Author: Dieter Bohn

The Palm Touchstone is a great product, one of those "Why didn’t I think of that" kinds of things that seems small and insignificant but actually changes the way you feel about everyday stuff – like charging your phone. It’s in my own Top Five Pre Accessories and it should be in yours too.

It recently won Editor’s Choice as "Peripheral of the Year" in the Engadget Awards (thanks to everybody who sent that in!). Congrats to the team at Palm for creating a great accessory that’s well-thought-out all the way down to the micro-suction material on the bottom.

Were you aware than the Touchstone is also eco-friendly? PreCentral reader Otto plugged his into a Kill-A-Watt meter:

I always assumed that, like my induction charger on my electric toothbrush which draws 1W of power all the time, the Touchstone was an energy waster despite its convenience. Further, I assumed the induction charger to be inefficient and thus even more wasteful. Well, having tested it with a Kill-A-Watt meter, I’ve learned that it actually draws *zero* watts until a phone is placed on it, and then it only draws a mere 4 watts

Impressive, no? It has us wondering what’s next for Touchstone. We’ve asked this once before but thought we’d bring it up again, especially now that we’ve seen what a little clever thinking can do – the Nexus One Dock has a nice dock mode and Bluetooth for audio. The Touchstone has some clever behavior when it comes to phone calls, but what else could it do?

So what are the top three things you’d like to see in the future of Touchstone?

I’ve noticed an odd issue with my Palm Pre Plus on Verizon – sometimes letters seem to double-enter and other letters drop entirely. I had been chalking it up to fact that I’ve been switching between software and hardware keyboards so often lately that I’m not as proficient as I once was.

However, it seems I’m not the only one having the issue. Diesel Donkey gave us the heads-up to this forum thread and poll investigating these keyboard jitters and it looks to us like there are enough people experiencing text entry issues on the Palm Pre Plus to bring it up here on the blog.

Verizon Palm Pre Plus users – are you seeing double letters, dropped letters, or general lag when typing on the keyboard? Go on and vote one way or the other in the poll. 

We’re back from Mobile World Congress 2010 battered but excited for the upcoming year in smartphones. We had coverage from the show at all six sites. If the above isn’t enough to whet your appetite for Mobile World Congress news, we’ve helpfully collated a list of all our coverage up to this point after the break. There are still a few more posts to come as we empty our memory cards and ponder what we held in out hands out in Barcelona – so stay tuned!

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While Sprint may have been ready for webOS 1.4 since the 15th, actual roll-out of the OS hasn’t happened yet. That’s not too surprising – we’ve seen internal dates from Sprint slip in the past. But Palm promised a February release and time is quickly running out.

A Verizon tipster has let us know that the ‘hard date’ for the rollout is going to be February 25th. As in updates past, the update will roll out to around 100,000 devices at a time. However, as in updates past once the update hits you’re free to launch the update app and download / install it yourself. 

webOS 1.4 is expected to bring video recording, compatibility with Flash 10.1 (though Flash 10.1 is definitely coming later), minor speed improvements, and that somewhat new way of launching a card you see above. We have also heard that webOS 1.4 will also finally turn on the LED alert by default, removing the need for a patch.

Thanks Anonymous!

Curious to know if your comment scored you a subscription to Slacker Radio Plus in our last contest? Of course you are. Here are the winners:

One year subscription:

• imex99
• Kyusaku
• steven.singer

Three month subscription:

• BJBlechman
• jfaneuf
• DoeRing
• StrobeAlific
• tjc501
• emair
• djclint

Congrats! Expect emails with details on claiming your subscription soon!

Over the course of the week, myself, Kevin Michaluk, and Phil Nickinson recorded not one, not two, but three Mobile World Congress podcasts. There’s precious little webOS news given Palm’s non-presence at MWC. Still – if you want to know what’s going on in the world of mobile, you could do a lot worse than taking a listen. Here they are for your downloading pleasure, or embedded in flash players after the break!

• Download the First SPE MWC 2010 Podcast
• Download the Second SPE MWC 2010 Podcast
• Download the Third SPE MWC 2010 Podcast

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We heard some big news about Documents To Go Premium today at Mobile World Congress. Big news for other platforms.  DocsToGo for iPhone is getting local sync and Google Docs Sync. DocsToGo for Android is getting those sync options and also printing and projector support.

When we asked about an ETA for DocsToGo Premium for webOS, however, DataViz wasn’t able to say, nor even confirm that the first half of 2010 (the last delay) is still the target, although DataViz’s product page still lists "early 2010" as the expected date.

It’s a major bummer, given that Documents To Go Premium is stellar on BlackBerry, iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, PalmOS, and Symbian (click the image above to expand). DocsToGo Premium is also the number one paid business app on the iPhone App Store and DataViz has sold over 50,000 premium licenses on the Android Market. DataViz wasn’t this blunt but we will be: a developer’s gotta eat.

