Hasta La Gadget!

Palm might have tried to bottle up that webOS 1.2 leak the other day, but it looks like it was to no avail — videos of the new build in action have hit YouTube, and the hacking community has already ripped the code apart and found some new features. Just like we’d heard, the browser’s been updated and there’s revised and improved copy / paste functionality, but the big new feature seems to be email searching, which Pre owners have longed for since day one. Hidden deeper, it seems like the LEDs in the gesture area can be enabled for notifications by tweaking just a few lines of code, and there’s also the somewhat disconcerting addition of remote app kill switch for Palm, which would apparently let it delete apps anytime it wants. We’re sure this is just a cover-your-ass move as Palm prepares to open up the App Catalog — and it’s not exactly unprecedented — but it’s still a little disconcerting given how closely Palm seems to be monitoring Pre usage to begin with. Oh, but come on, let’s turn that frown upside-down — video of new features after the break.

Read – webOS 1.2 video
Read – LED notifications

Continue reading Video: webOS 1.2 in action, LED notifications just a hack away

Filed under: Cellphones

Video: webOS 1.2 in action, LED notifications just a hack away originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 05 Sep 2009 19:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know you just can’t wait to get typing on the Pre’s lush touchscreen, and the folks at WebOS Internals must feel the same way as they’ve been hard at work making their on-screen keyboard a functional reality. Installation has been made a breeze thanks to the Preware app, and usability seems to have improved markedly since the pre-alpha version, but a few kinks remain that need to be ironed out. Still, if you’re willing to put up with some buggy behavior and the potential for your Pre to melt into a puddle of fiery lava, then slide past the break to get educated on the how, what and where to download.

Continue reading Video: Pre virtual keyboard developing rapidly, gets easy install method

Filed under: Cellphones

Video: Pre virtual keyboard developing rapidly, gets easy install method originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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[Via PreCentral.net]

Filed under: Cellphones

Pre gets the on-screen keyboard it’s been missing, yet has always had originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 08:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wondering why you keep getting followed by shadowy figures in trenchcoats and fake moustaches? Worried that those snipers on the rooftops always seem to know exactly where you are? We think we know what’s going on: it’s the Pre in your pocket. Turns out that Palm has code tucked away in webOS that’s uploading your location periodically — once a day or so — along with a list of applications you’ve used and how long they’ve been open. Here’s our take on the situation:

• One of the very first screens you see when you power on the Pre for the first time is a disclaimer asking you to allow Google to collect, aggregate, and anonymize your location data in order to improve the performance of location-based services. Furthermore — and this is important — “collection will occur regardless of whether any applications are active.” We don’t know whether Palm acts as a conduit for that data to get to Google, but we’d be surprised if Palm had built services to pipe location data straight to Google within webOS itself; in all likelihood, Palm’s getting the data first, which is why it’s being uploaded there. Bear in mind that you’re seeing this warning outside the context of any Google app on the Pre — it’s right in the operating system. Palm has its own terms and conditions that you agree to above and beyond Google’s, too, and they flat-out say they “may collect, store, access, disclose, transmit, process, and otherwise use your location data.” There you have it.
• App usage is a pretty benign stat — equate it to TiVo anonymizing and selling your viewing habits, except even less interesting, because we have no evidence to suggest Palm’s trying to sell this. We can totally understand why Palm would want insight into app popularity, and when you think about it, this could actually lead to some pretty clever ranking systems in the App Catalog; the iPhone has starkly demonstrated that download volume doesn’t equate to replay value, and Palm might be able to do something about that. Oh, and seriously, you need to cut it out with the Jon & Kate Plus 8.
• When an app crashes, Palm gets some more in-depth information about the crash, most notably a list of installed apps. You know what else collects and sends a crapload of information when an app crashes? Mac OS. Windows, too. If they really wanted to go into CYA mode, they could ask before sending the way those desktop OSes do, but we’re not sweating bullets here — we just want stability, and this kind of data helps them get there.

Bottom line: we’re all carrying phones that can identify who we are and where we are — and they have the wireless means to ferry that data wherever their makers wish. And let’s not forget that your Palm Profile lives out there in the cloud anyhow, right?

[Via PreCentral]

Update: Palm has issued a statement on the situation, basically confirming what we suspected — it’s collecting information to offer “a great user experience,” which we take to mean that it’s trying to squash bugs and keep location-centric apps functional, among other things. They’ve also mentioned that it’s possible to turn data collecting services off without going into details — ostensibly they’re referring to the checkbox at setup (see above) that lets you stop sending aggregated location results to Google.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Pre phones home with your location, which explains the black helicopters all around you originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So I was out of town last week when Apple and Palm got into it over the Pre syncing with iTunes, and the more I think about it, the more ridiculous the situation has become. If you’ll remember, the Pre shipped with a hack that allowed it to appear as an iPod, which was inevitably blocked by Apple, and Palm’s latest move was to spoof the Pre’s USB Vendor ID to make it look like an Apple product while simultaneously complaining to the USB Implementor’s Forum that Apple improperly uses the field. Yeah, it’s messy, and the end result is that while Palm is getting a lot of attention for jabbing at Apple, Pre owners are being left with a jury-rigged hack of a solution that will almost certainly be blocked by the next iTunes update — and Palm’s official advice is that you should hold off on updating iTunes to ensure Pre compatibility.

Let’s just say it: this is insane.

Continue reading Editorial: Palm, iTunes, and the ties that don’t bind

Filed under: Cellphones

Editorial: Palm, iTunes, and the ties that don’t bind originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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