Palm webOS owners have something to look forward to, despite having some rather quiet happenings of late, as Facebook beta for webOS has been updated to version 1.3.1. Although there are no new notable features accompanying its release, Palm states that there are “some bug fixes and performance improvements” that are found with it. Overall, you can just expect to see a more responsive experience when using the app. On other webOS news, the official version of the Facebook app for webOS has also been moved up to version 1.3 – which essentially brings forth worthy features such as landscape viewing, filtered news feeds, and many more items. So if you’re more in line to sticking true with official app releases as opposed to checking out beta ones, then head on over to the App Catalog and catch yourself the latest download of the Facebook app.
via PreCentral

The addictive game Angry Birds is now available for the Palm Pre and Pre Plus. Available in the Palm App Catalog for $2, your Pre must have the latest version of webOS, 1.4.5, under the hood. According to a press release issued by Palm, Angry Birds will be made available for Pixi owners later. The game’s creator, Rovio, had asked the webOS community if they wanted the game for their platform and the response was extremely positive.

For those Rip Van Winkle types who are not familiar with the multi-level game, using a slingshot you launch birds-each with a different power-toward a number of green pigs protected by wood or stone housing. Spurred on by the massive success of the game on the iPhone and iPod, the developers want to put the game on other platforms. While the game is among the top selling apps in over 60 countries, so far Android users have been shut out.
source: Palm

HP’s PC division head confirmed in an interview that it will show the fruit of its marriage with Palm early 2011 in the form of a tablet, running webOS. HP put on the shelf its plans for the Slate – a Windows 7-powered tablet, but it is no doubt using the hardware expertise acquired on the way to come up with a webOS device just months after it acquired Palm. What would it be is anyone’s guess, but webOS is great at multitasking and many other things, so a tablet with it backed by HP’s mammoth production and marketing capabilities might stir up the market quite a bit.

Speaking of alternative mobile operating systems for the exploding tablet market, Bloomberg reports that BlackBerry will be releasing its BlackPad in November with an OS created by QNX – a Canadian software company it bought in April. It turns out that these guys are producing the in-car multimedia and navigation user interfaces in our Porsches, Audis and BMWs, so we are assuming that BlackBerry is aiming for a classy experience with the BlackPad. The QNX operating system has actually been around since the 80s and is now used in Canadian nuclear plants, so we’d dare to say it must be stable.

We are embedding a video of the latest QNX in-car touchscreen creation we could find, called the “Flash Motor” – the BlackPad’s user interface may or may not look anything like that. It’s QNX’s part of a project called the “LTE connected car”, using in-dash touchscreen for infotainment and controlling the car.

It has nothing to do with the BlackPad for now, but you can still check it out to see what the OS is capable of – UI is demoed as well as browsing, a YouTube client, etc. The QNX guys are heavy users of Adobe Flash in their software, so it will be relatively safe to assume Flash won’t be an issue, unlike on some other tablets we know of.

source: Yahoo! & BGR

Discover the QNX “Flash Motor” – a car with a difference from Paul Wyatt on Vimeo.

HP placed themselves in the spotlight recently, but unfortunately for them, it didn’t involve anything related to their wonderful and eclectic mix of consumers products. The abrupt resignation of ex-CEO Mark Hurd might’ve given the company some face time in the media, however, things might shift once again after news surfaced regarding a webOS powered tablet. There was an all-hands employee meeting held yesterday when Personal Systems Group VP, Todd Bradley, mentioned some interesting news surrounding a new project that’s commencing and is being referred to internally as “Hurricane.” This project is reported to be the all too knowing webOS powered tablet which will bypass the busy holiday season and make its launch some time in Q1 2011 – which we’d imagine would provide them ample time getting this fine tuned and ready for the competition. Since they’re going to miss out on the important holiday season, the bar will naturally be set a bit higher since they’re already in the process of completing webOS 2.0 – which is something that’ll hopefully breathe in some new life to the once fledgling platform.
source: Engadget via Unwired View

Regardless or not we’ll end up seeing some kind of new hardware from Palm this year, it’s not stopping developers from fine tuning and enhancing apps created for the platform. It’s evident in the most recent release of the Facebook app for webOS version 1.2.30 beta which continues to emulate the desktop experience on a mobile level. Although this isn’t a groundbreaking update, it does add some new features such as the support for selectable news feeds, toggling feed comments on/off, and the ability to clear multiple notifications at the same time. In addition, you’ll find the customary amount of enhancements and bug fixes to better the overall experience. Since it’s not yet available to download through the App Catalog, you can basically just click the source link to get yourself a copy of the update.
source: Palm via Palm’s Facebook

