• hp,  pixi,  sprint,  web os

    Palm Pixi Free on Sprint (Online Only)

    September 20, 2010 /

    The other day I reported that the original, non-plused Palm Pixi would be free on Sprint after a $100 mail in rebate.  I was on the Sprint website and noticed that there is an online only offer to receive the Pixi free.

    To get the Pixi free, you must order the phone online with an accompanying new line of service or qualifying service agreement upgrade (read: extension).

    If you are looking to make the jump to a webOS powered Pixi, now is the time to do it.  For more details, visit the Sprint website.

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  • att,  microsoft,  sprint,  t-mobile,  verizon,  windows phone

    No CDMA Windows 7 Phones Until 2011

    September 19, 2010 /

    While I was off vacationing, it appears that Microsoft has stated that there will be no Windows 7 smartphones released for Verizon or Sprint in 2010.

    “For the worldwide market, the vast majority of phones are GSM phones, so we focused on GSM first and then plan to deliver an update that will have great CDMA support in the first half of 2011. That’s device availability in the first half and we’re very confident of that. That’s probably a conservative estimate,” said Microsoft senior product manager, Greg Sullivan.

    After Microsoft’s disaster with the Kin, I’m all for letting them test out their new mobile operating system in “the worldwide market” before it comes to Verizon or Sprint.  The silver lining is that customers on AT&T and T-Mobile have a chance of getting their hands on a Windows 7 phone before anyone else her in the States.

    [Via BoyGeniusReport.com…]

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  • hp,  pixi,  pre,  sprint

    With New Line of Service Sprint Pre Drops to $49; Pixi Free

    September 12, 2010 /

    It is expected that Sprint will be dropping the prices for the original Palm Pre and Palm Pixi today.

    The Sprint edition Palm Pre, complete with center button, will drop from $149 to just $49.  The Sprint edition Palm Pixi, you know, the one without Wi-Fi, will be free, zero, nada dollars.  Both new prices reflect the final price after a mail-in rebate.

    If you are off contract and want to upgrade your phone without having to extend your service commitment, you will be able to purchase the Palm Pre for $349 and Palm Pixi for $299.

    [Via PreCentral.net…]

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  • apple,  iphone,  sprint,  t-mobile,  verizon

    Is The Door Still Open for An iPhone on Sprint or T-Mobile?

    August 24, 2010 /

    There was an interesting article posted out on the Digital Daily blog.  Kaufman Bros. technology analyst Shaw Wu reports that a Verizon Wireless iPhone still isn’t a done deal.

    “From our understanding, the Verizon negotiations are not finalized with important details still being ironed out, including technology and economics,” Wu said in a note to clients this morning. “We think it is premature to rule out T-Mobile or Sprint.”

    “Or both of them, together. As Wu notes, adding T-Mobile and Sprint as additional carriers would almost be like adding Verizon (VZ). Together, Sprint (S) and T-Mobile have about 82 million subscribers. Verizon has 93 million subscribers.”

    You can read the full blog post on the Digital Daily website.

    So who’s up for a Sprint edition Apple iPhone?

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  • hp,  pre,  sprint,  web os

    HP Palm webOS 1.4.5 Update Available For Sprint Customers

    August 11, 2010 /

    A short while ago, Sprint Palm Pre and Pixi customers started receiving notifications that the Palm webOS 1.4.5 software update was available for download and installation on their phones.

    During my frantic game of “Keep Tapping the Refresh Button In The Updates Application,” I finally received my upgrade notice.  Reports are also coming in, and I have seen it first hand, that there is some trouble downloading the update from Palm HQ.  In the Palm webOSdev Twitter feed, Palm writes:

    “we are aware of the problems downloading 1.4.5 for sprint customers. It’s being investigated.”

    Update: 
    As of 1:00am Eastern time, the download issue has been resolved and Sprint Palm Pre and Pixi customers can download and install the new webOS update.  If you tried to download the update earlier this evening and couldn’t and you still can’t, try rebooting your Pre or Pixi.  Once I did, I was able to download the update successfully.

    It’s after midnight here on the East Coast, so I’m sure that by the time we all get out of bed in a few hours, the update will be ready for download and installation during our morning commute.  In the mean time, here are the official details on webOS 1.4.5.

    Palm webOS 1.4.5 weighs in at 8MB and includes “minor software improvements.”  Palm has also updated their Palm webOS support site to list the changes in webOS 1.4.5.

