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Quake ported to the Pre, webOS 3D gaming truly within reach
Yeah, hardware accelerating Doom is an important milestone in any fledgling system's career, but when you talk 3D acceleration, Quake is certainly a giant leap ahead of Doom in polygonal terms. The game has now been ported to webOS using the same new SDL library from version 1.3.5, and while it looks a little sluggish and crashy in the video after the break, it's clearly a landmark event just the same. Now if only we could get stuff like this in the App Catalog we'd be perfectly happy forever and ever. Or for at least a week.
Engadget now available for Pre and Pixi: the first webOS app of 2010 (and 1000th in the Catalog)!
That's right folks. Hot on the heels of our iPhone app release (which has since skyrocketed up the App Store charts to #1 in News), the webOS version has officially landed. You'll see that the experience is shockingly, wonderfully similar to the iPhone / iPod touch version, but of course there are a couple of webOS flourishes to be found. You can download the application right from your Pre or Pixi by simply popping open the App Catalog and, you know... downloading the thing. This is the 1000th application in the Catalog -- a piece of info we feel pretty psyched about. We've got even more on the way (like BlackBerry and Android versions), so keep it tuned here, but for now... webOS fans, go get your fix! For those viewing this on a Palm device, here's your direct link: Download Engadget for webOS
Hardware accelerated 'Doom' comes to the Pre
Pre homebrew has certainly come a long way in its short but happy life -- and now it's just gotten another little notch in its belt. Apparently, with the release of webOS 1.3.5, Palm has included a software library called SDL (or Simple Directmedia Layer) which allows developers low-level hardware access -- like the kind needed to tap into accelerated 3D graphics. With a little bit of elbow grease, webOS hacker extraordinaire zsoc was able to put together a port of Doom which can be run within a card in the OS, and completely functions (including keyboard controls). You've got to get your hands a little dirty with the Terminal app to make things happen right now if you want to try it for yourself, though the experimenters promise an easier solution in the coming days. Exciting stuff for webOS users hungry for a little more horsepower... now let's see if Palm puts this into play come CES. Update: PreCentral has a video of the app in action -- check it out after the break! [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Palm smartphone pops up in WiFi certification database: is this Verizon's Pre?
Look, let's not beat around the bushes -- Verizon Wireless will one day stock Palm's Pre. It's a rather well documented fact, and at this point the only real question is "when?" Judging by a mysterious Wi-Fi Certificate that just popped up, we're beginning to think that the waiting period is nearly up, and with CES 2010 happening in a week, there's hardly a better time for us to really start believing. If you'll recall, Sprint's Pre snagged a Wi-Fi Certificate number of P100EWW, and just this summer we spotted a few leaked Palm devices within VZW documents with "P101" and "P121" monikers; lo and behold, the certificate for this elusive dual-mode (WiFi and cellular) smartphone boasts a P101EWW label. We aren't trying to read too deeply between the lines or anything, but if this isn't a Pre destined for Big Red, we're eager to know what kind of new mobile Palm has lined up for its presser at CES. [Thanks, Rehman]
Sprint now pushing webOS 1.3.5 to the Pre
We'd heard webOS 1.3.5 would be coming to the Pre on Sprint today, and here we go -- it's being pushed to devices right now. The official changelog is quite long, but the big-ticket tweaks include the removal of the app storage limit, better performance, and improved battery life. We'll let you know how our update goes -- you let us know the same now, kaykay? Kay. %Gallery-81102%
Palm and Sprint issue statement acknowledging Profile backup issue
Even in a world full of racket, it seems that the squeaky wheel still gets the grease. In yet another blow to this whole "cloud" agenda, a vocal segment of Palm users began to notice that information transferred from their online Palm Profile was only a fraction of what it should have been. Today, both Palm and Sprint have issued a joint statement acknowledging the issue and promising to work much, much harder in order to avoid having something like this ruin your life once again. To quote: "We are seeing a small number of customers who have experienced issues transferring their Palm Profile information to another Palm webOS device. Palm and Sprint are working closely together to support these customers to successfully transfer their information to the new device." Between this mess and the T-Mobile fiasco, we're pretty certain we're being forced to stay on the manual backup bandwagon for the foreseeable future. [Thanks, Mike]
Palm Pre backups can be easily overwritten by a replacement device: replacers beware!
