HP's next Palm smartphone may not lack a physical keyboard after all. This week, it emerged that a Palm device dubbed the P102UEU had been certified by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Background: P100 was the Pre, and the P101 was the Pre Plus, suggesting P102 is the Pre 2 - or whatever HP chooses to call it. Devices destined for Europe have traditionally had the 'UEU' suffix appended to their model numbers.

Crucially, the FCC tested the device in both open and closed configurations, which indicates that the next Pre is, like its predecessors, a slider. That, in turn, suggests a physical keyboard will be part of the spec.

The tested phone has the same size back panel - this one compatible with Palm's Touchstone wireless charging system - which again points to a device not unlike the Palm Plus.

Folk who've poked their noses into the FCC documentation claim on the PreCentral forum that the new phone will sport a 1GHz CPU. It has 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1.

Earlier this week it was rumoured that an upcoming Palm gadget, codenamed 'Mansion', will not include a physical keyboard but instead boast an iPhone-style touchscreen-only form-factor.

HP has said Palm's next smartphone will be out early next year. ®