• att,  hp,  pixi,  pre,  verizon,  web os

    HP Palm webOS 1.4.5 Update Available For Verizon Pixi Plus Customers

    It looks like Verizon rolled out Palm webOS 1.4.5 for their Pixi Plus customers yesterday.

    The webOS 1.4.5 change log for the Verizon branded Palm Pixi Plus is listed after the jump.

    Verizon Pixi Plus customers can download the webOS 1.4.5 update by running the Updates application on their phone.

    The wait continues for Verizon’s Pre Plus customers and all of AT&T’s Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus customers.  Sprint customers received their Palm webOS 1.4.5 update on August 11.

    New applications

    NONE

    Feature changes to existing applications

    System

    • Palm Pixi and Palm Pixi Plus phones can now run 3D games and other apps developed with the webOS PDK. Check App Catalog for titles that are compatible with your phone.
    • This release includes minor fixes and enhancements to support the public release of the webOS PDK.

    Web

    • If a user enters text in a field on certain websites, the screen focus now remains on the text being entered.
    • This release fixes a rare problem so that podcasts now download correctly.

    Security

    • This release addresses several security issues with the Palm webOS software.

    • app catalog,  astraware,  pixi,  pre,  web os

      Astraware Releases A Pair of Games for webOS

      Today, Astraware has released their first two games for Palm webOS: Astraware Sudoku and OddBlob.

      Staffordshire, UK – August 24, 2010 – Astraware® is excited to announce the release of its first games for Palm® webOS™. The first two games, Astraware Sudoku and OddBlob, will initially support Pre™ and Pre Plus devices with support for Pixi™ to be added later.

      Astraware Sudoku is a multi-award-winning version of the worldwide smash puzzle game. It is packed with features that avid Sudoku players love, including the unique Puzzle of the Day feature, which sees in excess of 20,000 users regularly downloading the daily puzzles and uploading their times on the global leader board. First released for smartphones earlier this year, OddBlob is a cute puzzle-arcade game entirely created from modeling clay, and featuring online leader boards for players to post their high scores in both Strategy and Panic modes.

      “We’re delighted to be re-establishing our long-term relationship with Palm, and supporting the new platform with a range of great casual games,” said Howard Tomlinson, CEO of Astraware. “Our experience at supporting well-featured devices in a range of sizes and resolutions has helped us to make our first webOS games a pleasure to play, and we look forward to bringing many more titles to the platform.”

      Astraware intends to bring a number of their own-IP games to the webOS platform as well as working with their premium licensor partners to add to the range of quality casual games available in the Palm App Catalog.

      “Palm has a rich history with Astraware, and we’re excited to see that relationship continue with the webOS platform,” said Ben Galbraith, director of Developer Marketing, Palm, Inc. “Astraware’s popular titles are a welcome addition to the breadth and quality of webOS games in the Palm App Catalog.”

      Astraware Sudoku and OddBlob are available now on the webOS App Catalog, priced $4.99 each. For more information visit http://www.astraware.com/webos.

    • homebrew,  hp,  pixi,  pre,  web os

      Glass Effect Launcher webOS Patch

      One of the cool things about Palm’s webOS is that they are pretty cool with the third-party developers and home Homebrew applications.

      Having said that, Glass Effect Launcher is my favorite webOS patch to date.  It is also the first patch I’ve ever applied to my Sprint edition Palm Pre.  As the name applies, when you apply the patch, the stock grey background in the webOS app launcher is replaced by a Windows Vista looking smoked glass background. 

      The photos above show what my app launcher and Universal Search screens look like after applying the patch.  I think that patch give webOS a more refined and finished look than that boring grey background.  Hopefully HP and Palm will add some more refinements in webOS 2.0 that will give our favorite little OS that could a more grown up and professional feel to it.

      To learn more about Glass Effect Launcher, check out the patch’s thread over on PreCentral.  If you want to learn more about Homebrew apps and how to get them installed on your Palm webOS smartphone, check out PreCentral’s Homebrew Apps Gallery.

    • hp,  pixi,  pre,  sprint,  web os

      Yes, No, or Maybe? Will HP webOS 1.4.5 Show Up This Week In the US?

      Despite the fact that Sprint may have posted the change log for HP’s Palm webOS 1.4.5, US customers of the Palm Pre and Pixi still don’t appear to have access to the update yet.

      Running the Updates application on my Sprint Pre gives me the “Your phone is up to date. Palm webOS 1.4.1.1” message and the official Palm webOS change log does not show any release notes for webOS 1.4.5.

      While the software update is not currently available today, as suggested by Sprint’s release notes, it will likely be released in the next few days to a week if past history is any indication.

      So who wants to join me in a frantic game of Tap the Refresh button?

    • hp,  pixi,  pre,  web os

      Palm CIO Magazine Ad

      Admit it, you had no idea that Palm was trying to market their webOS phones the to enterprise. I didn’t. So I was kind of surprised to be flipping through my back log of IT magazines and saw an ad for the Palm Pre and Pixi (no distinction between the “standard” and “plus” variety) in CIO Magazine.

      The ad reads, in part:

      “Palm Simplicity.
      It’s good business.