We've just been alerted to an unsettling trend in Palm Pre land, where strings of replacement devices are a bit too common for comfort: some users have been losing their Palm Profile backup, or a large majority of it, once they pair up their new device. The big issue is that since this problem is rather sporadic, Palm doesn't seem to have a good way to deal with it yet -- the trend in the forums seems to be a complaint sent to Palm, followed up by word of an inability to restore data from Palm a few weeks later. Lucky for these hapless Pre replacers, a particularly repeat offender (working on his seventh Pre) has posted instructions for making sure this sort of data loss doesn't happen to you. His theory is that it has something to do with a refurbished device loaded with an old firmware trying to sync with the newer-firmware-styled backup your dead device made with Palm's servers, and messing stuff up in the process. He recommends walking out of the store before Sprint tries to trip you up, and upgrading and wiping the phone before reactivating it and syncing. Sounds foolproof enough, right? Let's hope. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] %Poll-37250%
Palm Pre slips to $80 on contract, makes the Pixi that much less attractive
Man, the Pixi has a tough life. For starters, it launches at a price point that simply makes no sense when you consider that the Pre could be had for the exact same price via third-party channels. Next, Palm's second-ever webOS device falls to just $25 on contract, making it worth a glance once more. Nary two days later, Amazon has chopped the price of the Pre to just $79.99 with a 2-year contract, and to boot the $36 activation fee is being waived. We always heard sibling rivalries were the worst -- guess mum wasn't kidding around.
Facebook finally comes to webOS, not with a bang but a whimper
Just in time for the Pixi's grand debut, webOS devices (that's just Pixi and Pre) now have their first official Facebook app, joining the ranks of iPhone and Android... and we're sad to report that it's about as barebones as they can get. It pulls from the raw live stream, seemingly unfiltered -- even if you said "no" to Farmville updates on your main feed, they'll show up here. Clicking a YouTube link brings you to the YouTube app, clicking links go to browser. You can update your status or upload a photo, but that's about it. You can't seem to search Facebook for any info, view events, or anything else, and clicking on someone's name or photo brings up their contact info. And that's about it -- can someone give Joe Hewitt a ring? Still, it's better than nothing. WebOS 1.3.1 is required, not that you had any reason to hold off upgrading.
GSM Palm Pre bound for Mexico, coming to Telcel on November 27th
Remember that FCC filing for a GSM-loving North American Palm Pre? Looks like the mystery's been solved, Encyclopedia Brown, and our culprit is just south of the border. As previously rumored, Mexico's Telcel will get the Pre, SIM card slot and all. Launch date is November 27th, just in time for the US to be thankful for an online community ready to unlock and import this stateside. [Thanks, Andres]
Palm Pre price keeps sinking on Bell, down to $100
Just weeks after Palm's Pre sunk to CAD $149.95 on Bell, the outfit's first-ever webOS phone has now stooped to just CAD $99.95. That still requires a 3-year contract, of course, but man -- a single bill for a smartphone like the Pre? Anyone tossing out guesses on how long it takes Sprint to follow suit (and embarrass the Pixi)? [Thanks, David]
Orange to start UK iPhone sales on November 10
Update: Orange has announced pricing for the iPhone, in a dizzying matrix of subscription & pay-as-you-go plans (Monkey, Dolphin, Canary, Racoon & Camel? Really?) matched with varying purchase costs. All plans include free unlimited WiFi access; wireless data is 250MB/mo on the PAYG plans and 'unlimited' (meaning 750MB/mo) on the subscription plans. Tethering is only available on the subscription plans. The wait for a new carrier for the iPhone in the UK appears to be nearly over. The Times Online out of the UK says Orange will add Apple's thrice-super phone to its stable on November 10, one day after O2's exclusivity for the device ends. Orange announced in late September that it would be carrying the iPhone, though it only said then that it would have the phone later in the year. At least 200,000 people may want to circle the date on their calendars, since at least that many have reportedly pre-registered to buy the phone on the new carrier, despite not knowing how much the phone will cost nor how much the monthly plans will run them. November 10 may be a bittersweet day for Vodafone. While it has announced its own deal to sell the iPhone in the UK starting in 2010, pent up demand from people who want the device but don't want O2 as a carrier may be lost to the new Orange option. Vodafone reports interim results on November 10, though it'll likely face as many questions about the phone it doesn't yet have as it will about its own numbers. O2 will still carry the iPhone, though it's also got its mind on the Palm Pre, which it began offering as a UK-exclusive last week. [via TimesOnline]
Unofficial patch lets you hang up Palm Pre calls by closing the slider
You know how easy and natural it is to hang up a call on a cellphone by sliding it closed or flipping it shut? It's a small satisfaction that's been lost on touchscreen-only phones, but it would seem to still make sense on something like, say, the Palm Pre -- just not to Palm, it seems. Well, it looks like unofficial patch maker KeyToss has now finally stepped in and done what Palm hasn't, and produced a patch that does nothing more than let you end a call by closing the slider on your Pre. Who knows? You might even start hanging up on people just for the fun of it. Hit up the link below for all the necessary details on installing the patch.
