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The Palm Pre showed up on a recent episode of Numb3rs, and we can only assume that confused look on Charlie’s face is the simplistic calculator that ships stock with webOS. Or could it be something much more sinister?
The game’s back on. Palm just announced the availability of its 1.2.1 update to WebOS for the Palm Pre and, well, that’s it for the time being. It fixes Exchange mail syncing issues experienced by some users, which is nice, but for everyone else it re-enables media sync with iTunes 9.0.1, with or without the USB-IF‘s support. In fact, Palm has signaled its commitment to its rogue approach by improving synchronization with the Photos app to keep the album structure in tact while allowing lower-resolution images to be synced to the Pre. Oh happy day — enjoy it while it lasts Pre owners.
The release of webOS 1.2 got all of the stars aligned for a barrage (or, at the very least, a trickle) of paid applications to start hitting the Pre, and the word on the street is that the first of those will be dropping tomorrow, October 2 — for users in the US, anyhow (Canadians apparently need to wait a while longer, a problem that Android users up there are all too acquainted with). The company will smartly be tying purchases to users’ Palm Profiles, meaning you’ll be able to redownload previously bought apps on any device you choose as long as your account is currently tied to it. Of course, the big question is what apps will be available to blow some cash on in the first round of Catalog approvals — what’s everyone hoping for?
The tips are flooding in — webOS 1.2.0 has just been released, and downloads are starting all over. Obviously the big new features is support for app purchases in the Catalog, but we’ve heard there are a ton of little fixes and improvements in addition — we’re checking it out now, let us know how it goes for you in comments!
Here are some major changes listed by Palm:
Search is now available in the email app, allowing you to find by subject, from, to, or CC fields (no message search yet).
The web browser now supports cut, copy, and paste within a webpage (text only).
Music purchases via Amazon can now be done over EV-DO. It’s not clear if they mean that you can download the tracks, or just queue them (that would be lame, however). Anyone test this yet?
A new gesture has been added which allows you to swipe down from the top of the screen to open the application or connection menu — which should be a huge help to everyone missing those small targets!
You can now download files from within the browser, and Palm has created an easy method to open a link in a new card.
Update:We haven’t tested it yet, but the Media Sync section of the release notes doesn’t make any mention of restoring iTunes compatibility — looks like Palm’s not going to poke at the USB-IF any more than it has to. Update 2: Tested. Don’t expect to sync with iTunes, everyone — it ain’t happening.
Hey, thought that $99.99 Amazon deal for a Palm Pre was really snazzy? Well today, Walmart appears to go one better by cutting the smartphone’s price down to a staggering $79.99 (on contract and with mail-in rebate). If prices keep going this low, you can probably expect the Pixi to show up for about nothing (zero, zip, zilch) sooner rather than later. If you’ve been looking for a deal to get into the Pre, this is it… but too bad if you dropped $200 a few months ago.
We were already pretty sure that reports that Verizon was passing on the Palm Pre were unwarranted, but the rumors just keep coming. Now BGR is reporting that it’s confirmed — albeit through an unnamed source — that the carrier will in fact land the device. It’s all starting to seem like a non-starter of a story at this point, considering we sort of already knew the Pre was probably going to Verizon, but at least now we’re less unsure that it’s not not on its way, right? Right.
Palm Pre owners, get ready to kiss your iTunes music goodbye.
The most recent turn in the Apple vs. Palm debate makes it even less likely that the Palm will again be able to sync with iTunes.
On Wednesday, Palm received a letter from the USB Implementers Forum, a group overseeing standards for USB connections, in reply to their complaint that Apple is constricting trade by not allowing Palm and other devices to sync to iTunes. The letter from USB-IF not only dismissed any violation by Apple, but also stated that Palm was actually the one in violation of the group’s membership agreement. That’s because Palm was misrepresenting the Pre as an iPod in order to access iTunes — a violation of the rules USB member companies have agreed to.
Palm and Apple have been in contention over iTunes syncing since the launch of the Palm Pre. One of the Pre’s selling points was that it could sync with iTunes music, a convenient feature for users of the popular music application. Apple soon struck back, disabling Pre syncing with a series of iTunes updates.
But there are other ways Palm could get around this decision for their customers. Research in Motion, the mobile OS for the Blackberry, has developed software to allow the transfer of music from iTunes to selected Blackberry devices. Users can transfer music from their computer to the Blackberry’s media player. However, only songs without digital rights management apply to this alternative to syncing. If you haven’t upgraded your iTunes purchases to be DRM-free, then only music purchased after January of earlier this year will work.
Unfortunately for Palm, the ability to sync to iTunes was a key feature for consumers who use iTunes to manage their music. Without a solution to the iTunes block, Pre owners will have to find other ways to keep their mobile music alive.
We’d heard Apple was pushing the Financial Accounting Standards Board to change the rules by which Cupertino’s accountants reported iPhone and Apple TV revenue, and it looks like the effort was successful. The new rules allow Apple (and other companies like Palm) to report revenues on products that bundle hardware and software all at once, instead of parceling out the revenue over time using subscription accounting to enable free software upgrades. For investors, that means Apple’s quarterly earnings reports will more accurately reflect the state of the company’s cash flow, but we’re more interested to find out if this means iPod touch OS updates will be free now, since the previous rationale for charging was that iPod revenue wasn’t recorded using subscription accounting. We’ve got a feeling Apple’s all too happy to take your $4.95, but we can hope, right?
