(Credit:
Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)
Hey, Palm users. If you've been waiting for the WebOS Twitter app Twee to leave Homebrew status and graduate to Palm's App Catalog, get moving. Twee 1.0, by Delicious Morsel, has hit prime time.
The Twee Twitter app comes in two versions: free and pro ($2.99). TweeFree has more features than other WebOS Twitter apps, including photo support via TwitPic, yfrog, TweetPhoto, and Img.ly, and you can track Twitter trends with Twitturly. A favorite Twee feature is that it previews a thumbnail of a friend's image URL without having to open it first. Twitter search, replies, and direct-message windows are also wrapped into TweeFree.
If you have multiple Twitter accounts to track, however, forget the freeware. You'll need to upgrade to Twee's pro version for that. After upgrading, you can also receive notifications and local tweets from 1 mile to a 250 mile radius, if Twitter eavesdropping is your thing. Notifications and multiple-account management are what clinched the purchase for us.
Both versions are attractive, with a dark gray and electric blue motif, and are easy to operate, with finger-friendly icons and a sliding activities ribbon along the bottom. We're fans, but if Twee isn't your favorite, which Twitter app for WebOS gets your 140 characters?
(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CNET)
On Monday, Palm set free its lastest WebOS update for the Palm Pre, bringing quite a number of new features to the smartphone and addresses several security issues.
If you haven't received it already, Palm WebOS 1.2 will arrive as an over-the-air update to your smartphone over the next few days. Notable additions include the integration of LinkedIn contacts, the capability to download songs from the Amazon MP3 Store over a 3G connection in addition to Wi-Fi, and cut and paste for Web pages and e-mails.
Other highlights include being able to search within e-mail folders, download files from the Web browser, and the capability to pause podcasts. We're still awaiting the arrival of prepaid apps, but it looks we're getting closer since you can now store credit card information on your Palm profile so you can purchase apps in the future.
For a full list of included updates with Palm WebOS 1.2, check out Palm's support site. Most notably absent from this update, however, is any mention of a fix to the iTunes synchronization, which was broken by iTunes 9.0. We're still waiting for the WebOS 1.2 to arrive on our Palm Pre, but let us know if the media syncing is still truly disabled and share your experience with the update in the comments below.
Yelp 1.0 on the Palm Pre.
(Credit: Yelp)Yelp has been pushing hard to make its presence on smartphones known. In the last seven days, it has released a major upgrade to its iPhone application and has debuted native versions of Yelp for BlackBerry and the Palm Pre (Palm WebOS.)
Yelp 1.0 for Palm Pre and Yelp 1.0 for BlackBerry are much more basic than their iPhone kin is. According to Yelp, this is a conscious decision to get the core features out there and usable. And, although not much to look at (on the BlackBerry Bold, anyway,) the apps retain their utility. We put the BlackBerry version to the test to find and direct us to our humble lunch spot, even reading reviews in line to see which menu items were most recommended. Yelp on BlackBerry is location-aware and uses maps (Microsoft's Bing maps, not Google Maps) and click-to-call to help a mobile Yelper out.
The Palm WebOS version has the same core features, but the experience is leagues ahead of the BlackBerry version. The Pre's interface is also much more stylish and provides access to special offers. BlackBerry users may miss those deals at this stage, a shame. Yelp on the Pre can also save contacts to the address book, and can share listings by e-mail or text. The biggest usability error we noticed on the Pre was having to scroll to the very end of a record to access the Web site link. It would be better to see this in the address block up top.
Both version 1.0 applications are missing interactive capabilities to upload photos, write reviews, and rate others' reviews. According to Yelp, more advanced features such as these will come later on.
Yelp for Blackberry is available for free on BlackBerry devices in the U.S., Canada, U.K., and Ireland (or anywhere else you use BlackBerry) by pointing the mobile browser to http://m.yelp.com. Yelp for Palm Pre can be used in the U.S. or Canada (or anywhere else you have a Pre). You can download the Pre app from the App Catalog on the phone.
(Credit:
Screenshot by Bonnie Cha/CNET)
This post was last updated July 24, 2009 at 7:50 a.m. PT.
Oh, snap! Things just got a little more heated between Palm and Apple. On Thursday, Palm released WebOS 1.1 for the Palm Pre, which, among other things, brings back iTunes syncing even with version 8.2.1, which disabled the feature. The news was posted on Palm's blog where it listed the new features and enhancements of the software update and nonchalantly added at the end:
Oh, and one more thing: Palm webOS 1.1 re-enables Palm media sync. That's right--you once again can have seamless access to your music, photos and videos from the current version of iTunes (8.2.1, for Windows and Mac).
Further, in a statement to All Things Digital, Palm spokeswoman Lynn Fox revealed that it has taken the issue to the USB Implementers Forum:
Palm believes that openness and interoperability offer better experiences for users by allowing them the freedom to use the content they own without interference across devices and services, so on behalf of consumers, we have notified the USB Implementers Forum of what we believe is improper use of the Vendor ID number by another member.
