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Palm Pre in cahoots with Dutch provider Hi?

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jul 3rd 2009 @ 4:56AM

The GSM version of Palm's Pre looks all set for a UK announcement next week on O2. Now we get this, a Pre spotted on the support site for Dutch carrier Hi in The Netherlands. Fine, but what you may not know is that O2 and Hi (part of KPN) are also deeply intertwined with Telefonica -- O2 being owned by Telefonica and KPN being an "integrated carrier" with a long history of Telefonica courtship rumors. So, putting two and two together might equal a September launch if that previous Telefonica rumor was true.

[Via Tweakers, thanks Harm H.]

GSM Pre to launch on O2 in UK

by Nilay Patel, posted Jul 1st 2009 @ 3:58PM

We heard earlier this morning that the GSM Pre was set for a UK launch, and now it sounds like things are coming together: The Guardian says the Palm's baby will launch on O2. That makes perfect sense, O2 owner Telefonica reportedly secured broad global rights to the Pre back in March. Of course, this is all yet to be official, but with actual GSM handsets floating around out there and an announcement expected next week, we're guessing we don't have too much longer to wait.

Palm to disclose UK Pre launch details next week?

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 1st 2009 @ 9:06AM

We heard way back at CES that a GSM Pre was in the works, but not until now have we heard who exactly in the world would be using it. According to confirmation received by T3, Palm is gearing up to disclose the whos, whats and wheres behind the UK launch next week, meaning that we've got seven days (give or take) to twiddle our thumbs until we know which carrier (O2 or Vodafone, most likely), how much and when it'll be available for purchase. We know it's agonizing, but at least you've a time frame to circle in your Trapper Keeper now, right?

Frustratingly long secret code enables totally useful landscape email on Pre

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jul 1st 2009 @ 3:03AM

It's one thing to bury something like developer mode -- a mode that the average Pre user will never need -- behind a cute-but-exhausting throwback Konami code, but it's quite another to hide useful stuff that way. A PreCentral tipster discovered that entering "RocknRollHax" on the keyboard (and yes, capitalization is important here) while in the email app enables the previously missing capability to use it in landscape mode; presumably Palm hid it from end users because they thought it was too buggy or weird for mainstream use, but it certainly works alright for us. Worst part is that the code needs to be re-entered each and every time the email app starts, so you'd better really want it -- but at least you don't have to root to get it.

Video: Palm Pre caught playing with GSM SIM in Vietnam

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 30th 2009 @ 7:12AM

Having the Palm Pre on Sprint might be good for Americans driving their pick 'em up trucks down the CDMA data highway, but it doesn't do Europeans (or Palm's bottom line) any good over in the Old World. Now we've got video and images of a GSM-loving Palm Pre on the loose in Vietnam. Why 'Nam? Easy, as workers gain more rights and higher wages in China, manufacturers of all our fancy consumer electronics are heading further south in search of cheap labor. While this doesn't mean a damn thing regarding launch, it's still good to see a functioning GSM Pre in the wild on the way to launch sometime before the end of the year, possibly sooner. Video after the break, as the saying goes.

[Thanks, Enzo]

Continue reading Video: Palm Pre caught playing with GSM SIM in Vietnam

Palm Pre finds fan off the grid

by Donald Melanson, posted Jun 29th 2009 @ 4:42PM

Alright, so you've no doubt seen plenty of Palm Pre reviews by this point (even if there's only one you really need), but we're guessing you haven't seen one quite like this one from PreCentral forum user Michael Bunker, who has been using the phone completely off the grid for the past three weeks (if you don't count the cell service, that is). Among other things, Bunker found that the Pre was particularly helpful for selling cows over the internet, keeping watch on any oncoming tornadoes, checking for the cheapest gas prices in the nearby towns, and catching up on the odd TV show (since he doesn't have an actual TV). Of course, he does also have a few complaints about the phone, including the familiar refrain of hoping to "see some more apps." Hit up the link below for the full review.

[Via PreCentral.net]

Palm Pre gets upgraded to 1.0.4 (update: homebrew installs via email dead for now)

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jun 29th 2009 @ 1:50PM

We don't know exactly what's new yet, but Palm's released firmware version 1.0.4 for Pres on Sprint (not to say there are any other Pres out there at the moment, anyhow). Stay tuned for details.

Update: Looks like the only changes here address security vulnerabilities -- and interestingly, Palm gives a shout-out to Townsend Ladd Harris (a Pre homebrewer no less) who helped find them. Cheers to that.

Update 2: Sadly, Palm's plugged the hole that allowed homebrew apps on the phone without a jailbreak, though software you've already installed on the phone will continue to work. The hole that's been plugged was admittedly dangerous to leave open (installing apps via a link in email), though rooting and installing otherwise remain unchanged as far as we know.

Palm's Mojo SDK beta for webOS leaks into the wild

by Paul Miller, posted Jun 27th 2009 @ 11:41AM

Palm has done its darnedest to keep the riffraff away from webOS development while it finishes up its Mojo SDK for webOS development, but the floodgates have finally opened with an opportune leak of Mojo to Torrent-vill. Naturally, Palm will still be locking out unapproved developers from releasing their creations to the App Catalog for the time being, but this should hopefully give the everyman a chance to hone apps in anticipation of a day of approval -- and should really beef up the homebrew community in the meantime. The other good news is that Palm is actually adding developers to its "early access program" at a fairly rapid pace, announcing that it doubled its membership this week, and plans to double it again next week. It's all coming together.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: The original leak was strictly Windows-style, but PreThinking notes that it's available for Mac now as well.

