• developer,  hp,  pre,  sprint,  web os

    “Meta-Doctoring” My Original Sprint Pre

    July 30, 2011 /

    Who am I to let a little thing like an OEM/wireless carrier spat get in the way of all of the fun an excitement of running webOS 2.x on my original Sprint Pre (some would refer to my webOS phone as the Sprint Pre Minus)?

    I don’t think so, either.  So with a new found bravery of software hacking my Pre smartphone (I also carry a company issued Motorola Droid Pro with me all the time), I’m researching all of the ninja-like things I’m going to have to do to mash up a Sprint Pre compatible version of webOS 2.1.0 together.

    Reading the webOS Internals official wiki on the subject reads like a splashy summer murder mystery thriller.  You need to grab an unofficial build of webOS 2 that isn’t customized for Sprint.  Then you need to download some tools that developers use to write software.  For extra fun, I’ll need to take a trip to the Unix command line of my Pre using something called “Novacomm”.

    At the end of the process, if all goes well, I’ll have a Sprint Pre running webOS 2.1.0 working with Sprint’s network.  Oh, some things like Sprint Navigation may no longer work, but I use Google Navigation on my Droid Pro for directions in the car now.  I may also lose the ability to receive Sprint Roaming Profile Lists (RPLs), but hey, that’s life in the fast lane for ya.

    Now, I’m not really a risk taker when it matters.  I plan on using a separate Palm Profile account, not my primary one until I have confirmed that I have a (mostly) stable install on my phone.  Once you upgrade to webOS 2.x, your webOS 1.x profile is converted and I don’t believe that there is a way to downgrade it once you’ve stepped up to webOS 2.  I’ve also backed up my USB partition to my Mac’s hard drive.  And lastly, if things go really wrong, it looks like I’ll be able to download the webOS Doctor file for the Sprint Pre and revert the phone back to an official webOS 1.4.5 build.

    Just call me “Greg House, MD” this weekend.

    (And yes, for my long time readers, the role of vicodin as seen in “House, M.D.” will be replaced by a constant stream of cold cans of Diet Coke.)

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  • apple,  hp,  iphone,  pre,  sprint

    Sprint Loses 101,000 Post-Paid Customers

    July 29, 2011 /

    Sprint reported their quarterly earning and dropped a “small” detail that they lost 101,000 post-paid customers.  They expected to lose “just” 15,000.

    In an article posted by AppleInsider today, they write:

    “In its latest quarter, Sprint posted a net loss of 101,000 subscribers, far higher than the 15,000 loss analysts had expected it to suffer. In contrast, AT&T added 331,000 subscribers and Verizon added 1.3 million, aided by news sales of 2.3 million iPhones.”

    It seems that I really love underdogs; first Palm, and now Sprint.  If only they had the HP Pre3 or the Apple iPhone.

    [Via AppleInsider.com…]

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  • blackberry,  facebook,  rim

    Facebook 2.0 Released for BlackBerry, BlackBerry Playbook

    July 27, 2011 /

    The Facebook 2.0 client is out for both current edition BlackBerry smartphones and the new BlackBerry Playbook.

    The new features of Facebook 2.0 for BlackBerry include:

    • Facebook Places – Users choose to share where they are, what they are doing and who they are with – with Facebook friends. Get directions to and from a Facebook Places by clicking on the map image, which will seamlessly launch the Bing! Maps on the BlackBerry Playbook.
    • Facebook Events – View events and birthdays and receive notifications of new invitations. View event details like the time, place, guest list and more. Users can even RSVP and write on the event’s Wall.
    • View ‘Likes’ – See the names of the friends that ‘liked’ a user’s post. Users will also be able to tap their friends’ names to launch directly to their profiles.
    • Privacy control on status updates – Control who can see each update users share. Simply click the lock icon in the lower-right corner of the status publisher to select who to make the status update visible to before posting it.

    As my long time readers know I own a BlackBerry Curve 8330 and most recently used a BlackBerry Storm2, which I had to turn in for a Droid Pro back around February.  I miss having my BlackBerry and still think about picking up a new Bold at some point.

    [Via CrackBerry.com…]

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  • apple,  att,  ipad,  iphone,  touch,  verizon

    Apple Releases iOS 4.3.5 Software Update

    July 27, 2011 /

    Yesterday afternoon, Apple released the iOS 4.3.5 software update for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

    The software update addresses an issue with how security certificates are validated and does not add any new features.

    The software update is for the GSM iPhone 4, the GSM iPhone 3GS, both editions of the iPad, and the 3rd and 4th generation iPod touch.

    The CDMA iPhone 4 for Verizon updates to iOS 4.2.10, addressing the same problem.

    The latest software updates are available now via iTunes when you connect your iDevice to sync it.

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  • apple,  lion,  mac os x

    Lion Upgrade Journal: Day 1

    July 22, 2011 /

    Ok, Lion was installed yesterday and I was, apparently, in good company because 1 million other Mac owners upgraded along with me.