Bold move, Palm. Bold move. It'll be interesting to see how Apple responds, and do you suppose the use of the phrase "one more thing," a phrase that Apple CEO Steve Jobs often uses to introduce a new product at the end of his keynotes, was intentional or am I just reading too much into this?
Aside from the media syncing features, WebOS 1.1 also delivers more enterprise-friendly features, including more additions to Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support. The Pre now offers remote, PIN/password requirements, inactivity timeout, improved certificate handling, and more.
In addition, you can now use emoticons with text, multimedia, and instant messages and set "person reminders" in the Contacts app. Sprint's NFL Mobile Live app is now supported on the Pre, but that's the only new app that was added to the smartphone with this update.
The full list of WebOS 1.1 features is posted on Palm's support site so check it out. The update, like all other updates, will be delivered to the Pre over-the-air. We just checked our review unit and sure enough, it's there waiting for us, so we're off to update it now. Let us know about your experience below.
Up until last week, Palm Pre users could manage their media content on iTunes. Apple's iTunes update swiftly put an end to the openness. Yet Pre users and owners of other mobile phones can use a similar program as a workaround.
DoubleTwist (for Windows and Mac) is a beta effort led by a Norwegian man best known for reverse engineering DRM controls. In this How To video, CNET Editor Brian Tong shows how DoubleTwist easily syncs your mobile phone with your iTunes music collection, even when iTunes won't.
Goodbye Pre.
(Credit: Screenshot by Bonnie Cha/CNET)This post was updated at 2:56 p.m. PDT with a comment from Palm.
Oh dear. We can't say this was a complete surprise, but it looks like Apple made good on its earlier warning and put an end to the Palm Pre-iTunes synchronization with the release of iTunes 8.2.1.
In the release notes, Apple states that "iTunes 8.2.1 provides a number of important bug fixes and addresses an issue with verification of Apple devices." Not wanting to believe the news, we bit the bullet and downloaded the latest version of Apple's music software to our PC and sure enough, the romance is dead.
Just as before, we connected the smartphone to our laptop and selected the Media Sync option on our Pre, but this time, it didn't automatically launch iTunes. Instead, it was only recognized as a mass storage device, and manually launching iTunes did not surface the Pre either (*tears*).
When asked for comment, Palm replied with the same response it had when Apple first issued its warning:
Palm's media sync works with iTunes 8.2. If Apple chooses to disable media sync in iTunes, it will be a direct blow to their users who will be deprived of a seamless synchronization experience. However, people will have options. They can stay with the iTunes version that works to sync their music on their Pre, they can transfer the music via USB, and there are other third-party applications we can consider.
Obviously, this isn't the best news for Pre users, but there are alternative ways to keep the iTunes-Pre synchronization alive. For one, you could just not update to iTunes 8.2.1, or as PreCentral.net points out, there are other third-party solutions, such as doubleTwist and The Missing Sync for Pre, that will allow to sync the smartphone with iTunes.
Anyone else have recommendations or thoughts on this little battle between Palm and Apple? Please share below.
Back at GSMA 2009, Adobe Systems announced that it would bring Flash Player 10 to a number of smartphones in 2010, and it looks like the company is making good on its promise.
In a Q2 audio press release, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen confirmed that Adobe will release a beta version of Flash Player 10 in October for a number of smartphone browsers, including Windows Mobile, Google Android, Palm WebOS, and Symbian. In addition, Narayen said ARM, Nvidia, Broadcom, Intel, Texas Instruments, and Qualcomm are currently optimizing the player for their products.
Obviously, this is great news for smartphone owners, but one platform noticeably missing from the list is the iPhone OS. This doesn't rule out Flash support on iPhones in the future, however. In the past, Adobe executives have stated that it's coming but that Apple is operating on its own schedule.
In CNET News' Marguerite Reardon's original report on Flash Player 10 in February, Anup Murarka, director of technology strategy and partner development for Adobe, said, "We would love to see it on the iPhone, too. But it's Apple's decision on when and how they support any new technology. So we will continue to work on it."
While iPhone users will have to wait (why do I imagine some people pointing at iPhone users and doing this?), as well as BlackBerry owners, others can get a sneak peek of what's to come in October in the video below, in which Adobe shows off Flash Player 10 on Google Android.
(Source: TMONews)
Palm's plan for application development on the new Palm Pre will help determine its fate.
(Credit: Palm)Palm's new WebOS passed its first test: it looks good. But will the device attract legions of developers?
Just hours after Palm showed off its new operating system running on the Palm Pre, details are still rolling in about the unit and its software. One important factor that will have to be addressed is application development and distribution. Palm has confirmed plans to administer some sort of central store for application downloads. But there still is scarce information about how that will actually work.
Palm's Stephane Maes said that Palm will not attempt to approve every single application developed for WebOS, as Apple does for iPhone applications.
