Author: Derek Kessler

After the appslosion that was the last New in the App Catalog, it’s no surprise that the folks at Palm took it easy yesterday. We’ve got a handful of updates and three new apps, which isn’t great. But it could always be worse; we could have three dozen new apps all from the community’s most hated developers. Wouldn’t that be fun? Didn’t think so. The list, as you may expect, follows.

New apps:

• Color Drops, Free, by mathslice: Catch as many falling color drops as possible.
• John Billings Quotes, $1.99, by Brighthouse Labs: Notable quotes from the famed family planning doctor.
• Kahlil Gibran Quotes, $1.99, by Brighthouse Labs: Read the words of the legendary Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer.

Updated apps:

• AppScoop, Free
• ClearCheckbook Money Management, Free
• Compound Interest Calculator, $0.99
• Connect 4 Demo, Free
• Free Greeting Card Messages My Valentine, Free
• Greeting Card Messages Pro, My Valentine, $1.99
• iMirror, $0.99
• Mortgage Calculator, $0.99
• Popelli Reader, $4.99
• Super Sudoku Demo, Free
• TealShopper, $4.99
• Tire Size Calc 2.0, Free
• Truth or Dare Free, Free
• Truth or Dare, $0.99

If there’s anything cooler than patches, it’s patching patches with patches (say that five times fast). One of the most popular patches for webOS is Enable LED Notifications, which merely uncomments (activates, if you will) a bit of code to allow the user to enable pulsing LED notifications on their phone. There’s just one problem: the LED flashes for any notification. For people like this blogger, the LED notifications are great, with the exception that I always get emails and don’t need constant and persistent notification of that. What I do need notifications for are things like missed calls, text messages, and other things that are not email.

Luckily, I’m not the only person with that problem (if you’ve listened to the PalmCast, you’d know that Dieter tends to rail on this oversight every other week). Developer Franz Rühmland put together a patch for the patch that allows the user to have the LED flash for notifications other than new emails. Huzzah!

Additionally, another patch by hape and jhoff80 has adapted the Enable LED Notifications patch for use on German webOS devices (Enable LED Notifications German). The more the merrier, eh? If you’re feeling like getting in on the action, go fire up your preferred patch installer and get to work!

Thanks to Yasasvi for the tip!

Attention mobile game developers: Today, and today only (well, until another event is scheduled), Palm will be rubbing elbows with your types and showing off the capabilities of webOS at the Gaming & Mobile Entrepreneurship (GAME) meet-up/mixer/party. Why Palm and why GAME? Well, it is in their San Francisco backyard, which also happens to be the epicenter of game development in the United States.

Interested? You know you are. Palm’s got the details on the developer website. And don’t forget: Palm will also be presenting at next month’s Game Developers Conference.

webOS users headed to Google in recent days have been greeted with a redesigned webOS-friendly interface. Featuring a redesigned tab bar with more useful search options (like Images and Local with a drop down “more” for everything else) and as-you-type Google Suggest, the new webOS Google Search page is a welcome change. And it’s the default that you’ll see after launching a Google Search from webOS’s Universal Search. Maybe Google’s not so down on webOS after all…

UPDATE: Phenoum also points out to us that this updated Google interface also logs into your search history, so you can go back and look at Google searches you’ve performed on your desktop, and from your desktop you can check out searches you did while on the phone. Cool, eh?

If our last app round-up was a light day, today’s certainly is not. Not only do we have dozens of updated apps, we’ve also got dozens more brand-spankin’ new apps to check out. It’s a decent batch, if I might say so. In fact, I think I just did, so there you have it, this batch of apps is officially decent. Of course, you’re now wondering what qualifies as officially decent in this blogger’s eyes. The answer awaits you in a listactular form after the break.

