Author: Derek Kessler

Remember that Need For Speed video from last month? There was a lot of consternation about whether or not it was legit, and the different App Catalog screenshots that PreCentral forum member Casperstar provided only threw fuel on the fire. It was different, from the layout to the background. But after the landing of webOS 1.3.5 we fired up the App Catalog and suddenly Casperstar was vindicated. The new App Catalog is an exact duplicate of the App Catalog that Casperstar showed us.

Combined with the base files for adding in GPU support that the WebOS Internals Twitter feed pointed us towards, we’re going to jump off the fence and say we’re almost entirely certain that the Need For Speed video is legit. So now we really want to see what Rubinstein is going to trot out on the stage at CES… 

In other words: serious OpenGL graphics, games, and apps are a real possibility. In case you missed it the first time around, the contentious video is after the break

Thanks to krische for the heads up!

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Our Palm Pre phones just lit up with the news: webOS 1.3.5 is now available for download. The update weighs in at just 13 MB, but that 13 MB brings a slew of bug fixes as well as the fixing of much-maligned app limit. We’re downloading it now, we’ll let you know what we find in a bit.

As a reminder to all patchers and themers: Be sure to remove all patches and themes before installing any webOS update. We don’t want you to end up with a wonky install. You do not have to uninstall Preware or any other homebrew apps – just the patches and and themes.

UPDATE [8:38]: Palm’s servers seem to be being hit pretty hard, it’s going slow here. In the meantime, Palm has posted the for both the Palm Pre and the Palm Pixi, and we’ve got it for you after the break.

Highlights:

• App limit fixed.
• App Catalog downloads continue even after leaving the app’s page.
• App purchases have been expanded to US territories (sorry Europe, Canada, etc).
• Switching between days in Calendar is now faster.
• Sprint Navigation can be launched from a Contact.
• Palm Profile app restores happen in the background, letting the user get to the phone faster.
• Future webOS updates can be downloaded over 2G wireless (1xRTT).
• Notifications now work in landscape mode (which has strangely lost the rounded corners).

UPDATE [9:06]: Cool, there’s now a progress meter on the install screen spinner doohicky. It’s slow going, but at least we can see that it’s going now.

Also, the install has added one more step in the form of ‘unpacking.’ Instead of downloading the entire OS over again, webOS updates now come in the form of binary deltas, which essentially boils down to downloading only the new code, which then must be ‘unpacked’

Additionally, the code genies over at WebOS Internals have dug into the update package and found some interesting stuff, notably opengles.ipk and opengles-omap3.ipk, which are part of the groundwork for enabling the GPU. Good times, coming right up!

UPDATE [9:27]: Preware appears to be broken in webOS 1.3.5. It’s throwing up an ‘OnFeeds Error’ and not even getting to load the feeds. Let’s hope this is a server-side fix.

UPDATE [9:45]: rem_kujawa notes that you can use WebOS Quick Install (make sure you have version 2.96) to remove both Preware and its Package Manager, reinstall, and you should be good to go.

UPDATE [11:12]: It seems that the app migration system Palm devised to move your stuff from the /var partition to the USB drive partition only moves App Catalog apps. All homebrew stuff has been left behind in /var. If you want to move homebrew apps to the new folder, you’re going to have to delete them and reinstall.

UPDATE [11:23]: It also seems that the migration utility doesn’t transfer some app data. For example, user data from Paratrooper was left behind and the game launches as if never played before with no saved scores or progress.

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Somebody at Palm is working late. Most of the apps included in the round-up for yesterday landed after this blogger hit the sack last night, so much so that half of them say they were uploaded to the Catalog today. Anyway, Sprint says that webOS 1.3.5 is coming today, and even though their changelog doesn’t mention the app limit fix, we know it’s there. Rejoice, the end of at least one of our webOS gripes is near! So hop on after the break and check out the new apps you’ll be able to download once Palm expands our app corrals.

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Just because it’s the day after Christmas doesn’t mean the app drops have to stop. It was Boxing Day, after all. So Palm gifted us with several new apps, ranging from games to wallpaper packs to various utilities and references. All-in-all, not a bad app drop, and we’re so close to one thousand apps we can taste it. And it tastes like… well, we’re not sure what that taste is, but it is interesting – and getting stronger. While we ponder what taste this is, you can jump after the break and check out the list of new apps for yourself.

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We fully expected the App Catalog people at Palm to take the holiday off – and we would have been fine with that – but it seems that somebody was in the office to push out Christmas Day presents for the webOS nation. Those gifts came in the form of a few dozen apps, pushing us over the 900 mark. The virtual stockings were stuffed with games and calculators and apps for all types. Catch the gift-wrapped list after the break.

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Merry Christmas, folks! If we were to put together a list of the things that Palm fanatics like all of you wanted for Christmas, more apps would be on just about everybody’s list. The good people at Palm know that and spent Christmas Eve pumping more apps into the App Catalog, with several new ones landing on our doorsteps. And as per usual, we’ve got the list for you, and it’s after the break.

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Dear Santa,

I know you’re a busy guy and I really should have sent you this letter much earlier, but I know that if anybody could pull off the “Christmas miracle,” it’s you. I’ve tried my best to be a good blogger this year. I know sometimes I’ve aggravated my readers, but I said what I said because I thought it needed to be said. That’s being a good boy, right?

Anyway, I hope that you get this list before you take off from your North Pole base of operations. Below is a list of what I’d really really really like to see on Christmas morning. If it’s not there, I understand, but if it is I promise to be extra good next year. I’m not trying to be greedy, I just want you to know that there’s a lot of stuff that would make me happy. Snow, though one of those things, does not count in the gift tally.

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We think that Palm is playing tricks on us, as we swear there weren’t all those apps in the Catalog yesterday. But the App Catalog is staring back at us saying, “You must have missed them.” Honest, we didn’t! But hey, we’re at 871 apps now, so that’s good for something. So we’ll recap the past few “days” with the obligatory listing of apps – all after the break.

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Bluetooth headphones have long been criticized, sometimes rightfully so, for their poor audio quality, but the Altec Lansing BackBeat 903 bluetooth headphones stand head and shoulders above the competition. Sporting a flexible design that combines street-style over-the-ear headphones with in-ear buds, the BackBeat 903s are comfortable to boot. If they sound so great and feel darned good, there’s got to be a drawback, right? Well, for all that awesomeness there’s absolutely no sound-isolation that makes the “OpenMic” system a gimmick at best.

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Got all your holiday shopping done? No? Well that’s too bad, because you’re staying in tonight to tune into the PalmCast Live. This is non-negotiable, okay? Derek and Keith are keeping a list, and if we notice that you’re not there, we’ll be sending Santa a note. Since we assume you don’t want any coal in your stocking, drop by at 8 PM Eastern tonight to listen in and join the conversation.

We’re not all about the news here – we want you to get in on the conversation as well. So send us a note on Twitter – include the #palmcast hashtag in your tweet – and we’ll give you a rambling sardonic response.

We expect to see you there (wearing of bells is optional, but highly encouraged). So put it in your calendar, set an alarm, stick a post-it on your forehead, and do nothing until 8 PM lands, lest you miss it. PalmCast Live!