The written musings of a long-time Apple //e and Macintosh tech nerd. Opinions are my own.
MotionApp is going green for Earth Day! On their Facebook page, MotionApps writes:
The new Facebook client adds Facebook updates to webOS so you can receive Facebook notifications in the webOS notifications area. (See the image below to see what the notifications for Facebook looks like.)
I’m not the biggest Facebook user, but I did install the update yesterday and I think Facebook users (fanatics or not) will like the new feature. With this release of Facebook , I believe that the Palm webOS client is on par with the iPhone OS client in everyway. Way to go Palm!
If you have an earlier version of the webOS Facebook app, you can upgrade to version 1.2.0 using the Updates application. If you don’t have the Facebook app installed on your Palm Pre or Pixi, you can get it today from the App Catalog.
Palm Pre and Pixi customers on Sprint can jump on the webOS 1.4.1 fun today Palm has released the webOS 1.4.1.1 update is available for download. You can install the update over the air using the Updates application on your Palm Pre or Pixi.
Palm webOS 1.4.1.1 delivers the following fixes:
Bluetooth
Camera
Doc View
System
Touchstone charging dock
You can read the full list of changes and enhancements in Palm webOS 1.4.1.1 on the Palm webOS updates website. Bell and Verizon customers who have the Pre and Pixi will have to wait a little bit longer as the 1.4.1.1 update is not listed on the Palm website.
PreCentral.net has posted an official statement from Palm on the webOS hacker community’s attempt to speed up their phones running webOS.
In the brief statement posted on the PreCentral.net website, Palm writes:
“We have had a number of questions about the recently released “overclocking” patches and what Palm’s position on them are.
Palm is working hard to improve the speed and performance of webOS, as shown in our recent 1.4 update. While we appreciate the effort the webOS community has put forth to try and help us along that path, the use of this application is neither endorsed nor recommended by Palm and will likely result in a voided warranty. Palm encourages webOS users to let Palm release official updates that provide safe, reliable, over-the-air features that improve their device in a number of areas, as we have in the past at a rate of approximately once per month.”
There you have it, folks. Overclock your Palm Pre or Pixi at your own risk! If you you overclock your phone, and you end up getting burned, Palm is going to charge you to repair or replace your phone.
You can read the full article on the PreCentral website.
[Via PreCentral.net…]
I just found out from a reliable source that only Sprint edition webOS devices, namely the Palm Pre and Pixi, are the only webOS devices that can use Yahoo IM from inside the Palm Messaging application.
No reason was given as to why there is a difference between the Sprint and Verizon webOS phones – only that Sprint phones can and Verizon phones can’t.
Go figure.
Palm’s webOS smartphones, the Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus, will be arriving on AT&T “in the coming months.”
AT&T’s 80 million customers will soon have a new choice for staying connected in their fast-paced lives — the Palm(R) webOS(TM) platform. Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ:PALM) today announced that the Palm Pre(TM) Plus and Palm Pixi(TM) Plus phones will be available on the nation’s fastest 3G network for $149.99 and $49.99, respectively, with a two-year service agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate.
“AT&T and Palm have a history of smartphone leadership, and today’s announcement is a significant milestone for us,” said Jon Rubinstein, Palm chairman and chief executive officer. “With Palm webOS phones coming to AT&T, Palm can help most anyone in the United States stay connected so they never miss a thing.”
“We’re offering our customers even greater choice by adding Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus to the nation’s best smartphone portfolio,” said Jeff Bradley, senior vice president, Devices, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “Palm webOS plus included access to the nation’s largest Wi-Fi network and the ability to talk and surf the web at the same time is a powerful combination.”
Pre Plus and Pixi Plus also support a variety of AT&T services, including AT&T Navigator for audible turn-by-turn navigation (subscription required), AT&T Address Book to easily synchronize online contacts to your phone, and YPMobile to quickly find local businesses. They also include the following features and specifications. (NOTE: A complete list of features and specifications for each phone is available at www.att.com/WebOS or www.palm.com/PrePlus and www.palm.com/PixiPlus.)