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The Digg mobile site is a fine piece of work, but there’s something to be said for the robust capabilities of an app customized for the capabilities of your device. Developer rmxdave recognized this and has been working on Digloo – a webOS browser for Digg. The app, which sports a unique Digg-like interface has the ability to filter by topic and by media type (news/images/video). Digloo utilizes the gesture area in some of the navigation. Not only can you digg and bury posts, you can do the same to comments on Digg. And of course, you can share these Digg stories, with text messages, emails, and even just copying relevant info to the clipboard to share in the manner of your choosing. Despite the robust appearance of the app, the developer claims there’s still plenty of work to be done. Once complete, Digloo will be available in the App Catalog in two versions, one free and one paid. The free version will be ad-supported and come with fewer features, whereas the paid Digloo will be feature-complete and ad free.

[via: webOS Blog.de]

Thanks to Julian for the tip!

You’ve got to feel a bit of pity for Sprint. They’ve improved their network, coverage, stores, plans, phones, and customer service only to keep losing customers and money every quarter. As noted at eWeek, at least the losses are getting to the less painful stage: Sprint’s post-paid (traditional contract) subscriber count dropped by 148,000 in last quarter of 2009, though that’s nowhere near as bad as the 545,000 subscriber loss posted the previous quarter. Sprint’s also losing less money, with $980 million disappearing from the coffers, as compared to $1.6 billion the same quarter last year.

Additionally, Sprint’s also posted gains in their pre-paid count, adding 435,000 customers to their Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile brands. But those brands operate at a pretty hefty discount, and that’s not helping Sprint’s bottom line. It is worth noting that the bottom line has been affected by large costs related to the acquisition of the previously-mentioned Virgin Mobile and regional sub-operater iPCS, as well as investments in WiMax quasi-subsidiary/provider Clearwire.

At the very least CEO Dan Hesse and Sprint investors have to be happy that the pace of losses has slowed. Whether they’re just thinning out the herd so that only Sprint loyalists remain, or we’re looking at a slow change in the public’s perception of Sprint remains to be seen.

[via: MobileCrunch]

If you aren’t tapping a button on the screen, and you aren’t depressing a physical button on the keyboard, chances are you’re doing something in the gesture area on webOS devices. For the last several months we’ve been talking about “holding in the gesture area and pressing the [x] key” to do certain functions like copy and paste, now Palm has coined a term to make it easier to say. That term is “meta-tap,” which is Palm speak for tap-and-hold in the gesture area. Why change it? For one, it’s a whole heck of a lot shorter to say “meta-tap + C” for copy.

While it has a name, we’re not sure it’s going to catch on any time soon, as "meta-tap" just isn’t very descriptive. Also, technically, wouldn’t a meta-tap be tapping the tap itself? What is the sound of one tap tapping? Does the gesture area have the meta-tap nature? Do not confuse the tapping finger with the gesture area. Zen of Palm, indeed.

But at least if you’re reading some Palm literature, now you’ll know what it means. Meta-tap, it’s the future.

Our man ToniCipriani (of the PreCentral forums, not Grand Theft Auto fame) is a sleuth of the FCC variety. Digging through the files for manufacturer O8F, known around these parts as Palm, Inc, ToniCipriani found that for each released webOS phone the external public photos availability date matched up almost perfectly with the launch date. And then he found a model with the FCC ID of O8F-CASG, with a photo availability date of May 10th, 2010.

What could this be? Considering that both the Sprint Palm Pre and Verizon Pre Plus sport the FCC ID number of O8F-CASC, we’re wagering that the O8F-CASG is the US-bound GSM version of the Pre. We’ve known for a while that the Pre’s internal codename was Castle, and when combined with a CDMA phone we get CASC, whereas GSM would lead us to CASG.

It’s a distinct possibility that we’ll see the AT&T Pre on or around May 10th; the photo availability date for the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus was dead-on with the launch date. Being that we’re not the betting type (we prefer to just throw stuff out there are see what sticks), we’d merely say that sometimes in May is looking like a good timeframe. And that lines up pretty well with AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega’s “first half of 2010” for webOS on his network.

Thanks to Norris for the tip!

