by Christopher Meinck on September 1, 2010
One of the benefits of purchasing a webOS device are the free and often regular updates pushed out by Palm. I’ve lost count of how many software updates have been released for the Sprint Palm Pre, all of which have improved my user experience with the phone. There’s been plenty of discussion about fragmentation on other platforms, most notably on Android phones. Are we starting to see fragmentation on webOS phones as result of the carriers? The current shipping version of webOS is 1.4.5 and it’s been
available for both the Sprint Palm Pre and Palm Pixi since August 11th. That’s not the case with the other two US carriers.
AT&T hasn’t updated either the Palm Pixi Plus or Palm Pre Plus. As to when that might be happening, there has been no word from Palm or AT&T. Just yesterday, HP’s Rahul Sood summoned customers to ask carriers for the updates.
“Palm customers, you want game? The carriers have their updates. Get together and ask for 1.4.5″.
Palm has done a remarkable job with providing an operating system that can deliver updates OTA (over the air) with little effort on the part of consumers. Why are the carriers so slow to push updates and is this the start of fragmentation across the webOS platform.
One of the benefits of purchasing a webOS device are the free and often regular updates pushed out by Palm. I’ve lost count of how many software updates have been released for the Sprint Palm Pre, all of which have improved my user experience with the phone. There’s been plenty of discussion about fragmentation on other platforms, most notably on Android phones. Are we starting to see fragmentation on webOS phones as result of the carriers? The current version of webOS is 1.4.5 and it’s been available for both the Sprint Palm Pre and Palm Pixi since August 11th. That’s not the case with the other two US carriers.
Let’s take a look at Verizon. Yesterday we reported that webOS 1.4.5 was starting to ship for the Palm Pixi Plus. No word on the same update for Palm Pre Plus owners on Verizon, arguably the bulk of webOS owners on that carrier. No word on when that update is coming, this at a time when we are already seeing word of webOS 2.0 on the horizon.
AT&T hasn’t updated either the Palm Pixi Plus or Palm Pre Plus. As to when that might be happening, there has been no word from Palm or AT&T. Just yesterday, HP’s Rahul Sood on Twitter suggested customers nudge carriers for the updates. “Palm customers, you want game? The carriers have their updates. Get together and ask for 1.4.5″.
Palm has done a remarkable job with providing an operating system that can deliver updates OTA (over the air) with little effort on the part of consumers.
Why are the carriers so slow to push updates and is this the start of fragmentation across the webOS platform.
by Christopher Meinck on August 31, 2010
Palm just dropped a whole lot of information on the upcoming webOS 2.0, including the release of the webOS 2.0 SDK starting today. Still no word on when webOS 2.0 will land on our devices or a mythical new device, but this is a great first step and there is plenty to get excited about. Palm briefed the gents at Engadget and here’s our take on the updated features.
- Stacks: An extension of the cards metaphor, stacks allows you to group related cards. Have a bunch of cards displaying webpages, they will be neatly organized into a stack. They’ve taken one of the best features of webOS and improved upon it. Bravo!
- Just Type: Universal search is now given a new name, “Just Type”, along with some new tricks. They have opened up the API to developers, so now “Just Type” search is accessible by third party apps.
- Quick Actions: This is a developer feature, but one that will have long reaching effects on end users. Developers can utilize quick actions to perform a string of events. Palm explains that with Quick Actions, ” you will be able to start an email, create a message, update your status, search your favorite websites-all without having to launch an app.” Sounds like AppleScript, but on a mobile phone. Extremely powerful and it’ll be interesting to see how devs incorporate this into webOS.
- Synergy Improvements: Developers now have access to Synergy, so they can leverage the “contact joining” that was previously available to apps like Facebook.
- HTML 5 Enhancements: Improved support for HTML 5, including image data and gradient use with Canvas, the availability of local and session storage, geolocations support and application cache functions.
- Javascript Services: Palm is allowing access to node.js runtime environment, which in turn allows developers the ability to use a large library of standardized API’s.
- PDK plugins: The PDK plugin will be out of beta and now fully integrated into the SDK. Palm explains this will allow developers the ability mix PDK elements with Mojo development.
Stacks and Just Type are of course the most notable features since most end users can easily relate to front end features. The other improvements, while geared towards developers, should improve the developer experience.
by Christopher Meinck on August 31, 2010
Verizon has started to rollout webOS 1.4.5 for the Palm Pixi Plus. The full changelog is below. Of course, the most important is the ability to run 3D games, so now you folks on Verizon can get your Angry Birds game on. Now if we can get webOS 1.4.5 for the Verizon Palm Pre Plus, we’d be in good shape.
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.
by Ryan Machin on August 28, 2010
The loving team over at @webosinternals have updated their ever impressive UberKernel to now support the 1GHz CPU overclocking speeds. Of course, these speeds were previously available to those who felt the need to live life on the’ bleeding’ edge and test out various alpha kernels that incorporated these speeds, but Rod Whitby and co felt the time had come that this clock speed had been tested long enough to be stable for a public release, so they’ve rolled it up in to UberKernel.
To make way for the 1GHz speeds, the 550MHz speed has been removed from the kernel (see ya!). Also incorporated is the temperature override whereby if your Pre’s CPU reaches 55c it’ll downclock automagically to stock speeds until it’s cooled down to 50c. These settings can be changed to your liking, but in my opinion, best left as they are. The kernel also maintains all available governor settings, screenstate (my personal choice), conservative, ondemand, powersave, userspace and performance.
If you’ve sticking with UberKernel and haven’t checked your Preware updates in a couple of days, you may wanna go and do it now. Or indeed, if you’ve been holding back until a stabler release of this speed arrived, then now is your time. Go do it. Your Pre will thank you for it.
Photo courtesy of Rimarkable
by Ryan Machin on August 28, 2010
In my brief time using FroYo on Android, one of the things that impressed me the most was the then beta application made by Google – Chrome to Phone. If you’ve never heard of this,what it does is allows you to send a link straight from your Chrome browser and within seconds it’s loaded up on your phone. It’s such a simple yet superb concept and you’ll never think you needed it until you use it.
Now what developer Geoff Gauchet aka @zhephree has done, is taken this idea and made it hugely more versatile. His app called ‘Neato!’, doesn’t require an extension to be installed in the browser (like Chrome to Phone does with Google Chrome), it works by creating a unique bookmarklet which you simply just drag to your bookmarks in your desired browser. Yes – this works in ANY browser! This is then pushed to your Pre or Pixi via the PubSubHubBub service. It also allows you to send highlighted text which can then be copied to the clipboard with ease straight from the phone. It’ll recognise a Google Maps URL and open up Google Maps, a Youtube link and open up Youtube, and coming in a later update, it’ll be able to recognise a phone number and open up the phone app straight away which is simply an awesome time-saver and what will make this app so cool to use.
The only downside is it’s not out yet! It’s currently in the hands of Palm awaiting review, so shouldn’t be long. The app cost a very reasonable $1.43 | 94p, and really one of the main reason it’s as paid app is for server costs. So watch out for this dropping in an App Catalog near you!
For full details head over to Zhephree’s blog here
UPDATE: This is now out! Palm approved this overnight, so head over to the App Catalog and get it here
by Christopher Meinck on August 24, 2010
According to a few leaked documents sent to Engadget, it appears that Verizon has started to phase out a number of phones including the Palm Pre Plus. The Palm Pixi Plus is not listed among those being phased out, which leads us to believe that a possible replacement is en route for the Palm Pre Plus. Perhaps those rumors of a Palm Pre 2 heading to Verizon are true.
Anyone up for new hardware?