Palm simply hasn’t sold enough webOS devices to force developers to sit up, take notice, and feel compelled to adjust their schedules and develop for the platform. We can’t say for sure that other platform priorities have pushed back work on the webOS version – but it wouldn’t shock us and as much as it pains us to say it, you can’t blame a developer for working on what’s hot.

There’s been precious little webOS news here at Mobile World Congress, while Android Central, CrackBerry.com, Nokia Experts, and WMExperts have been on fire – even TiPb will have some news in just a bit. But Akitayo reminded us that Adobe was here and likely showing off Flash – so we headed on over.

As you can see from the video above – it’s working but perhaps isn’t quite ready for prime time yet. Unfortunately, Flash is definitely not confirmed for February (looks like it was a miscommunication at Palm’s SFR launch). All Adobe is saying is ‘First Half of 2010,’ so it’s unclear what’ll happen there. We found that Flash on the Pre seemed to move just a bit quicker than Flash on a Droid – but the Nexus One beat them both.

Yes, that’s webOS 1.4 there on a GSM Palm Pre, near as we can tell. We didn’t spend a ton of time with the device, but a quick glance showed the video recording there, speed not significantly faster than what current webOS devices run at, and the new way of loading cards you can see in the video above.

Adobe is also showing off Air apps, but unfortunately they didn’t have them ready for the Pre yet.

This week Smartphone Experts’ Dieter Bohn, Kevin Michaluk, and Phil Nickinson are at Mobile World Congress, covering what’s basically the biggest cell phone show on the planet. Different sites will have different coverage. Palm and Apple aren’t expected to do much here this year, so the bulk of SPE’s coverage will be at sites not called PreCentral.net or TiPb (but don’t forget that  TiPb blew up Macworld last week – tons of news there).

So for what’s shaking, keep an eye on Android Central, CrackBerry.com, Nokia Experts, and this year especially keep an eye on WMExperts.

As long as you’re following things, be sure to hit up the twitter feeds for those sites too, as when we have news we want to get out there quickly, we’ll be doing it there.

Meanwhile, Phil, Kevin, and Dieter will record a podcast from time to time, like we did just now on the eve of the craziness at MWC. You know you want to partake of these 17 minutes of smartphone joy. Keep an eye on the above mentioned sites for more!

Download it directly with this link

Now that we’ve taken the full tour of other smartphones and seen everybody else’s reaction to webOS, it’s time for me to chime in with a few finishing thoughts on webOS for the Smartphone Round Robin.

Obviously I’m not going to ‘review’ anything here – in addition to my colleagues’ excellent overviews, we already have a full Palm Pre Review, Palm Pre Plus Review, Pixi Review, Pixi Plus Review, and Guide to webOS here on PreCentral. Instead I want to focus in on one particular issue that’s been weighing on my mind for the past few months – multitasking on webOS.

I’ve said this a few times and after taking a tour of the other major smartphone platforms out there I think this more strongly than ever: no other smartphone platform has as elegant or intuitive multitasking as webOS.

Read on for my final thoughts there and also to see the winner of the Smartphone Round Robin contest for PreCentral!

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OTR Global, a firm that provides stock research, is claiming that Palm has halted production of the Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus. It’s unclear whether the report is reliable yet and if it is, it’s also unclear if there are any implications that a Palm user need worry about – whether it’s just that Palm made enough for Verizon ahead of time and this is just a normal pause in production to manage inventory, whether it bodes ill for the future of the company, or what is all unclear.

As quoted at BGR, OTR says that a source claimed  “The decision is very sudden, and Foxconn was told to reduce all February Pre forecast to zero on Wednesday and nobody knows whether shipment will resume in March."

More as we get it.

[Source: Boy Genius Report]

Update: We are still waiting on direct comment from Palm, but Engadget reports that they’ve spoken to Palm and the halt is nothing to get in a tizzy about: production was just halted for the Chinese new year and Palm had even ramped up production ahead of time in preparation for the pause in production.

Feel free to go find something else to panic about, folks. We recommend investigating the linkage between the huge amount of snow on the east coast and the pending return of the Old Gods to destroy us all.

Update 2: Here’s the official statement from Palm

Palm regularly adjusts its product manufacturing levels to manage inventory. In anticipation of the Verizon Wireless launch and Chinese New Year, we increased production levels prior to February, and anticipate ramping production back up after the Chinese New Year ends

 

Dieter, Derek, and Keith talk webOS 1.4, marketshare, and apps apps apps. Listen in!

• Download it directly with this link
• Subscribe via iTunes
• Subscribe directly to the Podcast feed with your favorite Podcatcher here
• Listen to it here with the player above

Thanks to everybody for writing and calling in!

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Slacker Radio for webOS has finally hit 1.0, bringing the much-needed music search feature to the app. As I mentioned on this week’s podcast, I like Slacker a lot – although it’s missing a few webOS-specific features like controls in the notification area, the music seems to be a little better suited to my tastes than the alternatives.