Still looking to pick up a GSM Palm Pre on O2? If you’re the type to sign a contract in exchange for a subsidized price on the phone (admit it, you are), then you’re in luck. Not only will a two-year contract with O2 get you a subsidized Palm Pre, it’ll cost you less than before. New O2 contract customers can expect to fork over just €49 upfront to get a new Palm Pre. They’ll then pay €15 a month over the 24-month contract to pay back the rest of the reduced €409 total cost (down from €481 previously). Or you can just buy it for €409 without any contract. And to sweeten the deal, O2 is also throwing in a Touchstone with the appropriate back for free, regardless of whether you’re going to contract route or not.

Thanks to docjones for the tip!

Some days are simply light days. We’re cool with that. As such, the list follows.

New apps:

• Hero of Sparta, $6.99, by Gameloft: Challenge the gods of Olympus in this heart-pounding 3D action-adventure.
• Keys – the search game, Free, by tEarn Media: Guess the word before the computer.
• Palm 2G Update, Free, by Palm: Patch a Pre or Pixi running webOS 1.3.1 or webOS 1.3.2 for webOS updates over 2G networks.
• Real Tennis, $4.99, by Gameloft: Play tennis in realistic 3D stadiums around the world.

Updated apps:

• Brothers In Arms: Hour of Heroes, $5.99
• Dice Roller, $1.43
• Easy Stopwatch, Free
• ExpenseTracker, $1.99
• FlashCards Lite, Free
• FlashCards, $4.99
• Google Calendar Search, Free
• Google Search, free
• Shopping Manager, $1.49
• Spanish Lesson 2 – iCaramba, $2.99
• Yahtzee Demo, Free
• Yahtzee, $4.99

It’s something we’ve mentioned before on PreCentral, and it’s something that Palm has promised to address. That something is webOS’s inability to download OS updates over anything other than what it thought to be a “high-speed” connection, i.e. Wi-Fi or 3G. For those who live in areas with poor or nonexistent 3G coverage, Wi-Fi is usually still an option. If you happen to have a Pixi, you’re up a creek without an updated paddle.

While webOS 1.3.5 brought the ability to download future webOS updates over slower 2G cellular wireless, users stuck on older versions of webOS were, well, stuck. Palm is changing that now, and offering the solution in a surprising package: an app. Available now in the Palm App Catalog is a new app: Palm 2G Update.

Built to work with webOS 1.3.1 or webOS 1.3.2, Palm 2G Update is a unique solution to a problem that has frustrated many Pixi owners cursed by poor network coverage (and the handful of Pre owners in similar situations with no Wi-Fi access). The app is itself an update to webOS and installs as such. After downloading, all the user has to do is open the app, tap Start, wait for the phone to launch, and then the Install Now button for the update. Once the update is finished they’ll be able to download future webOS updates (like webOS 1.4) with ease of the slow variety so long as they have a connection to their carrier’s data network.

Palm 2G Update is available now in the App Catalog as a free download. There are two separate versions, one for the Pre and one for the Pixi.

While we’ve been poking at Palm on their weird App Catalog timing bug (all in good fun), truth is we’ve hit our own variety of temporal vortex as well. We call it “the Superbowl.” So, we may have gotten caught up in other stuff and not posted the App Catalog updates for the weekend, but never fear, we are not the type to leave behind a fallen comrade or a missed app. Today’s app round-up comes complete with everything as far back as that long-ago Friday that ended last week, and boy-oh-boy, there be some good stuff in thar. So hop on past the break for our temporally-afflicted list of apps.

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Our friends over at tech blog Engadget have assembled the votes and put together the nominations for the 2009 Engadget Awards, and Palm is recognized in every category (five!) in which it ought compete. There’s some tough competition out there, but you know that we think that the Palm Pre and webOS indeed are the gadgets of the year. Despite the fierceness of the competition, the Pre and (surprisingly) Touchstone are holding their own in the polls. While we have no doubt that Palm is the tops, the only opinion that counts here is the mass opinion: your vote.

What’s Palm up against?

See? Tough competition there. As you can imagine, if the Pre and Touchstone are to stand any chance of remaining in the fight, they’re going to need your vote. Voting is open until February 20, 2010.

May the best gadgets win!

