Hasta La Gadget!

We’d heard webOS 1.3.5 would be coming to the Pre on Sprint today, and here we go — it’s being pushed to devices right now. The official changelog is quite long, but the big-ticket tweaks include the removal of the app storage limit, better performance, and improved battery life. We’ll let you know how our update goes — you let us know the same now, kaykay? Kay.

Sprint now pushing webOS 1.3.5 to the Pre originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve just been alerted to an unsettling trend in Palm Pre land, where strings of replacement devices are a bit too common for comfort: some users have been losing their Palm Profile backup, or a large majority of it, once they pair up their new device. The big issue is that since this problem is rather sporadic, Palm doesn’t seem to have a good way to deal with it yet — the trend in the forums seems to be a complaint sent to Palm, followed up by word of an inability to restore data from Palm a few weeks later. Lucky for these hapless Pre replacers, a particularly repeat offender (working on his seventh Pre) has posted instructions for making sure this sort of data loss doesn’t happen to you. His theory is that it has something to do with a refurbished device loaded with an old firmware trying to sync with the newer-firmware-styled backup your dead device made with Palm’s servers, and messing stuff up in the process. He recommends walking out of the store before Sprint tries to trip you up, and upgrading and wiping the phone before reactivating it and syncing. Sounds foolproof enough, right? Let’s hope.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Palm Pre backups can be easily overwritten by a replacement device: replacers beware! originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just in time for the Pixi’s grand debut, webOS devices (that’s just Pixi and Pre) now have their first official Facebook app, joining the ranks of iPhone and Android… and we’re sad to report that it’s about as barebones as they can get. It pulls from the raw live stream, seemingly unfiltered — even if you said “no” to Farmville updates on your main feed, they’ll show up here. Clicking a YouTube link brings you to the YouTube app, clicking links go to browser. You can update your status or upload a photo, but that’s about it. You can’t seem to search Facebook for any info, view events, or anything else, and clicking on someone’s name or photo brings up their contact info. And that’s about it — can someone give Joe Hewitt a ring? Still, it’s better than nothing. WebOS 1.3.1 is required, not that you had any reason to hold off upgrading.

Filed under: Cellphones

Facebook finally comes to webOS, not with a bang but a whimper originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just weeks after Palm’s Pre sunk to CAD $149.95 on Bell, the outfit’s first-ever webOS phone has now stooped to just CAD $99.95. That still requires a 3-year contract, of course, but man — a single bill for a smartphone like the Pre? Anyone tossing out guesses on how long it takes Sprint to follow suit (and embarrass the Pixi)?

[Thanks, David]

Filed under: Cellphones

Palm Pre price keeps sinking on Bell, down to $100 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There are three things in this crazy world that scare the living daylights out of us: poor battery life, scratched screens, and seven-foot tall she-bots wielding Pres like concealed weapons. This, it seems, was the nightmarish scenario facing Madrid as it launched Palm’s first webOS-based phone this week.

Chris: “I’m being treated well, but please, it’s imperative that you buy this phone as expediently as possible.”
Richard Lai: “My other toy is the Pre.”
Ross: “It says if we don’t do exactly as it commands, the Spiders from Mars will return and destroy us all.”
Darren: “Geordi La Forge and I are like this.”
Josh T.: “So far they have treated me well, but I fear that could change at any moment. If you comply with their demand for 300 pairs of leather pants, they say I will be released unharmed.”
Thomas: “Sir, I assure you, this is exactly how they do it in America.”

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Caption contest: Palm strikes a pose in Spain originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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