Slacker also as a "Radio Plus" option for $4.99 a month that adds unlimited skips, complete lyrics, unlimited direct song requests, and a (Windows only) desktop player. If you’re a Slacker fanatic, it’s a nice upgrade.

Slacker has provided us with TEN Radio Plus Subscriptions to give away to you, our music loving readers! Seven of them are 3-month subscriptions, three of them are full one-year subscriptions.

To enter: First, you’ll need to set up a Free Slacker account for them to upgrade. Second – comment away right here! We’ll pick ten winners at random from all the comments made on this post. One comment per person. If you post more than one, we’ll know and we’ll disqualify all of your entries.  We’ll close entries for the contest tomorrow, Friday Feb 12th, at midnight.

Palm and SFR held their French launch event last night and reports on the ground bring good news: Palm employees specifically said that Flash would be available in February. Previously we had been a little unsure of that, what we knew for sure was that webOS 1.4 would lay the underpinning for it, but the actual release (which is coming in the App Catalog) was less clear.

As for the actual implementation, apparently that’s not fully pinned down yet. It could come via browser integration or tapping a flash block could launch a separate card to run the flash ‘app.’ We don’t exactly get a vote, but if we did we’d vote for the latter option – as cool as Flash is, it’s still slow and we don’t like the idea of it slowing down the browser. 

But hey, who’s looking forward to Flash Games on the Palm Pre?

Thanks, anonymous!

Well well, what do we have here? Benjio in our forums has posted up an email detailing future OS upgrades. We’re all expecting webOS 1.4 to land in February and the document doesn’t disappoint: it lists February 15th as the release date. Of course, that date could move depending on carrier (i.e. if you’re not with Sprint and Verizon holds things up) or delays, but at least it’s something more definite to pine for than the end of the month.

The enhancements listed fall in line with what we knew before: video capture, assorted calendar and messaging enhancements, and apparently improved phonebook transfers.

So the day after you’re meant to show your love to your significant other, we’re hoping Palm will show some love to us. 

PalmCast Live will be coming at ya (bab ah de bow!) tonight at 8pm Eastern, as we do every week. 

It hasn’t been the busiest of news weeks, so in addition to the news we’re going to talk webOS apps – our favorites, picks that didn’t make the cut, and what we’re hoping for in the future.

You can tweet your questions in with the  #palmcast hashtag for our lightning round. We’ll be giving away this fancy car charger with a spare USB port while we’re at it.

8pm Eastern tonight. We’ll see you there.

As came up quite often in yesterday’s Round Robin Response, the most important thing for Palm to do right now is sell as many phones as possible. Two reports today seem to indicate that perhaps that effort isn’t going so well.

First, comScore has released some numbers (via daringfireball)indicating that Palm is sliding backwards in the marketshare battle, moving from 8.3% to 6.1% from December to September. Now, Palm’s survival isn’t (just) about marketshare but rather sheer numbers. Also, it’s worth noting that these number probably include everything Palm makes, so while there’s a decline overall it’s likely that’s hiding an uptick in webOS share (one hopes).

Meanwhile, Barron’s reports (via everythingpre)that Piper Jaffray Analyst T. Michael Walkley says webOS sales on Verizon has him "slightly disappointed," but he continues that heavy marketing could help. Hopefully there are enough moms out there to help Palm with these numbers.

Here at PreCentral, informally it does still seem like the vast majority of webOS users are on Sprint – but hey, maybe we’re wrong. How about you set us straight with this here poll:

A couple quick contest reminders as deadlines loom (LOOM I tell you!):

• The Developer Survey we mentioned here is still running but will end this weekend. Interpret is putting together an exciting set of data about mobile app development and needs your input. Take the survey here and be entered for your chance to win a Palm Pixi or Palm Pixi Plus. Heck, if those phones aren’t your style, you can also opt for up to $550 to purchase the phone of your choice.
• Since not everybody will qualify for the developer survey prize, one more reminder: the Smartphone Round Robin contest is still running, but will end on Thursday. You can enter to win the Palm Phone of your choice by posting in this thread. Everybody’s been asking so here’s the news: we are announcing the winners on Friday!

Adam sent in a link to the above, Verizon’s latest Palm Pre Plus ad. It’s still aimed at mothers, it still trashes your cherished memories of 80s fashion, but this time it’s happening in Spanish. On top of that, Verizon Wireless’ YouTube Page is branded to the nines with Pre and Pixi.

Meanwhile, Sarah over at tech4mommies.com wrote in to let us know that she’s also taking a look at the Palm Pre Plus from a mother’s perspective and we’re liking how she talks to moms a lot more. Instead of relentlessly trashing backwards, sticky-note using moms, she’s actually posting some great tips about apps and will keep it up throughout the month. Heck, Verizon even provided a Palm Pre Plus for her to give away later on, so it’s definitely worth a look. 

It’s time to round up what my colleagues at SPE had to say about webOS for the Smartphone Round Robin. After the break, their take, my take on their take, and then your take (in the form of comments, naturally). Later this week: we’ll announce the Round Robin winners!

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