliminary, but it's looking like a better situation for heavy users that AT&T offers. If true, Big Red would be keeping the standard $30 smartphone data plan for unlimited data. They would be adding a cheaper $15/150MB option for light users. When AT&T made the switch, unlimited data was cut in favor of a 2GB cap at $25 per month.

Pricing on MiFi data looking like $50/5GB and $80/10GB. Users of feature phones will get the option for a $30 unlimited plan, and a $15/150MB plan. Frankly, we'd like to see cheaper pricing for feature phones. It's basically impossible to use as much data on these handsets as it would be on a smartphone. 

These plans might be a bit more expensive than AT&T's, but the option for unlimited data could be kept at the same price. While pricing on feature phones is a little high, we like this approach better than other carriers. These details only pertain to Verizon's 3G service. Expect different rates for the new LTE network when it launches later this year.