Below is a press release from our group, TXTPower, issued on Saturday:

To solve “vanishing load” scam, NTC must lower rates, ban spam — TXTPower

The National Telecommunications Commission must “do more” than extend the expiry of prepaid load to decisively end the issue of “vanishing prepaid load” that is bedeviling the country’s more than 70 million mobile phone subscribers.

In a press conference, consumer advocacy group TXTPower.org Inc. (TXTPower) said that “the absurdly short expiry load, arguably the shortest in the whole world, is the least of consumers’ problems. To solve “vanishing load”, the NTC must exercise its powers to immediately lower rates for cellphone calls, text messaging and other mobile phone services. The NTC must also crack down on telcos and content providers that abuse their licenses by sending millions of spam messages,” said TXTPower president Anthony Ian Cruz.

The Palm Pre isn’t even in the market yet, but the tech bloghosphere is already buzzing with rumors of an upcoming mini-Pre phone.

The device, dubbed Palm Eos, will supposedly be Palm’s next webOS phone. Engadget reports that it is codenamed “Castle”, while MobileCrunch also calls it “Pixie”. Other bloggers give it the nicknames Mini Pre, Palm Pre Mini, and Pre Lite. Can we also call it Palm Pre Nano? :p

While the yet-to-be-released Palm Pre will initially be sold exclusively by US telco Sprint, the Eos will supposedly go to rival AT&T.

Engadget posted these specs:

* 4GB storage
* Price: $349 (pre-rebate)
* Camera: 2 megapixel fixed focus digital camera and flash / video capture
* Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1 w/ A2DP and EDR, USB 2.0 via micro USB
* Removable 1150 mAh battery (4 hours 3G talk time)
* Messaging: SMS, MMS (picture and video only), integrated IM client
* Contact sync with AT&T Address Book
* MediaNet
* Cellular Video
* Email: POP3, IMAP4, and EAS support
* A-GPS
* Audio: WAV, MP3, AAC, AAC+ ringtones
* Video Playback: MPEG4, H.264, H.263

Engadget readers’ reactions to the reported device vary. User oghowie says “Pre looks better and is better spec wise. This looks like a lower end Pre.” On the other hand, reader Reality Check noted that this rumored device has no Wi-Fi, has only 4 GB of storage, and is more expensive than the iPhone. He concludes: “Pre wins.”

Of course, actual pricing may still change, but for now , I tend to agree that the Pre is better. The wait for the Pre continues, and Palm fans on our side of the world are on the lookout for any mention of a GSM Pre.

I love posting short updates on the Web using my Palm Centro. I caught this habit in 2001 when PinoyExchange.com (PEx) introduced its Wireless Journal feature.  For only  P2.50, I was able to send through SMS short thoughts, notes, mini-poetry, and quotes to my own WJ page.  But PEx eventually stopped this feature.

Years later, a new site called Twitter emerged and began offering a similar service.  It even went a step further as, for some time,  it allowed members to receive their friends’ updates as text messages.  Posting SMS updates to Twitter was expensive then, though, as users had to send messages to an international number.  But phTwitters.com later solved this, allowing users to send updates to a local SMS gateway. When Plurk became popular, phPlurk also became available.