Leave it to an enterprising precentral forum member, DrewPre, to create backup functionality where Palm and the “cloud” fall a little short. The webOS platform ingeniously remains always-connected to the cloud and stores your critical data in several locations, adding valuable convenience and peace of mind should you lose or accidentally destroy your device. This feature makes it very easy to quickly recover all of your data in the event you must replace your device.

As good as this feature is, it does have a few blind spots. For instance, call logs and SMS conversations are forever lost if you replace your phone, but with DrewPre’s backup utility, all of your data (call logs, contacts, tasks, memos, and SMS conversations) and web browser information (bookmarks, history, cookies) is bundled with your apps and patches into a zip package on your phone’s USB drive partition. Just copy it from there to your desktop and you have a way to replace all of this important data should you need to replace or reset your webOS device.

Learn more about DrewPre’s efforts over here. Hopefully it will be polished and available to the masses sometime soon!

source: precentral

It’s time once again to list all the new and updated apps that have been added to Palm’s App Catalog. More than half of the new apps come from JM Productions, and as far as we’re concerned, the more apps the better, so keep them coming! Without further ado, here are the apps:

New apps: jBalls by Cohosoft ($0.99), Compass by JM Productions ($1.99), JM Solitaire by JM Productions ($2.99), Calql8 Dates by caql8.com ($2.99), Amazon Deals by JM Productions (Free), JM Stopwatch by JM Productions ($1.99), JogStats Trial by Rusty Apps (Free), and Tire Size Calculator by Spyder Speak (Free).

Updated apps: Calql8 Tips, Express Stocks, Sports Calendar (Free version), Go To Tools Lite, Bible Dictionary, Golf Caddie Trial, gChords Free, JogStats, Beerology 101, Twee, Go To Tool, PicHunt (Pets), Wobble Words, dkStopwatch, Top Stocks Lite, My Mall Shopping, Mind Master, The Surprise, PicHunt (Vintage Cars), BAC Calcuator, and PicHunt (Space Explorer).

Give these new apps a new home on your Pre or Pixi and let us know what you think!

source: preThinking

You may have heard of a rather obscure social networking app called Facebook? Palm webOS handset owners have waited patiently for Facebook to be available in the App Catalog, and finally it arrived a couple days ago. If you want to start networking with your Facebook friends from your webOS device, just download the app (free!) from the App Catalog. It’s important for you to know that you must first update to webOS 1.3.1 before downloading the Facebook app. Let us know how it works for you!

source: everythingpre

With the introduction of webOS version 1.31 right out of the box for the Palm Pixi, and as an OTA firmware upgrade for the Palm Pre, Palm has tweaked a few things here and there with Yahoo Synergy topping the list. That means you can sync your contacts, calendar and e-mail between Yahoo and webOS 1.31 along with your Yahoo IM buddies list. Tapping on a text message or an IM now brings up a menu that gives you options to copy, forward or delete a single message. Pressing your finger down on the fast forward or rewind button on the music player allows for a scrubber to appear. The scrubber can be dragged to the exact part of the song or podcast you are accessing. Web sites now have placeholders for flash content instead of empty space. Perhaps this is to remind everyone that flash is supposed to be added to the Pre in the first half of next year. If the missing flash content is a YouTube video, a preview image is shown to alert you that you can click on the image to watch the video from inside the phone’s YouTube app. Palm has told precentral that webOS 1.31 also contains the “underpinnings” to download the Facebook App from the online store. In other words, webOS 1.31 is the minimum build required to run the current Facebook app for the Pre or the Pixi. Speaking of the app store, the store now filters apps so that if using the Pixi, only apps that can be used for that handset can be seen by the user, and vice versa.