The Pre’s proven to be an eminently hackable platform pretty much from day one, and given that, it stands to reason that major “missing” features are going to either be added in the hard way or a few good programmers are going to die trying. The virtual keyboard developments are seen as a big win for users, and next up is true video recording — something inexplicably missing from the device considering its ample (well, theoretically ample) processing power. Work on homebrew recording tools seems to be moving along nicely, with some open-source tools already available — so far, they’re apparently able to push it to 480 x 320 at 30fps, but it comes out encoded strangely and doesn’t resemble anything your average end user would want to be dealing with. That’s where Palm hopefully comes in with a future webOS update, but for now, at least we’re able to play around. Follow the break for video of the hack in action.
Most TV commercials are annoying, but the tech industry takes the cake for making ads so bad that you have to question if it was intentional.
Ever seen Snakes on a Plane? Now imagine that the creators were given the Microsoft account and told, “Make us look cool with one of those ‘viral videos’ that we hear the kids are so excited about these days.” What else explains the awfulness of these commercials and infomercials?
Who, in their wildest imagination, would think a video of a woman puking on her husband — three times — would increase the appeal of Internet Explorer 8? Or that a creepy, unbelievably diverse group of weirdos hosting a “Launch Party” would help sell Windows 7? We were close to puking ourselves.
Those are just a few examples of what you’re about to witness. Here, we round up a list of the 8 most God-awful, weird, and horrible-beyond-apprehension tech video ads we’ve ever seen. In Jay Leno fashion, we’ll run down the list in reverse order, from least offensive to most offensive, for the sake of your stomachs. Hang on tight.
8. MSI’s Butt-Crack-Compatible Notebooks
We can only imagine the altered mental state that MSI’s marketing team was when it concocted this bizarre ad. We’re sure these spandex-clad actors aren’t really catching notebooks with their butts — and it’s a little funny — but geez Louise, it tickles us. That doesn’t mean we’re perverts, does it?
7. Nintendo’s Cross-Dressing Legend of Zelda
In conversations about the Legend of Zelda videogame series, we’re well aware that a lot of people mistakenly call Link, the main character of the game, Zelda. That’s a funny mistake, because Link is the dude, and Zelda is the chick. Perhaps Nintendo was poking fun at the Zelda-Link mixup when the company decided to cast a woman to play Link in this old Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past commercial. That or Nintendo is just weird. Actually, the rap song and the dancing make the latter theory seem stronger.
6. GE’s Soulful Tribute to Its Locomotives
Why are there even GE Locomotive commercials? Who the hell is going to go out and buy a locomotive after watching a video on YouTube? We can tell this was an attempt at a clever joke, but the grizzly, bearded actors, who are probably just glad to have jobs at all in this day of industrial offshoring, don’t deliver. Bonus: There’s a keytar! (Thanks for suggesting this one, @CycleFreak!)
5. Pets.com’s Tone-Deaf Sock Puppet
Pets.com should’ve taken a tip from the Taco Bell chihuahua, who was a charming cutie. Boy was this website lazy with this sorry excuse for a puppet. It looks like it was haphazardly stitched together by Rosie O’Donnell’s character in Another One Rides the Bus. If you’re a pet community website, just use a real freaking dog! And this video, which features the sock puppet singing in a painfully off-key way, is the worst of the bunch. Even the nameless Wired.com staffers who kinda liked the sock puppet hate this commercial. (Good call on this one, @AlexisMadrigal)
4. Palm’s Creepy Ice Maiden
An affectless, eyebrowless lady soft-talking like Christian Bale certainly sent shivers down our spines, but we doubt it really helped sell Palm Pre phones. Bonus: parody videos like this one!
3. Microsoft’s Cringeworthy Songsmith Spot
Microsoft should publish a book called How to Annoy Consumers and Humiliate People. In American Idol fashion, Microsoft must have done a casting call for people with laryngitis, just to demonstrate that Songsmith can give even the worst vocalists the power to sing. Well, the ad convinces us of the complete opposite. Thanks to the trauma from watching this video, I probably have a psychological trigger that compels me to immediately punch a person in the jaw if I ever see them singing in front of a computer. (Kudos for calling this one out, @a1by and @pushkin504!)
2. Microsoft’s Cheesy Windows 7 Launch Party
This one’s especially astounding because the Windows 7 operating system is surprisingly cool — so it was difficult to conceive that the product’s marketing team could be so utterly lame. You’d have to be a neutered space alien to identify with any of these soulless beings gathering for a “launch party” for Windows 7. Because, sure, sane human beings do that. The last time I saw a video with such an awkwardly eerie vibe was when I wrote a research paper on the Heaven’s Gate cult. Yeah, you know — that video they shot right before they committed mass suicide. Same feeling. The only thing that saves this informercial is that there’s a shorter parody video, which is hilarious.
This video is so bad, it almost takes the cake for the most horrible tech promo video of all time — except for the fact that Microsoft made one even worse earlier this year.
1. Microsoft’s OMGIGP, a.k.a. That Puking Video
When Microsoft met with me to talk about Internet Explorer 8, the company reps said Microsoft’s goal with IE8 was to erase perceptions of Internet Explorer 6. Apparently lurid images of puking were part of that strategy. Sorry, Microsoft, but I still remember the atrocious IE 6 as clearly as the time I suffered from near-death pneumonia. And your puke-fest video makes me want to keep a more-than-safe distance from IE 8.
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