    Palm webOS 1.4.5 Change Log

    New applications

    NONE

    Feature changes to existing applications System

    • This release includes minor fixes and enhancements to support the public release of the webOS Plug-in Development Kit (PDK).
    • This release may require you to update certain apps to their latest version to properly support the launch of the webOS PDK. If you have a game that is not saving your game information correctly (high scores, stages, settings) check the App Catalog for updates. For more information on updating apps, see Using App Catalog

    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.

    You can review the change log for each of the webOS updates on the Palm support website.  Just in case you are keeping score, this is software update 12 since Palm released the original Palm Pre on Sprint a little over a year ago.  Not too bad Palm.  While 1.4.5 will bring some new enhancements for 3D gaming on the Pre and Pixi, I’m really looking forward to webOS 2.0 which is scheduled for release late this year if all goes well.

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  • hp,  pixi,  pre,  sprint,  web os

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

    August 11, 2010 /

    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?

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  • hp,  pre,  sprint,  web os

    webOS Battery Performance – Day 1 Results

    July 25, 2010 /

    After yesterday’s post about testing battery performance on my Sprint edition Palm Pre, I left my settings alone, with the exception of turning on Wi-Fi as suggested in the PreCentral article.

    After fully charging my Pre, the battery died at around 2pm today, 21 hours after the test started. That is a far cry from the 2.5 days that the BlackBerry Storm2 is getting. I’m going to charge the phone up again, and will re-run the test starting at 5pm this evening with W-Fi turned off and see how things go.

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  • blackberry,  hp,  pre,  sprint,  storm,  verizon,  web os

    webOS Battery Performance

    July 24, 2010 /

    I’ve been a fan of Palm’s PDAs and smartphones for some 11 years now. I have a love/hate relationship with my Sprint edition Palm Pre. webOS is an amazing little OS that works well. The one feature that I love the most is Synergy. The ability for webOS to sync all of my cloud (aka Internet) accounts and present that information in a single unified spot is niffy indeed.

    But I hate the battery performance of my phone. I can barely get 24 hours on a single charge with minimal calls and surfing. I have my Pre with me all the time, but I use is sparingly to make sure that I can make it through my day on a full charge. Conversely, my Verizon BlackBerry Storm2, which gets used about the same as my Pre, can easily go 2.5 days without me having to worry about recharging the device.

    On the Pre, I keep features that I don’t need that drain the battery turned off. This includes the GPS and Wi-Fi radios. I even keep the screen brightness down around 25-30%.

    Earlier this week, I read an interesting data point on PreCentral that reads:

    “Turn Wi-Fi on and leave it on. Seriously. Unless you’re someplace where there’s positively not a Wi-Fi network to which you can connect, leave Wi-Fi on. The Wi-Fi radio in all webOS phones (with the exception of the Wi-Fi-less Sprint Pixi) is notably more power efficient than the cellular radio, so whenever possible use Wi-Fi instead. Plus, if you’re on a metered data plan, you can save your bytes for later.”

    That statement runs counter to what I’ve always practiced with my Treo smartphones. For more than a year, I’ve left Wi-Fi off on my Pre, and only configured one of many email and social media account to sync at an interval of less than 1 hour. There is something to consider about the PreCentral article and that is that if you have apps that poll the Internet for information, the Wi-Fi radio really might be more efficient than the cellular radio.

    I want to test this notion out, so all this week, I’m going to leave Bluetooth on as I always do (for handsfree driving), and turning Wi-Fi on. I also have GPS enabled so that when I take a photo, it is “geotagged” for use in iPhoto. (That is a really cool feature, if you have iPhoto ’09 and a GPS enabled smartphone or camera.)

    I’ll post my results over the coming days. If I find that the battery life is good, then I may start turning on more frequent email and social media updates so I can get information more timely.

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  • apple,  att,  evo,  ios,  iphone,  sprint

    Engadget: Apple iPhone 4 vs. Sprint HTC EVO 4G

    June 28, 2010 /

    The good folks over at Engadget have a good review of the Apple iPhone vs the Sprint HTC EVO which is an essential read if you are in the market for either new smartphone.

    “Hoo boy. This is a tough one, isn’t it? In our years at Engadget, we’ve rarely seen such deafening debate and adulation for a pair of devices. In one corner we have the iPhone 4, coming off a few relatively easy rounds atop the smartphone mind share heap. However, the Droid and its ilk have weakened Apple’s spot, and here comes the HTC EVO 4G in for the kill, sporting a larger screen, 4G data, and all manner of HTC sexy. If the devices themselves weren’t enough, the debate has turned into something larger and metaphorical, with Apple representing tight restrictions and a singular top down vision, while Google’s Android stands for something perhaps a bit more haphazard but democratizing.”

    You can read the full story on the Engadget website.

    [Via Engadget…]

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