This hack, still in pre alpha testing, is based on an onscreen keyboard that the Pre already has—the phone's symbol input panel, for characters that aren't accessible by keyboard shortcuts. By patching the keyboard layout to include "regular" characters, the guys at webOS Internals were able to slap together a simple proof of concept onscreen keyboard, in both portrait and landscape modes, which, as Adrian said before, would make quick, short text input waaay more convenient.

It's too new to recommend installing unless you're versed in the cryptic particulars of Pre homebrew, but given the demand for the hack, it doesn't seem like an easily-installable onscreen keyboard is too far over the horizon. [webOS Internals via PreCentral]

Seriously. Apparently, there's a gaping security hole in the Pre's email app, which allows certain applications to be installed by way of a simple link. Once a homebrew app has been properly prepared, it's just a matter of emailing yourself a link to the app's .IPK file.

Creating the packages isn't so simple, since they have to be packages in a certain way and spoof a legitimate software signature, although if you're the kind of person who's well-versed enough to create a homebrew app in the first place, these instructions probably won't seem that intimidating.

So, the apps! Since this hack is about a day old, they're basically nonexistent, except for one proof-of-concept dummy app called "SimplyFlipFlops." Palm won't be properly opening up the App Catalog for a while, so homebrewers have plenty of time, and serious gap to fill. Let's just hope Palm doesn't seal this up with their next update. (Spoiler: They probably will.) [Precentral via Slashgear]

This guy has managed to get an open source, hardware-accelerated version of Doom running on his Pre, leveraging yesterday's full leak of a WebOS root image, which gave hackers and developers access to core elements of OS that won't be accessible with their MojoSDK. Granted, you'd expect Doom to run on the Pre accelerated or not, but at the very least it's a hopeful sign of things to come. [Sargund]

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Their accomplishments are modest in the grand scheme of things, but this is an auspicious start:

My first application works!! I'm so excited! It's just a pretty "hello world" application with a few simple command tests - but hey - it's a working application on the pre!

Other mini-hacks include changing vibration length and intervals, adding a shot timer to the camera and eliminating its shutter sound. The early consensus, it seems, is that the Pre is an easy hack.

Notice anything familiar here? This is a lot like what happened with the first iPhone, which shipped without native app support, leaving prospective developers to toil with lame web apps—sort of like what's been outlined in upcoming the WebOS SDK. That situation spawned a productive homebrew community, which is still alive and kicking today. From the looks of it, the Pre will have a burgeoning underground app gray market before its SDK even gets distributed.

Granted, Palm will grant developers appreciably more leeway than Apple's initial web-only approach, allowing for local storage and tighter system integration, but system-level mods, like the aforementioned changes to the camera and vibration functions, aren't on the table. Follow the thread for more—it's fascinating stuff. [Precentral]