While Germany’s O2 is the only carrier to officially offer the webOS 1.4.5 upgrade to its customers, and AT&T owners will probably be the last to receive it, a self-proclaimed “Sprint employee” tells the PreCentral forum that webOS 1.4.5.1 will be available from Sprint on July 7th after most European carriers will have already made 1.4.5 available to customers. On the Palm site, it does let us know what changes to expect from this download, mostly some repairs to minor problems. On the browser, for example, if you enter text on certain web pages, the screen focus now will remain on the text being entered. The upgrade will also correct a rare problem that prevented some podcasts from downloading correctly and addresses several security issues with the software. The forum writing “Sprint employee” also dropped a few more items that the upgrade will bring to Sprint users such as fixing the e-mail so that the Sprint branded e-mail default signature is correctly branded. There will be some improvement to battery life and videos will be able to get sent via multimedia messaging. Sprint TV will have a couple of changes with an upgrade to version 3.5.4 and parental controls will be enhanced. Meanwhile, Palm has made the webOS 1.4.5 SDK available to all developers including the just out of beta PDK. The upgrade will allow 3D gaming PDK apps to be supported by the Palm Pixi.
source: PreCentralForums, Phonescoop

With the final details being ironed out between Palm and HP, some are still questioning whether or not the long time smartphone maker would even have an inkling of making another webOS powered handset in the near future. As we moved pass the anniversary of the Palm Pre’s launch with Sprint, Palm’s handset offerings are starting to look a bit stale when we see other contemporary handsets outshine the luster that once accompanied the Pre. During a developers webinar hosted by AT&T, there was a Palm rep that let slip out some interesting news regarding their plans for future devices. One would’ve imagined that HP would be in control and use their strength to bring about a handset quickly to the market, however, it would seem as though there is going to be a substantial gap between now and the time we see any new hardware come out. When asked if there were plans to release new devices this year, a Palm representative at the webinar said, “I’m not allowed to talk about future roadmaps, especially because we’re in the process of being acquired by HP, so I can’t say. But yes we have a road map. We are working on future devices. And [a] new version of the OS. So I think, you’re going to find the next year very exciting.” Naturally there would be a lot of people filled with excitement over this, but their choice of saying ‘the next year,” can dash some hopes seeing that it could be roughly a twelve month time frame before something is seen. Thankfully it doesn’t mean just one single handset is in the works as they mentioned specifically that they’re working on future devices.
via PreCentral

In an effort to continue providing webOS users the best experience, Facebook Beta version 1.2.5 for the platform is now available for the taking and fixes some issues that sometimes plague users. Naturally the arrival of notifications kept users well-informed as they casually run other apps on the platform, but for some odd reason, some users complained about problems regarding viewing photos from notifications. Thankfully the update addresses that issue and includes support to tag photos, like them, and the ability to comment them as well. Needless to say that the update may not be ground breaking, but it surely shows the commitment in fine tuning the app to provide users a simple and versatile mobile solution for their Facebook fix.
source: Facebook via PreCentral

The Palm Pre isn’t going to be the sole webOS offering on O2 UK’s web site as the Plus models have finally invaded the turf. O2 UK customers can now take part in the pleasures of owning either the Palm Pre Plus or Pixi Plus that of course offers a tad better overall experience. From the looks of it, customers won’t be looking to pay that much out of their pockets immediately as it’s available for free on most monthly plans offered by the wireless carrier. The timing is just about right as we’re closing in on that one year anniversary since the very first webOS handset by Palm was released to the world. However, it’ll be interesting to see what kind of sales O2 UK will be having with these two latest smartphones.
via PreCentral

It was back in October when we first received wind about some alternate version of the Palm Pre, dubbed back then as the Palm Pre II, heading over to O2 some time. Well, it could somehow be related to the just recently announced Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus which will be heading to O2. The timing of discontinuing the purchase of additional Palm Pre units makes sense now that these two Plus models are within grasp for O2 customers. Palm’s chairman and chief executive officer Jon Rubinstein said, “We are excited to bring Pre Plus and Pixi Plus to the market for O2 customers. With the choice of these two new Palm webOS phones, customers across the UK can stay connected, so they never miss a thing.” Set with a release date of May 28th, the day will soon be here for those customers looking at a chance to grab two of the latest devices to hit the market – still, there is no official word surrounding its pricing.
source: Palm via Tracy & Matt’s Blog