Canadians have cause to rejoice and may soon be Synergizing with a shiny new Palm Pre in their hands on the Bell network. Get ready to flick some cards on the webOS interface! In-store advertising reads that the Palm Pre is “coming soon” and Bell customers can “order yours today”, which sounds like pre-orders will be accepted. Although there is no date certain by which the Pre will be stocked on the shelves and rolling out the door, the increase in advertising by Bell points to an imminent launch on their network. When Canada gets the Pre, we will be sure to shout it from the … uh… blogosphere.

Source: IntoMobile

While we wait and wait for more apps to become available in the App Catalog for the Palm Pre, we can at least whet our appetite with news of new apps that will eventually be available to us for download. Later this year, VOXOFON will have a VoIP app available to Pre users. This app will facilitate placing low-cost international calls from the Pre, even without a Wi-Fi connection. Also, there are no contracts, subscriptions or recurring fees to worry about. Now we just need the App Catalog to deliver.

Source: everythingpre

We reported a few weeks ago that more apps were coming soon to the App Catalog, and finally this is coming to pass – two new apps are now available, OpenTable and Fliq Bookmarks. OpenTable helps you find a restaurant nearest you, with functionality like adding to your Calendar and getting directions. Fliq Bookmarks is an expansion of the Missing Sync app and allows you to sync Safari bookmarks from your Mac computer.

Yes, the addition of two apps is nothing to write home about, but it’s like waiting in a really long line that hasn’t moved much, then suddenly lurches forward several steps and inspires hope that someday you’ll get to the front. Keep an eye on the App Catalog – Palm promises that this is just the beginning.

Source: PreThinking

A new Palm Pre commercial has hit the airwaves, yet another installment in the campaign featuring actress Tamara Hope. The new commercial, “My Phone Can Read My Mind”, is a brief spot emphasizing the Pre’s Synergy capabilities – aggregating calendar and contacts in a way that it’s like the phone can read minds. Although a little strange – especially when Ms. Hope seems to be talking to herself and says at first the Pre “kinda freaked me out” and knows that she’s “crazy” – the ad campaign is effective due to it’s memorability. Take a look and decide for yourself.

Source: everythingpre

Even in the midst of troubling economic times and thousands of layoffs already conducted with thousands more on the way, Verizon Wireless is reporting a silver lining – CFO John Killian is sticking to his guns in telling analysts that Verizon will carry the Pre “early next year.” How early is “early next year?” Hard to say, but early next year would seem to indicate sometime in the first quarter. Another silver lining? Perhaps by the time Verizon has the Pre, all the wrinkles will be ironed out. Hey Palm, what about a webOS phone for AT&T please?

Source: All Things Digital

There were numerous reports on the Intertubes that Best Buy listed the Pre at a mere $99, and allegedly there are some lucky folks that picked up a Pre at that price before Best Buy corrected their mistake. Best Buy marketing manager John Bernier quickly issued a statement via Twitter to correct the blunder and that the mistake would be corrected shortly, but the $100 dollar question is whether or not there are still some lucky souls that can get a $99 Pre before the correction is made? Let us know if you are one of the lucky few!

Source: engadget

Options – they are nice to have. Up until now, the only ways to charge your Pre was either with the supplied USB cable or the rather expensive Touchstone charging station. Over at the Palm Infocenter store, you can pick up an inexpensive charging cradle ($24.95), from Mobi Products, that charges via your computer’s USB port or A/C power adapter and even has space to charge an extra battery. If you decide to pick one up, let us know what you think, either in comments or in the forum.

Source

The photo on the left is courtesy of a PreThinking.com forum member, Royer, and is clearly an extreme example of a Pre out of control. Right on the heels of the previous post reporting possible exaggerated return rates (40%), we don’t wish to slam Palm or Sprint, but it is interesting to see some hardware do things it was never meant to do. We haven’t seen slider issues in the Pres we’ve had our hands on – just mainly dead pixels. But have you experienced any slider shenanigans or similar contortions? If so, let us know in comments!

Source: engadget mobile

There have been recent reports that Pre returns have hit as high as 40%, but according to Wired, these estimates may be grossly exaggerated. According to Interpret analyst Michael Gartenberg, “I would suspect that the Pre return rates would be in line or a little lower than the average smartphone. Most consumers who bought the Pre were early adopters who were waiting for the phone and knew what they are buying into at this point.”

Some of the reasons cited by those who returned their Pre include things like loosening of the slider mechanism, poor battery life, cracked screens, and dead or stuck pixels. In our experience, we haven’t seen a Pre yet that was without pixel issues. Fortunately, in spite of some of these issues, most Pre buyers stick with their phone. Have you had to return or exchange a Pre? If so, why?

Source: Wired

Does the breaking of the iTunes/Pre sync due to Apple’s latest iTunes update got you down? It’s unfortunate that Apple would sabotage this admittedly unholy reunion to begin with, but if new Pre owners wanted an iPhone, wouldn’t they have bought one in the first place? Given that Pre users would undoubtedly purchase music and other media from iTunes, thus putting more coin in Apple’s pockets, it seems counterproductive to disable the Pre’s ability to sync with iTunes, but where one door closes, a window opens, and through that window comes Dazzboard.

Dazzboard is a media management webtop application that’s free and enables syncing music to iTunes and syncing for photos and video as well. For those of you with a Pre and willing to give Dazzboard a spin, let us know about your experience in comments and the forum.

Source: mypre