(Credit:
Screenshot by Bonnie Cha/CNET)
As most Palm Pre owners (and anyone who bought the Palm Pixi, which went on sale Sunday) found out this weekend, WebOS 1.3.1 is now available for download.
The latest version of Palm's WebOS brings new features, such as the integration of Yahoo contacts, calendar, and instant messaging into Palm Synergy; text message forwarding; custom ring tone support; and support for Google Apps and Yahoo Small Business Domain e-mail accounts. In addition, WebOS 1.3.1 offers several of bug fixes, all of which you can find on Palm's Web site.
However, there seems to be some hidden treasures of WebOS 1.3.1. Precentral.net has listed some of the undocumented features that its users have found as well as changes to general performance. Some of the highlights include:
- Snappier response from the photo app
- Delete all option in the Trash e-mail folder
- International dialing preferences
- Signs that video recording capabilities are in the works
There are a handful more discoveries over at Precentral. But what about you? Have you found any goodies? Let us know or just tell us about your general experience with WebOS 1.3.1 by leaving a comment.
(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CNET)
On Monday, Palm set free its lastest WebOS update for the Palm Pre, bringing quite a number of new features to the smartphone and addresses several security issues.
If you haven't received it already, Palm WebOS 1.2 will arrive as an over-the-air update to your smartphone over the next few days. Notable additions include the integration of LinkedIn contacts, the capability to download songs from the Amazon MP3 Store over a 3G connection in addition to Wi-Fi, and cut and paste for Web pages and e-mails.
Other highlights include being able to search within e-mail folders, download files from the Web browser, and the capability to pause podcasts. We're still awaiting the arrival of prepaid apps, but it looks we're getting closer since you can now store credit card information on your Palm profile so you can purchase apps in the future.
For a full list of included updates with Palm WebOS 1.2, check out Palm's support site. Most notably absent from this update, however, is any mention of a fix to the iTunes synchronization, which was broken by iTunes 9.0. We're still waiting for the WebOS 1.2 to arrive on our Palm Pre, but let us know if the media syncing is still truly disabled and share your experience with the update in the comments below.
On Wednesday, Palm introduced its second WebOS smartphone, the Palm Pixi. Destined for Sprint for the holiday season, the svelte Pixi is targeted to a bit of a younger audience than the Palm Pre and offers a fresh design and new features but also makes some sacrifices in those departments to presumably reduce the cost of the device.
We got a chance to check out the Pixi first hand this afternoon, and though it's not a final product, we were heartened by what we saw. If priced right--we're thinking $100 or less--we could see a lot of youngsters and smartphone newbies flocking to this device. Find out more about the Palm Pixi and our impressions of the smartphone in our hands-on slideshow below. Also, be sure to check back for our First Look video to see the Pixi in action.
(Credit:
Screenshot by Bonnie Cha/CNET)
On Thursday, Palm announced the public release of its Mojo SDK to all developers interested in creating apps for its WebOS and launched a new developer portal, complete with FAQs, forums, and all the associated documentation for the SDK. In addition, the company said it will open the app submission process to all developers this fall and new applications are already in the pipeline from its early access program. Sweet, sweet news for both developers and Palm Pre owners.
Back at GSMA 2009, Adobe Systems announced that it would bring Flash Player 10 to a number of smartphones in 2010, and it looks like the company is making good on its promise.
In a Q2 audio press release, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen confirmed that Adobe will release a beta version of Flash Player 10 in October for a number of smartphone browsers, including Windows Mobile, Google Android, Palm WebOS, and Symbian. In addition, Narayen said ARM, Nvidia, Broadcom, Intel, Texas Instruments, and Qualcomm are currently optimizing the player for their products.
Obviously, this is great news for smartphone owners, but one platform noticeably missing from the list is the iPhone OS. This doesn't rule out Flash support on iPhones in the future, however. In the past, Adobe executives have stated that it's coming but that Apple is operating on its own schedule.
In CNET News' Marguerite Reardon's original report on Flash Player 10 in February, Anup Murarka, director of technology strategy and partner development for Adobe, said, "We would love to see it on the iPhone, too. But it's Apple's decision on when and how they support any new technology. So we will continue to work on it."
While iPhone users will have to wait (why do I imagine some people pointing at iPhone users and doing this?), as well as BlackBerry owners, others can get a sneak peek of what's to come in October in the video below, in which Adobe shows off Flash Player 10 on Google Android.
(Source: TMONews)
Palm Pre
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CBS Interactive)Phew! Thursday was a long, action-packed day thanks to Palm. I'm just now getting to sit down and gather my thoughts on the Palm Pre and Palm Web OS announcements, and I have to confess that I went into the press conference with some skepticism. It's no secret that Palm's been struggling to keep up with the competition and has ...
Read the full post at CNET's CES 2009 blog.
On Sale Now: $149.99 - $749.99
View the latest prices for Palm Pre (Sprint)
Palm unveils its new Pre phone, along with a new mobile OS, in a CES keynote address Thursday. Click on the image above for the full live blog from the event.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein, in a CES keynote, just unveiled the company's much anticipated new handset, the Palm Pre, which features the new Palm Web OS. The device has all the going features--Bluetooth stereo, Wi-Fi, 8GB of storage, and GPS. One thing that makes it a bit different is that in addition to a touch screen, it has a fold-out curved keyboard.
Head over to CNET News' live blog for the full story. And click on the audio link below to hear CNET News reporter Tom Krazit talk about the new smartphone.
AUDIO
Early take on Palm Pre
Crave Senior Editor Leslie Katz chats with CNET News reporter Tom Krazit about the just-announced Palm Pre and Web OS operating system. What sets it apart from the iPhone and BlackBerry?
Download mp3 (2.81MB)
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