Yesterday actually brought a few interesting new apps to the App Catalog. We’ll start with Palm Videos, a free app with a few quasi-tutorial videos on how to use your webOS phone. Right now it watches more like an advertisement, which seems kind of redundant since if you’re watching the video you already own the phone. And finally in the App Catalog is the Bad Kitty client for Twitter. We’ve been waiting for Bad Kitty to land for what seems like months now, but it’s finally here. That’s just a sampling of what’s new – if you want more, you’re going to have to jump past the break for the complete list.

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The Jabra Cruiser bluetooth car kit packs a bevy of technology in a sleek and shiny package. While far from innovative, the Jabra Cruiser is an adequate car kit and performs capably when paired with a Palm Pre. As you might imagine, adequate does not equal superb. The Cruiser just didn’t measure up to its price tag when it came to making calls.

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Are you in the mood for new apps? Good, ’cause we got them! Yep, it is another day, and that means another batch of apps have landed in the Palm webOS App Catalog. And this time none of them seem to have come from an alternate dimension where the laws of space and time are ignored. Nay, they are all from our universe, so there’s no need to call on Dr. Bishop and get his far-out input on the matter. By now you’re getting tired of my rambling, so I’ll just cut to the chase and point you to the space we call "after the break," which is where you will find the list of apps that make up the "new."

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I’m not going to say “I told you so,” but lo and behold the App Catalog has again filled up with apps from the past. Whether we’re observing a continuing server glitch or a glitch in the space-time continuum is up for debate. What’s not up for debate is the sheer number of new and updated apps that appeared in the App Catalog. We’re talking dozens of submissions here, which we can only imagine was spurred in part by that crazy Hot Apps competition that Palm is running. Feel like basking in the glory that is a Palm app drop? After the break you’ll find the list.

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Attention doctors: Feel like getting your medicine on? webOS is here to help, with two new apps arriving recently in the Palm App Catalog to assist you with your doctorly needs.

First up is PEPID, a free app from PEPID. Wrapped inside this app are several medical tools including calculators for dosing, a drug interactions generator, a drug database that includes some 7500 different drugs, and more than 800 illustrations. There’s even a differential diagnosis calculator – for the non-doctor types, think House, M.D., but as a purely analytical phone. While the PEPID app itself is free, it is in reality a 14-day trial of their subscription service. PEPID offers a number of add-on packages that enhance the abilities of the software, including specialized packages for Emergency Medicine, Registered Nurses, study guides, Oncology, and more. Packages start at $89.95 for 9 months access, with longer packages available at a discounted rate.

The other medical app we’re going to talk about today is Lexi-Comp ON HAND, which we’re just going to call Lexi-Comp for short. The app, by the company of the same name, specializes in providing raw data to physicians of all varieties. Currently (and finally) available for the low cost of free from the App Catalog, Lexi-Comp comes with 30 days of free access to the popular Lexi-Drugs and Lexi-Interact databases. These clinical databases, as you might imagine, provide detailed in-depth data for thousands of drugs and detail interactions between different drugs in the same patient. While Drugs and Interact are the only two databases available for the webOS version of Lexi-Comp at this time, they expect to have many more packages available in the coming months. Currently, a one-year subscription to Lexi-Drugs and Lexi-Interact will cost $115.00, with discounts available for two- and three-year subscriptions.

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Psst, Castle, it’s upside down...

Clearly, people expect that the microphone for the Palm Pre would be on the slider. In fact, that’s where we all thought it was for a while after it was unveiled. Why else would Rubinstein talk about how the curving shape helps it fit your face better? Regardless, that brings up another question: why do people – like Castle (Nathan Fillion) – think that they still have to hold the phone up to their mouths when using it on speakerphone? At least they’ve got a Touchstone back. And yes, I’m sure that’s a Pre this time.

Have you spotted the Pre, Pixi, or other Palm device on your favorite show? Drop us a note at [email protected] with the show and a few relevant details like air date, time in the episode, and an online video link if you’ve got one!

Thanks to eryntzun, Praveen, Vance, and bjs188 for the tips!