FoxNews has reported today that Palm, purchased by HP in April, will unveil three tablets at the upcoming CES in January, taking on the iPad and Android devices.

Dubbed the PalmPad, Palm will release three models, each with small hardware differences.

Each tablet will run on WebOS 2.5.1, an upcoming update to the mobile operating system.

The PalmPad will have 4G connectivity to the Sprint network and "hardware specs nearly identical to the iPad."

Differentiating itself from the iPad is a USB 3.0 port and a mini-HDMI port. Like the rumored iPad 2, the PalmPad will have a 3MP rear camera and a 1.3MP front-side camera, each with LED flash.

Ready for a March 2011 launch, the PalmPad will be around 10-inches, rounded curves, weigh 1.25 pounds, and be thinner than the iPad.

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Google has said this week that it will extend its free Gmail calling service through 2011.

'Call Phones from Gmail' was launched in August and gives any Gmail user the chance to make free domestic phone calls from their computers.

The service uses Google's Voice phone management software.

Although the tool was supposed to end next week, Google says (via EW): "In the spirit of holiday giving and to help people keep in touch in the new year, we're extending free calling for all of 2011."

To use the feature, Gmail users need to download the voice and video plug-in and then simply hit "Call Phone" from the menu bar on the left and then type in the recipient's phone number in the virtual keypad.

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According to Bloomberg, Amazon is on pace to sell 8 million Kindle e-readers this year, much higher than analysts have predicted.

The news agency cites people "aware of the company's sales projections," and says the 8 million sales figure should be hit easily. Analysts, on average, had anticipated 5 million sales.

These same sources also say Amazon sold 2.4 million Kindles last year.

Goldman Sachs had estimated 4-5 million, Caris & Co had predicted 4.8 million and Citigroup, Barclays Capital, BGC Partners LP and ThinkEquity all noted anticipated sales of 5 million.

Amazon recently began selling a thinner, lighter Wi-Fi-only model of their Kindle for $139, seeing strong sales after its launch.

The e-tailing giant has not confirmed the numbers.

Rivals Sony and Barnes & Noble do not disclose their e-reader sales, either.

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After just 4 days in the store, Apple has pulled a WikiLeaks app from its iOS App Store.

The application provided WikiLeaks updates from the service's Twitter account, along with access to WikiLeaks documents.

Submitted to the store for approval on December 11th, developer Igor Barinov says the app was accepted last week and has already been removed.

The app cost $2 and Barinov says half the money made from the sales was donated to WikiLeaks.

Barinov claims to have already sent $1000 to Wikileaks.

A number of prominent banks and financial institutions have cut off all donations to WikiLeaks, including Bank of America and MasterCard.

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Not surprisingly, the world's all-time highest grossing film was also the most pirated in 2010.

According to figures from TorrentFreak, the blockbuster was downloaded from torrent sites 16,580,000 times this year beating out the next film by over 30 percent.

In 2009, the most pirated film was Star Trek, which was downloaded 10.8 million times.

Despite the large amount of unauthorized downloads, the film still managed to gross $2.8 billion at the box office, beating out Cameron's last epic, "Titanic" for the top spot.

Second on the pirated list was Kick-Ass, which saw an early R5 (Russian DVDRip with English audio) release and downloads of 11.4 million.

Inception fought its way to third on the list, making strong strides in the last two months as DVD quality versions began to emerge.

The rest of the list:

Avatar / 16,580,000
Kick-Ass / 11,400,000
Inception / 9,720,000
Shutter Island / 9,490,000
Iron Man 2 / 8,810,000
Clash of the Titans / 8,040,000
Green Zone / 7,730,000
Sherlock Holmes / 7,160,000
The Hurt Locker / 6,850,000
Salt / 6,700,000

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Microsoft corporate VP Achim Berg has said today that the company has sold 1.5 million Windows Phone 7 devices in just six weeks, higher than most expectations.

Says Berg: "We are pleased that phone manufacturers sold over 1.5 million phones in the first six weeks, which helps build customer momentum and retail presence."

It is important to note that those figures seem to imply that the 1.5 million figure is how many handsets have been sold to carriers and distributors, not how many have been sold to retail end-users.

Regardless, most analysts had sales at 200,000 so the new number is shocking.

Dell, HTC, LG and Samsung each sell Windows Phone 7 smartphones, available in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia.

Notes Berg (via IW):

"Sales are ramping well as our reputation is growing for offering users a unique experience and are in line with our expectations – especially when compared to other new platform introductions. With a new platform you have to look at a couple of things, first of all customer satisfaction. As I mentioned before, we've seen great response on the complete mobile phone experience. We know we have tough competition, and this is a completely new product. We're in the race – it's not a sprint but we are certainly gaining momentum and we're in it for the long run."

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Google has confirmed today that an OTA Android 2.3 update for the Nexus One is on the way, marking the first device outside of the Nexus S to get the new firmware.

Says the tweet: "The Gingerbread OTA for Nexus One will happen in the coming weeks. Just hang tight!"

Gingerbread brings NFC support, updated UI features, better battery life, an upgraded app manager, and front-side camera video conferencing updates.

The Android 2.3 source code was just made available to developers on Friday.

Google's Nexus One remains one of the few pure "Vanilla" Android experiences, not including any app packs or services from carriers like Verizon or T-Mobile.

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Apple has said today that it expects to hit 1 million new Apple TV units sold, 80 days after launch.

The second-generation Apple TV centers more on streaming than the past model, which included a hard drive.

Apple said in October that they had sold 250,000 units after six weeks.

The Apple TV costs $99, cheaper than rivals boxes by Boxee and Logitech, but more expensive than popular set-tops by Roku.

Earlier this week, Roku announced it too expected to hit 1 million set-tops sold in 2010.

Time Magazine ranked the Apple TV #7 in its list of top 10 gadgets of 2010.

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