Skype integration coming to Pre3 with webOS 2.2, expected on AT&T and Verizon in July

We’ve got a trifecta of leaks to bring to you this fine morning, all dealing with the HP Pre3. First up is software: contrary to what the FCC would have us believe, it appears that the HP Pre3 is going to be launching with webOS 2.2. Included in webOS 2.2, as noted by webOS-blog.de, is full Skype Synergy integration. Skype is necessary for the Pre3 to enable video chat using that front-facing camera (just as Skype will be integrated into Synergy on the TouchPad for the same purposes), as well as permitting calls to be place to your Skype contacts (and for your Skype contacts to call your phone, all free of charge through the magic that is Skype).

Now, of course, the question on a lot of minds when it comes to the Pre3 “When and where?” Well, we’ve got two bits of news there. First up is Verizon, where we’re hearing that Big Red expects to be launching the CDMA Pre3 on July 21, 2011. We would have hoped that the upcoming webOS flagship phone would be launching earlier, but the latter third of July is still well within the bounds of “summer.”

And then there’s AT&T. Ma Bell seems to be getting all sorts of comfortable with HP, and they appear poised to launch the Pre3 this summer as well. We don’t have a definite release date for them, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it was right around July 21st as well. An anonymous tipster sent us the above, plus a few more shots after the break, of a Pre3 decked out with AT&T apps but blessedly absent of obnoxious AT&T branding.

The good ‘ole tipster has also given us our first glimpse at the Pre3 with its back removed (after the break), and as you might expect, it looks pretty bland. In fact, it’s kind of like a Pre meshed with a Pixi. Notably absent (and a source of the blandness): the brightly colored antennas that were laid out on the inner back of webOS phones from the original Pre all the way up to the Veer. Where they are? We don’t know, perhaps embedded in the removable back, or maybe buried elsewhere in the phone. What we can say is it seems that removing the back also appears to remove the power button and volume controls. Needless to say, you’re not going to want to be using a Pre3 without the back attached.

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