Hasta La Gadget!

Nothing like the announcement of a new webOS device to spur a price drop on the first, is there? The Palm Pre — which has held steady at the $199.99 on-contract price it launched at back in June — has finally taken a rumored $50 dip down to $149.99. That figure includes a $150 instant rebate plus a $100 mail-in rebate, which means you’ll actually be paying $249.99 in-store to walk out with a unit — but considering that the Pixi’s only signed up for a vague pre-holiday launch window without pricing details, the Pre’s still the cheapest webOS device available (of course, it’s also the most expensive).

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Palm Pre falls to $149.99 on Sprint originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We were expecting a Pre price cut today, but it looks like Sprint has slightly different plans — instead of lowering the outright price of the handset, the carrier is offering new Pre customers a $100 service credit if they port a number from a different carrier. Yeah, that’s a little odd — especially since the credit is spread out over three months, instead of applied all in one go. We’re guessing Sprint and Palm are just trying to lure new sales without having to openly cut prices on the Pre and undo its “premium” image, but as far as psychological marketing tricks go, parceling out a discount over 12 weeks might be the least effective one we can think of — we’re pretty sure most people would rather take a $100 price cut at the top end of the deal. Still, the end result is that the Pre is now $100 cheaper for switchers — anyone running out to buy one?

[Via Everything Pre]

Filed under: Cellphones

Sprint now offering $100 service credit to Pre buyers who port a number originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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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Poor Microsoft. You generously welcome a Startup Weekend on your campus, where all manner of geeks and techies code their hearts out for 54 hours straight, you throw in the BizSpark program to encourage them to use your tools, and what do you get in return? Learn That Name, voted best app in show and designed for use on Apple’s iPhone and Palm’s Pre. Gee thanks! On the bright side, we congratulate Microsoft for allowing people to write for their platform(s) of choice — and hey, it’s not like Redmond has been lacking in innovation lately, right? Video demo of the name memorizing game / app is after the break.

Continue reading iPhone app scoops best software prize on Microsoft campus

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

iPhone app scoops best software prize on Microsoft campus originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With the latest installment of Bell’s “Meet my Palm Pre” series, paid spokesman Bradley here has basically guaranteed himself that he’ll be visited by elderly American roller girls with bad attitudes and a taste for justice. Some of the gruesome highlights:

“Unlike our neighbors to the south, Canadians are an active people.”
“Coupe de Kill is kinda scary. I should probably get out of here before she goes on Twitter.”
“According to Wikipedia, this game was first played in 1299. And, uh, I think some of these people were maybe there.”

Follow the break for the video.

[Via MobileSyrup]

Continue reading Bell’s latest Pre ad insults Americans, old people, and bloody roller derby girls in one pass

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Bell’s latest Pre ad insults Americans, old people, and bloody roller derby girls in one pass originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 04:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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