Pricing and Availability
Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus will be available in AT&T stores and online at www.wireless.att.com in the coming months for $149.99 and $49.99, respectively, with a two-year service agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate. More information is available at www.att.com/webOS.
Analysis
With all of the negative press that Palm has received over the last week or two, I’m really surprised that Palm isn’t talking about ship dates for the AT&T versions of their webOS phones. I realize that carrier testing can be sort of a mystic black art that can consume lots of time of software developers and system engineers both at Palm and AT&T. I really do believe that time is of the essence here and that Palm and all of their carrier partners here in the US really need to take things up a notch and get on the ball with their marketing A-game so to speak.
You can read today’s full press release on the Palm website.
With webOS 1.4.0, Palm has introduced over 70 new feature enhancements and fixes to their customers. I installed the update on my Sprint edition Pre and have spent some time playing with it. What follows are my impressions of some of the new features you can look forward to in webOS 1.4.0.
YouTube Links in App Catalog
The new App Catalog now allows developers to embed a link to a YouTube video of their application in action as seen here for ETI Studios Dice Tower application. Just tap on the video link to the upper right of the screen an the video loads up in webOS’ YouTube player application. That’s a nice feature since I almost never go to a YouTube page to view a video of a webOS or iPhone application in action before I buy.
Device Info
With this release of webOS, Palm has given their customers more control about how data is destroyed on a Pre or Pixi. There are now three types of data deletion options to delete applications and their data, everything from the USB drive partition, and a secure full erase (which erases apps, data, and the USB drive).
I think these features are important with so much focus on privacy today. You will want to use these features when you send your phone in for repair (don’t forget to back up first!), swap phones (for personal or corporate use), or give away or sell your phone when you get a new one. You won’t believe how many times over the last 10 years I have been told about stories of people buying a used phone and it still having the previous owner’s data still on it.
Blink Notifications
This is a feature I have been waiting for since June 6, 2009 – Not that I’ve been counting the days, hours, and minutes or anything like that!
Finally, finally, you can receive a visual notice that your Pre or Pix wants to get your attention when the screen is off! When there is a new message waiting for you, like an unread email, the Center button on my Sprint Pre now blinks twice, waits four seconds, and then blinks again.
Startup Card
This new “feature” drives me nuts. Before this feature was baked, or perhaps half-baked, into webOS, I never thought that app load times where longer then any other smartphone. Now I have a graphic that gets in my face every time I launch a new application that reminds me that I have to wait for my application to load. Ugh! I hate the start up card because I almost always flick cards away when I’m done using an app, so I start apps up all the time. Hopefully, we’ll be given an option to turn this option off in a future release of webOS.
Improved Performance and Battery Life
I don’t have a screen shot for this one. I just hope that Palm continues to work on these issues. There are times when I’m left wondering what the hell my Pre is doing as I wait there wondering if the phone accepted my touch or keyboard command. I would like to see Palm’s software engineers to continue to improve the peppiness of webOS.
Battery life is my #1 gripe with the Pre and webOS, bar none. It is a serious problem in my book when a phone battery does dead in anything less than 48 hours. When I was using my Palm Treo 700p, Treo 755p, the BlackBerry Curve, and even now with my HTC Droid Eris, I can go a full two days without having to worry about charging my phone. With the Pre and webOS, I start to worry about the battery about happy hour. It’s hard to use your phone for social networking when the battery is dead. But more importantly than that, if I forget to put the Pre on my Touchstone charging base, I shouldn’t wake up in the morning to a dead phone. That is just the pits and I refuse to carry around another $50 battery to get the same run time as my older phones have right now.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are a number of nice things included in this release of webOS. There are more features that I like than things I find annoying, and at the end of the day, I’ll get over them. If you like to have the latest and greatest software on your phone, download this update now using the Updates application.
The Palm webOS 1.4 update has finally showed up as being available for install on my Sprint Palm Pre this morning.
Palm’s management had said that the update would be rolled out in February during their CES press event last month. The update weighs in at 39MB.
