So you nabbed a webOS device over the holidays? Maybe you got yourself a Pixi or Pre Plus, or if you were really lucky, someone dropped a Pre 2 in your stocking. We know that Palm isn’t exactly ruling the roost when it comes to smartphones, but that doesn’t mean that your new device isn’t plenty powerful given the right apps and proper tweaks. In fact, webOS can stand toe-to-toe with the iOS and Android devices of the world, even if the selection of apps and hardware leaves something to be desired. So how do you turn your holiday cheer into a year-round workhorse? Read on after the break for the must-have apps, accessories, and more!
We’re hoping he wasn’t speaking out of turn here, but for what it’s worth, Palm developer advocate Josh Marinacci has said on stage at webOS Developer Days today in New York that webOS 2.0 will be coming to “all” Palm devices in “the coming months.” Now, we’re going to go ahead and assume he’s not talking about your Treo 650, your Palm III, or your LifeDrive, but we’re taking that to mean that Pre, Pixi, Pre Plus, and Pixi Plus owners on all carriers around the globe can expect official upgrades for their phones — and hey, considering how mild of an upgrade the Pre 2 is (and the fact you can’t get it on some of the older devices’ launch carriers), that’s fantastic news. Follow the break for Marinacci’s full presentation from the event.
Resisting pressure from AT&T and Verizon, Sprint had stubbornly held out and refused to significantly lower pricing on its aging Palm Pre and Pixi — despite the fact that they’re not even the Plus versions offered by the other guys. Well, that finally changed a few days ago: you can now score a Pre for $50 and a Pixi for a nice, fat zilch on a new two-year contract after rebate (the Pre’s deal will require a $100 mail-in, unfortunately). With webOS 2.0 hardware presumably around the corner, buying any of this stuff might be a tricky proposition at the moment — but then again, it’s always hard to resist a free smartphone, isn’t it?
Looks like a long-overdue maintenance release is inbound for Pre and Pixi users on Sprint — and if the changelogs on Sprint’s site are accurate, it’s getting pushed as soon as… well, right now. webOS 1.4.5 doesn’t bring any exciting new features, per se, but it’s got a handful of bug fixes that should make your life a tad more pleasant — including something called “battery optimization,” which is always a good thing when it comes to a power-chugging smartphone like the Pre. For the record, this particular build was supposed to have hit in early July, but for whatever reason, it fell off the map — let’s hope the same doesn’t happen with webOS 2.0, yeah?
Update: And now we’re getting numerous reports that the update is rolling out to the Sprint Pre faithful. Anyone feeling left out?
A few iterations beyond the last time we checked in, the Palm webOS Facebook app is now up to beta version 1.2.30. New features this time around include landscape viewing, improved photo tagging, and the ability to clear all notifications by selecting view all, then using a back gesture to exit the menu. Other changes that are more immediately noticeable are the news feed dropdown menu option (before & after picture after the break) which should be quite useful for those following our tips on managing your Facebook friends, plus the ability to see comments directly in the news feed, instead of just a number indicating how many there are. Check Preware or hit link below to download the latest version, if you’re stuck on 1.2.5, just use the update feature on your phone and it should find the latest version.
We can’t say it’s the most practical of hacks, but it looks like Sprint Palm Pixi users eager to add some much-needed WiFi to their device do have at least one option. As demonstrated by PreCentral forum member gitit20, all you have to do is find a Verizon Pixi Plus somewhere, pull out its radio board, swap it with the one in your Sprint Pixi, and run the Sprint webOS Doctor application to get everything back in working order. As you can see above, the two radio boards are identical apart from the missing WiFi chip, and there’s apparently no extra fiddling with serial numbers or anything required. Head on past the break for the whole thing on video.
Wow, that didn’t take long! A couple days ago, you were paying $50 to take this thing home, but AT&T has moved perhaps quicker than any carrier in memory to adjust pricing on the Pixi Plus down to a more reasonable $0 — on contract after rebates, of course. The only catch appears to be that you’ll have to sign up for a data plan of at least $15, which corresponds to the carrier’s recently-introduced DataPlus package that includes 200MB per month with overage of $15 per additional 200MB. That might seem low for your average power user on your average smartphone — but this is a Pixi Plus we’re talking about here.
You might recall that Verizon recently touted expanded device compatibility for its DVR Manager app, a boon for anyone looking to nab the latest episode of Income Property while hundreds of miles away from the homestead (we know, it happens all the time) — but what Big Red didn’t really highlight in its press release was that webOS was one of the platforms now being supported. As with the app’s counterparts on other mobile operating systems, the Palm-flavored build lets customers “set parental controls, set bookmarks, browse and search TV programming, view the DVR status to see how much space is left for recording, browse and search VOD listings, and see their lists of scheduled and recorded programs” — and so far, it’s getting well over four stars on a five-star scale since going live in the App Catalog, a good sign for usability. We don’t mean to get too hopelessly optimistic, but heck, who knows — this might even be a good sign for Verizon’s continued interest in Palm’s (or make that HP’s) platform in the long term.
We knew it was coming, and here it is: you can now grab up a Palm Pixi Plus on AT&T. The tiny QWERTY webOS device will run you $49.99 with a new two year contract after rebates. Overall, it’s pretty much the same beast as the classic Pixi, but check out our hands-on of the Plus, and our full review of the little dear if you need a refresher.
We said it was coming on June 6, and we weren’t lying — the Pixi Plus, that is, rife with GSM compatibility for AT&T’s airwaves. The Pre Plus is already available (with a free Touchstone thrown in, no less), but if you’re looking for something a smidge smaller with a little less horsepower, you might be holding out for this one. For what it’s worth, we’re hearing that the Touchstone promotion won’t apply to the new model — largely because it’ll sell for $100 less on contract, if we had to guess — so be sure you come packing enough cash on the 6th if wireless charging is your secret, irrepressible passion.