      Mobile doesn’t have to mean complicated. Palm webOS phones integrate seamlessly with Microsoft Exchange, so here’s no need for additional servers or middleware.”

      The ad ends with the line, “Learn more about how Palm can simplify your infrastructure at palm.com/simplify.”

      Let’s hope that HP’s marketing department can get the word out about webOS in a more meaningful way than Palm’s could. The HP acquisition of Palm is expected to be finalized in the next few business days.

    • hp,  pixi,  pre,  web os

      Palm App Catalog Titles 50% Off

      Palm is running a special 50% off promotion for most titles in their software store, App Catalog. Announced yesterday on their company Facebook Page, the sales runs until July 9th.

      Now is a great time to stock up on apps for your favorite webOS smartphone without having to pay full price. To get in on the 50% off action, just launch App Catalog on your Pre or Pixi and go to town!

    • hp,  pixi,  pre,  web os

      HP Posts Slides, Transcript from Yesterday’s Investor Conference Call

      HP has posted the slides and a transcript from yesterday afternoon’s bombshell announcement that the PC and printer maker intends to acquire Palm the troubled handset maker for $1.2 billion dollars later this year.

      HP has stated that they plan to continue to develop and grow the webOS platform after Palm is integrated into the Personal Systems Group, lead by formed Palm CEO, Todd Bradley.

      You can view the slides and read the transcript on Slideshare.net.

    • hp,  pixi,  pre,  web os

      HP to Acquire Palm for $1.2B

      Earlier today, Hewlett-Packard announced their intention to acquire troubled smartphone maker, Palm for $1.2 billion dollars, or $5.70 per common Palm share.

      Palm announced the deal on their corporate blog by posting:

      “In case you didn’t hear, we just announced a merger with a little shop down the street called HP. That little shop happens to be the world’s largest technology company, and certainly one of the most revered companies in all of tech-land. Can you say “webOS acceleration”? We’re pretty excited, and pleased we surprised the world again.”

      In a separate posting, HP wrote:

      “Palm’s innovative operating system provides an ideal platform to expand HP’s mobility strategy and create a unique HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devices,” said Todd Bradley, executive vice president, Personal Systems Group, HP. “And, Palm possesses significant IP assets and has a highly skilled team. The smartphone market is large, profitable and rapidly growing, and companies that can provide an integrated device and experience command a higher share. Advances in mobility are offering significant opportunities, and HP intends to be a leader in this market.”

      “We’re thrilled by HP’s vote of confidence in Palm’s technological leadership, which delivered Palm webOS and iconic products such as the Palm Pre. HP’s longstanding culture of innovation, scale and global operating resources make it the perfect partner to rapidly accelerate the growth of webOS,” said Jon Rubinstein, chairman and chief executive officer, Palm. ”We look forward to working with HP to continue to deliver industry-leading mobile experiences to our customers and business partners.”

      You can read HP’s full press release on the HP news release website.

    • pixi,  review,  vodafone,  web os

      PUGcast: Palm Pixi Plus Review

      Clemens Schuchert has a new review posted on the European Palm Pixi Plus up on the PUGCast blog site.

      “The Palm Pixi Plus is Palm’s first low-cost device on the European market running webOS. As with the Palm Pre, it will be offered by O2 in Germany, the UK, Ireland, and Spain. It also will be marketed throughout Europe by Vodafone and in France by the carrier SFR. Pricing across Europe is a bit confusing because carriers are not selling at a similar price tag. Thus, SFR seems to have the lowest price followed by O2 and Vodafone. At least devices from O2 are SIM-lock free and can be used globally on any 3G carrier – a normally overlooked feature and a great advantage over the other carriers. O2 yesterday announced a retail price for the Palm Pixi Plus of about 389 EUR, and today corrected it to 361 EUR in order to be more competitive.”

      You can read the full hands on Palm Pixi Plus review on the PUGCast website.

    • dataviz,  pixi,  pre,  web os

      DataViz – Docs To Go for webOS Update

      DataViz has posted a long, long, long over due update on the status of their Documents To Go application for the Palm webOS platform on their Office Mobility Blog.

      We at DataViz would like to apologize for not responding sooner to our loyal Palm customers about the availability of Documents To Go for webOS. We have felt it best to keep our public webOS discussion to a minimum until we had concrete information about our webOS products to offer you.

      We are continuing our efforts to work with Palm to clear the path for a full editing version of Documents To Go. However, given the current environment at Palm, as well as the necessary collaboration with the device manufacturer that is required to bring an app like ours to a platform like webOS, our Documents To Go editor product for webOS is essentially at a standstill.

      As soon as we have any additional information, we will inform you immediately.

      Thanks for your passion surrounding our solution.
      Kathleen McAneany
      Business Manager, Documents To Go Palm

      It is unfortunate that DataViz and Palm can’t get things lined up and getting Documents To Go for webOS out the door. Docs To Go is one of my favorite mobile applications and for the last 10 months I’ve had to go it (almost) alone as webOS only includes DataViz’s Doc View application.

      The good news is that if you are on virtually any other smartphone OS, you can get rich document viewing and editing capabilities via Documents To Go.

      Here’s to hoping that we get Documents To Go for the Pre’s birthday which is coming up on June 6th.