Caption contest: Palm strikes a pose in Spain
There are three things in this crazy world that scare the living daylights out of us: poor battery life, scratched screens, and seven-foot tall she-bots wielding Pres like concealed weapons. This, it seems, was the nightmarish scenario facing Madrid as it launched Palm's first webOS-based phone this week. Chris: "I'm being treated well, but please, it's imperative that you buy this phone as expediently as possible." Richard Lai: "My other toy is the Pre." Ross: "It says if we don't do exactly as it commands, the Spiders from Mars will return and destroy us all."Darren: "Geordi La Forge and I are like this." Josh T.: "So far they have treated me well, but I fear that could change at any moment. If you comply with their demand for 300 pairs of leather pants, they say I will be released unharmed."Thomas: "Sir, I assure you, this is exactly how they do it in America."
Verizon confirms: Palm Pre hitting Big Red "early next year"
Oftentimes a picture shouts a thousand words. Other times it belts out precisely a dozen. Straight from Verizon Wireless' official Twitter account comes this, a confirmation that the Palm Pre we knew was coming to Big Red, well, is coming to Big Red. If you can hold off through the tempting holiday rush, you'll find Palm's first-ever webOS device on VZW "early next year." Huzzah![Via Boy Genius Report]
Palm Pre now available on O2 UK
And the Telefonica rollout of the GSM Pre continues. Starting today, those gorgeous people populating the sinking, but still glorious, isle of the United Kingdom can get their hands on a Palm Pre by hitting up their nearest O2 store. And by hitting up we mean becoming customers, not robbing the place. Anyway, the cheapest (or least expensive) 18-month tariff on which the Pre can be had for free is £44.05 ($71) per month, which throws in 1,200 free minutes and "unlimited" data and WiFi. That monthly price drops to £34.26 ($55) if you go for a two-year contract, but the bundled minutes are also fewer at 600. There's also an option to pay £96.89 ($157) for the handset upfront, which cuts the cost of the subsequent price plans, full details of which can be found at the read link.[Thanks, Cuan B.]
Keepin' it real fake, part CCXXXVIII: Palm Pre knockoff doesn't know what it wants to be when it grows up
Yes, this was only a matter of time, and we're a little surprised we didn't see one earlier. Regardless, this is the Palm Pre knockoff we've been waiting for. Seemingly called just iPhone +QWERTY -- this KIRF is being marketed as just that -- a real business phone with a hybrid identity blending the BlackBerry and the iPhone. And really, that's not too bad of a description for this little dude, we guess. Boasting analog TV, Bluetooth, and an FM radio, it runs the much-loved OPhone operating system, and can be had for 600 RMP (about $88). There are two more shots after the break. Hit the read link for a full peek.[Via PMP Today]
GSM Palm Pre to launch on Telcel in Mexico, feature storage expansion?
Well, this is interesting: we'd been under the impression that Telefonica had pretty much wrapped up a global exclusive on the GSM Palm Pre under the O2 and Movistar brands, but here we are, looking at two videos which claim that the Pre will launch in Mexico under rival América Móvil's Telcel label. That's certainly interesting -- and even more intriguingly, we're told that the gentlemen in this video are discussing storage expansion slots on the Pre, which is basically like having a conversation about Santa winning the Super Bowl in terms of Things That Are Real. Did Telcel just manage to pull the rug out from under Movistar and land what could be the best Pre of them all? We're on pins and needles, here. Videos after the break -- and if anyone wants to leave a better translation for us in comments, we're all ears.
Screen Grabs: Palm Pre isn't helping things be any less miserable on 'Heroes'
Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today's movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com. Hey -- it's the Palm Pre hanging tough in the morally ambiguous hands of Nathan Petrelli! Does it help him decide who to crush or love when he gets up in the morning? Does it get reception when he flies into the upper atmosphere to change world events so dramatically that half the characters are confused and the other half have disappeared by the time he's back in NYC? What's going on, Nathan? You seem depressed. You want to go with a different carrier, don't you? Got a hankering for the GSM? [Thanks, Dylan]
Palm Pre coming to Spain on Telefonica on October 14
The European operators are really liking mid-October for their Pre launches, and that trend continues now that Spain's Telefonica has unveiled an October 14 availability date for Spain's very first webOS device. The phone's being offered on plans that will bring the cost of the handset itself down to anywhere between €0 and €219 (about $322) -- and if you're wondering exactly what you have to do to get it for absolutely free, well, you'll be shelling out €60 or more a month in voice plus €15 in data. You'll be able to pick it up both online and in your friendly local Telefonica shop, so it'll be interesting to see if any lines start forming -- just how many Palm fanatics are their in Spain, anyway?