    Scrolling with a Track Pad or Scroll Wheel

    Ok, using the scroll wheel on my wireless Mighty Mouse is taking a little bit of getting used to.  In Lion, scrolling like like scrolling in iOS; you flick up to move the page down.  Basically, we’re talking about an inverted y-axis here.  Fortunately, if you can’t make the adjustment, of you’re like me and I have to use a PC at the office, you can revert the scroll wheel functionality back to the way it was in Mac OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard in the Mouse control panel.

    iChat Group Windows

    Another application that I use all the time is iChat.  I use iChat as my client for Jabber chats like Google Talk or Facebook.  In Snow Leopard, I would have a chat window for each service.  Now, in Lion, all my friends and buddies show up in a single unified window.  When a new chat is started, a separate chat windows appears.  If I have multiple chats going on at the same time, I can use iChat’s preferences to define if all of the chats should be combined into a single chats window with tabs along the left of the window for each chat thread, or to appear in separate chat windows, as was the case in Snow Leopard.

    I had the chance to test both modes out while chatting with two of my friends this evening.  I like the consolidated buddies list, but I still prefer to keep the chat windows separate.  I very fine tweak to iChat if I do say so myself.

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  • handspring,  hp,  palm desktop,  palm os,  visor,  web os

    Migrating Data from Palm OS 3 and 4 Devices to webOS 1, 2 or 3 Devices

    July 22, 2011 /

    Through a very long string of back channel communications, I have received a question about moving data from a Handspring Visor Deluxe to a webOS device; I think it was a Pre.

    There is no direct way to move data between a Palm OS device and a device that is running webOS.  Both operating systems were developed by Palm before being acquired by HP, but the underlying technologies are vastly different.  But there is still hope for people looking to move data from an old Palm OS device to a new webOS smartphone or tablet.

    Keep reading for suggestions on how to move your data.

    The easiest option is to work with a Palm OS device that is capable of HotSync’ing with Palm Desktop on a Windows XP machine.

    You will need to start by downloading Palm Desktop if you don’t already have it installed.  Once you have your data synchronize with your PC, use the File > Export commands to backup your data.  You will need to do this for the Address Book/Contacts, Date Book/Calendar, To-Do List/Tasks, and Notes/Memos one at a time.  Backing up your data helps make sure you that you can get back to where you started if something goes wrong.

    Next, you need to use the Data Migration Tool (DMT) to copy the data out of Palm Desktop and into a location that a webOS device, like the Pre, Pre2, or TouchPad can talk to.  My personal suggestion is to move your Palm Desktop data into a Google account, as webOS was designed to work with Google’s Gmail and Calendar applications from the very beginning.  All the directions that you will need can be found on the HP website for the DMT. (Select Palm Desktop for Windows and select your webOS device from the drop down list to get started.)

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  • apple,  mac,  mac os x,  macbook pro

    Apple Releases OS X Lion

    July 21, 2011 /

    Mac OS X Lion is “go for throttle up” today in the Mac App Store.  It’s a 3.7GB download once you purchase the $29.99 upgrade.  My installer just finished downloading and I’ll be upgrading some of my software over the next few days.  Check back here for updates as the week progresses.

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  • apple,  mac,  mac os x,  macbook pro

    OS X Lion Arrives Tomorrow – July 20

    July 20, 2011 /

    During today’s quarterly earnings report to investors, Apple confirmed that the next major release of the Mac operating system, OS X Lion, will be arriving in the Mac App Store for $29.

    OS X Lion is unique in that you won’t be able to buy it on a disc.  Instead, the new OS will be purchased and downloaded from the Mac App Store as a 4.0GB file.  To upgrade to Lion, you will need to be running Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard with the 10.6.8 update applied.

    In addition to purchasing the software from the Mac App Store, you will be able to upgrade every other Mac that you own without having to purchase another copy of Lion.  Simply sign in to the Mac App Store with the Apple ID you used to purchase Lion, and you will be able to download the software again to a new Mac.

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  • apple,  att,  ios,  ipad,  iphone,  touch,  verizon

    Briefly Noted: iOS 4.3.4 Security Update Relesed

    July 20, 2011 /

    Just in case you may have missed it, last weekend Apple released a security update to iOS brining the mobile operating system to version 4.3.4.

    The latest security update is largely intended to plug a security hole in how an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch handles malicious .pdf files to allow hackers to by pass safeguards in the operating system.  This same security hole was a means to allow people to install applications from Cydia, a third-party application source other than the iTunes App Store.  This process is commonly referred to as “jailbreaking.”

    iOS 4.3.4 was simultaneously released for the iPhone 4 (GSM edition), iPhone 3GS, the iPad 2, the iPad, and third and fourth generation iPod touch devices. iOS 4.2.9 was released specifically for the iPhone 4 (CDMA edition) on Verizon’s network.

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