Palm says licensing webOS "not a religious issue"

by Nilay Patel, posted Jun 26th 2009 @ 12:25PM

http://www.engadget.com/media/2009/06/webos-clie-1.jpg

Palm had its quarterly results conference call yesterday and although CEO Jon Rubinstein and CFO Doug Jeffries kept a pretty tight lid on the future product talk, they did say that licensing webOS to third parties isn't "a religious issue for us." That's pretty vague, sure, but we can't help but immediately think back to the golden age of Palm OS, when licensees like Sony put out amazing devices like the Clie PEG-NZ90 that we've lovingly mocked up with a webOS screenshot above -- we're sure Palm's upcoming handsets will be interesting in their own right, but we'd love to see a manufacturer like HTC riff on webOS the way it's tweaking Android. Of course, Jeffries also said Palm has "no plans at this time to even talk about" licensing, so this is all just a pipe dream for now, but let's not ruin the moment, okay? Hit the read link for the full call transcript.

[Via GearLog]

Sprint takes a bite out of the Apple, touts innovative Pre features like 'multitasking'

by Paul Miller, posted Jun 26th 2009 @ 11:28AM

From the look of it, our BFF Roger McNamee stole himself a copy of Adobe InDesign and has gone wild in Sprint's ad department, calling out the iPhone for its unitasking nature and spendy contract price. All we have to say is that if this is really going to turn into this generation's Sega vs. Nintendo war, we'd better see a whole lot more licensed Joe Montana titles.

[Via PreThinking]

Palm App Catalog sees 1 million downloads to 150,000 Pre owners

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 25th 2009 @ 5:50AM

A million downloads, impressive. Even more so when you consider that fewer than 30 applications were available for download from the App Catalog to a single device (the Pre) available only on the number 3 carrier (Sprint) in the US. Unfortunately, Palm's not offering any official numbers -- the figure comes via industry analysts who suggest 150,000 Pre devices shipped since the June 6th retail introduction for an average of about seven apps downloaded per phone. Imagine the numbers had Palm's SDK been ready prior to launch.

[Via NY Times Blog]

Sprint now taking phone orders for Pre

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jun 25th 2009 @ 4:34AM

Say you've been cooped up in your domicile for the past three-odd weeks, which means you blew right past the Pre launch -- and you've been unable to bring yourself to put on pants and trudge into a store. That's a big problem considering that Sprint's only been willing to offload Pres through retail locations so far -- but the tide's turning, and they've now let it known through the company's official Twitter account that telesales are a go. You still can't buy one online -- which would mean that in addition to avoiding the store, you'd also be able to avoid any interaction with a human being whatsoever -- but we're getting close, and we'll drink to that. Alone.

[Via Palm Infocenter]

Missing Sync beta available for Pre

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jun 24th 2009 @ 4:08AM

Palm would have us all believe that the "cloud," a dash of EV-DO, and a smidge of WiFi are all you need to get your webOS-based device synced to the rest of your world, but back in the real world, we all know that's not necessarily the case. MarkSpace -- well-entrenched in the world of getting BlackBerrys, Windows Mobile phones, and everything in between to play nice with Macs -- has released a beta version of The Missing Sync for Pre, letting you sync your music, bookmarks, ringtones, files, pictures, and just about everything else using its Proximity Sync tech which automatically hooks into your machine when it's in WiFi range. It's free for the time being while it's in testing, but don't use it unless you're willing to shell out should you get hooked -- the final retail version will run $39.95 when it's available.

[Via PC World]

Palm Treo Pro relaxes out of the spotlight, sheds $150

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jun 22nd 2009 @ 10:53PM

At $549, you might say that the Treo Pro is a tough pill to swallow in the face of ever-sexier competition from other WinMo devices and Palm's own Pre -- but at $399 fully unlocked, it becomes a more interesting proposition. For four bills, Palm's now offering a fully unlocked, Windows Mobile Professional device with a 320 x 320 display, US-spec HSDPA, and a new-look industrial design that -- in retrospect, anyway -- foretells the Pre's design more than it pays homage to the Treos that preceded it. For the record, that's $150 off, which undercuts some of the traditionally inexpensive resellers like Amazon -- pretty crazy for a first-party store. Any takers?

[Via Brighthand]

iPhone 3G S and Pre head-to-head benchmarks: iPhone wins

by Laura June, posted Jun 20th 2009 @ 11:29PM

Now that we know the iPhone 3G S and the Palm Pre share extremely similar 65nm ARM Cortex A8-based internals, it's time to break out the stopwatches and see how these blood brothers stack up. Anandtech has the first head-to-head tests we've seen, and it seems like the 3G S has the slight edge, loading a series of web pages ~~11 percent faster~~ and a whopping 54 percent faster than the iPhone 3G. ~~Not too shabby, but not exactly a thorough drubbing either -- especially when you consider webOS is still 1.0 and there's likely some optimizations to come.~~ Full results at the read link.

Update: Anandtech had some uncharacteristically bad math going on -- the 3G S is actually 21 percent faster than the Pre, which is quite notable considering the similar hardware and WebKit-based browsers.