Update
As of right now, the 1.4.0 update is only available for webOS Pre and Pixi phones from Sprint, O2 UK, O2 DE, O2 Ireland, and Movistar networks. If you have a Palm webOS phone on Verizon, Bell, or other carrier, you are going to have to wait a little longer for the certification testing to be completed.
The webOS 1.4.0 update does not include any new applications, however, it does include some 70+ documented updates to Palm’s mobile operating system. This update includes the following fixes and enhancements:
Calendar
Camera
Contacts
Device Info
Location Services (GPS-enabled features)
Messaging
Phone
Screen & Lock
Sounds & Ringtones
System (overall enhancements to webOS)
Videos
Wi-Fi
The full change log for the webOS 1.4.0 update can be found on the Palm webOS update website.
Installing the Update
Sprint customers can install the Palm webOS 1.4.0 update right now by using the Updates application on their phone. Customers can also wait for their Pre or Pixi to download the update in the background automatically and then install the update when the download is complete.
Earlier today, Plam issued a new guidance for Q3FY10, stating that the revenues for the smartphone maker will be below previous estimates.
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb 25, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ:PALM) today indicated that it expects that revenues for the third quarter of fiscal year 2010 will be in the range of $285 million to $310 million on a GAAP basis and in the range of $300 million to $320 million on a non-GAAP basis.1 Revenues for the quarter and full year are being impacted by slower than expected consumer adoption of the company’s products that has resulted in lower than expected order volumes from carriers and the deferral of orders to future periods. Accordingly, Palm expects fiscal year 2010 revenues to be well below its previously forecasted range of $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion. The company will provide more detail on its financial results during Palm’s third-quarter financial results conference call currently scheduled for Thursday, March 18.
“Palm webOS is recognized as a groundbreaking platform that enables one of the best smartphone experiences available today, and our work to evolve the platform and bring industry-leading technology to market continues. However, driving broad consumer adoption of Palm products is taking longer than we anticipated,” said Jon Rubinstein, chairman and chief executive officer. “Our carrier partners remain committed, and we are working closely with them to increase awareness and drive sales of our differentiated Palm products.”
The Company expects to close its third fiscal quarter with a cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments balance in excess of $500 million.
Analysis
This can’t be good news for Palm, who has been struggling over the last two years to transform their business both from a technology standpoint and a revenue standpoint. Over the last three years, Palm completely changed their management team, infused the company with a number of tech company A-list talent, and completely revamped their smartphone and mobile operating system software.
However, many people where critical of what was pent up demand for the original Palm Pre smartphone which when on sale with exclusive launch partner, Sprint, back on June 6, 2009. Many customers on Verizon, which only recently began selling the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus, and AT&T simply had no way of getting new Palm hardware except to jump carriers which has become an extremely costly proposition for customers in today’s depressed economy.
I personally believe that Palm took too long to bring the Pre to Verizon as the Pre Plus and that their six month exclusive agreement with Sprint went on too long. It didn’t help that the second Palm webOS smartphone, the Pixi, also started out life on Sprint as an exclusive. Customers on AT&T and T-Mobile still don’t have access to a branded Palm smartphone.
Lastly, Palm is fighting an uphill battle against white hot brands like the Apple iPhone 3G S, the Motorola Droid, and the BlackBerry Storm2. Palm is going to have to get more phones out to more carriers and into the hands of customers sooner rather than later. That means Palm should pick up the pack and get the distribution deal with AT&T in place and grow the regions around the world that have access to Palm’s products.
It looks like FY2011 is going to continue to be difficult for Palm. Palm’s stock closed the day at $6.53 with a number of investment firms changing their buy ratings to sell.
PreCentral.net is reporting that having native Adobe Flash support on Palm webOS devices like the Pre could become a reality later this month.
“Palm and SFR held their French launch event last night and reports on the ground bring good news: Palm employees specifically said that Flash would be available in February. Previously we had been a little unsure of that, what we knew for sure was that webOS 1.4 would lay the underpinning for it, but the actual release (which is coming in the App Catalog) was less clear.”
Sounds cool if it’s true and would be a cool trick since the iPhone can’t handle embedded Flash content in web pages.
You can read the full article over on PreCentral.net.