While not available now as it is “grayed out”, future versions of webOS will allow you to select which apps will handle phone numbers, addresses and e-mail addresses. Holding the door open for at least the idea of an alternative to the Opera browser in the future, eventually webOS users will be able to select which app will hold your web links.. On the Pixi, it looks like 1.31 brings some Bluetooth fixes with it. The new build doesn’t increase speed and the ability to use the Facebook app is the only application related change. For Pre owners moving up to 1.31 either with the OTA upgrade or by buying a Pixi, the move from 1.21 to 1.31 will probably be noticeable although it won’t give you everything you want including iTunes syncing.
source: precentral

Without all of the excitement and fanfare seen when the Palm Pre launched this past summer, the Palm Pixi officially goes on sale at Sprint today. With the latest version of webOS under its’ hood. the difference between the two devices is really all about the hardware. The Pixi lacks a Wi-Fi radio, and has a downgraded camera at 2MP vs. the Pre’s 3MP shooter. The display, at 2.63 inches, is much smaller than the 3.1 inch screen found on the earlier model. But all of this cutting back has allowed Palm and Sprint to offer a webOS device at a lower price. The Pixi costs $99.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and your signature on a 2 year contract. Anyone looking to spread a little Pixi dust today?
source: Sprint

Usually the European market seems to get all of the good stuff, but when it comes to the GSM Palm Pre, users have been stuck with webOS 1.1.3 while their counterparts in North America have been enjoying the bliss of webOS 1.3. According to O2 UK and PalmInfocenter, that’s about to change.

By the “end of November”, GSM Pre users in Europe on O2 UK will be running webOS 1.3 and balance will be restored in the Palm Pre universe. If you’re a Pre owner in Europe, let us know when you are running webOS 1.3 on your device.

source: PalmInfocenter

Choices for buying the new webOS-based Palm Pixi are becoming more interesting. On November 15th, you can walk into a Sprint store or one of it’s affiliates like Best Buy and Radio Shack, lay down $200 bucks (with $100 coming back as a main-in rebate), and walk out with a new Pixi.

Or, if you’re a patient person, you can pre-order on Wal-Mart’s web site and get a brand new Pixi for only $29.99. This price is for new contracts only — customers renewing their contract will pay $249.99 and the off-contract pricing is $499.99. Wal-Mart expects to have stock on November 24th, so maybe waiting another nine days is worth the $70 you can ultimately save. What do you think?

source: precentral

Visit the download page for Adobe Flash from an iPhone and Adobe tells you in no uncertain terms whose fault it is that the software will not play on your device. “Apple restricts use of technologies required by products like Flash Player. Until Apple eliminates these restrictions, Adobe cannot provide Flash Player for the iPhone or iPod Touch,” says the writing in the box.

Now we take a look at what it says when you try to get Flash from a device using webOS. “Adobe Flash Player is coming to Palm’s webOS in the first half of 2010.” This is certainly exciting news for Pre owners and might actually be enough to sway those sitting on the fence to land on the side of the fence belonging to Palm’s handset. Besides the Pre, there is also talk that the recently launched Motorola DROID will be getting Flash 10 support in the first half of next year. This looks to leave Apple out in the cold unless they start playing nice with Adobe. Remember Apple, pride comes before a fall.

Palm’s new webOS wonder, the Pixi, is set to launch in just a few days, but it’s nice to get an early look at pictures and videos leaked online. What we have here is video of the Pixi in action, running webOS 1.3.1. It’s nice to see the Pixi doing it’s thing, and in just a few more days, you should be able to handle one for yourself!

source: precentral

Since Palm launched the Pre and the App Catalog, the App Catalog has been in beta and Palm has strictly controlled the admission of apps into the Catalog for webOS users – this is about to change. Next month, the App Catalog will no longer be beta and developers can distribute their free apps to webOS users via web URL installed in the webOS browser.

Once Palm makes the App Catalog official, apps should be allowed to pour in like never before. We may also see apps from some of the heavy hitters, like EA and Docs2Go, who until now have been noticeably absent from the App Catalog, likely due to the beta status and the need for Palm to iron out all the wrinkles before inviting the larger developers access.

What do you think about an official, non-beta App Catalog and the app free-for-all that is likely headed our way?

source: PreThinking