"Certainly, we want to let a thousand flowers bloom," he said. "Every now and then there are a few dandelions we'll want to winnow out."
Unable to let the clichéd misquote of Mao Zedong pass (he actually persecuted many of those who dared let their ideas bloom), let's move on to ask the more important questions that went unanswered this morning.
If Palm is retaining some right to refuse applications, how will those choices be made? Apple has faced its fair share of criticism over nebulous policies for approving or rejecting applications for the App Store, which have frustrated many developers even as they've flocked to the App Store.
Even if Palm takes a laissez-faire approach to the types of applications created for WebOS, will the Palm Store be the exclusive venue for those applications, or will Palm allow competition between the types of online stores that sell current Palm OS applications and its own?
How will the WebOS SDK work? The Mojo SDK is available as a private prerelease, according to a message posted by Palm on its developer home page, and will be a public download later in the year.
Palm's Pre preview
Here's a rundown of the basics of the touch-screen smartphone Palm announced at CES Wednesday. For more details, read our summary here.
New WebOS operating system
iPhone-like gestures, multitasking
Slide-out keyboard
Friendlier for e-mail, text?
Exclusive to Sprint
No GSM, no overseas roaming
Price unknown
Cost crucial for competition
Developers will use Mojo, WebOS's application framework, to develop WebOS applications using standard technologies such as HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. That means it will likely be much easier for application developers to get up and running on WebOS as compared to the time needed to learn platforms such as Android, the iPhone, or BlackBerry. Palm also says there will be a way to migrate older Palm OS applications to WebOS, but doesn't say how that will work or how it might affect performance.
Palm, a mobile computing pioneer, is well-versed in running a development organization but times have changed since the Palm OS was the PDA world's dominant operating system. It is unclear whether the company will be able to reclaim developers who have moved onto the iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, or Android.
These are crucial questions to consider in judging how WebOS and the Palm Pre will play in the current market, not the least being that developer support is a key factor in making a smartphone a more attractive product. At least one Palm developer contacted us urging Palm to resolve these issues sooner rather than later.
Bill MacAdam, director of product development at auto industry software developer GigglePop and longtime Palm OS developer, wants very much to known what Palm has in mind regarding application distribution.
"We very much need to maintain the existing distribution model where the installation of software can take place without going through a store," he wrote in an e-mail. "While a store is a convenient place for consumers to purchase applications, it doesn't work well for business / enterprise applications. It is also very important that we have a very specific roadmap to help us with the transition."
Palm's a little late to the Smartphone 2.0 game, but it got off to a good start with the Palm Pre roll out. Obviously, it will take much more than a flashy demo to get Palm back on track. How the company handles application development will loom large in its success or failure.
In the year since Palm released the Centro as an attempt to revive its lagging business, I've barely heard a whisper about new applications or energy for the Treo and Centro lines. Yet late Monday night, the device maker released its own app store download for Centro and Treo users to more easily access the applications.
The arrival of Palm's free app store--for both Windows Mobile and Palm operating systems--was undoubtedly spurred on by the success of Apple's iPhone App Store, Google's Android Market, and the upcoming BlackBerry app store that's slated to debut in March.
(Credit:
Palm Software)
Palm's nexus of downloads includes over 5,000 applications, about a fifth of them freebies. Yet with the exception of Facebook, few appear to be the fresh takes on multimedia and social networking that have defined modern applications. A press release trumpets Nursing Central, Encyclopedia Britannica, Pac-Man, Tetris, and Fish Tycoon as its hot apps.
While Palm may hope its storefront will coax developers to submit variations of their innovative iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android apps to the store, the offering so far adds little strength to Palm's lagging market position.
Still, getting an app store out before BlackBerry does provide some credibility. More importantly, it will undoubtedly please existing Palm users, the most important ingredient for Palm's continued existence in the vicious and volatile mobile marketplace.
Article updated 10/17/08 at 8:45 am PT to include more services.
Like most of you, I prefer to instant message with friends on all my networks for free. However, in a time when the instant-messaging applications preloaded on mobile phones are more about dividing and conquering than coming together, three IM-only add-on programs make a strong case for shelling out a few dollars. Stick around to read up on totally free chatting with two apps primarily targeted to VoIP users--Fring and EQO. In the meantime, we'll check out Mundu IM, BeejiveIM, and IM+ All-in-One-Messenger, all multinetwork-IM applications that have emerged as effective, stable, and surprisingly advanced options. Since no one application is consistently feature-rich or attractive across all mobile operating systems, it will take some sleuthing and analysis to determine which one's best for your smartphone.
Networks: AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, MySpace, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo
Trial length: 7 days
Cost: $30-$40 lifetime license
Platforms: BlackBerry, iPhone and iPod Touch, J2ME, Palm, Symbian, Symbian UIQ, Windows Mobile Smartphone, and Pocket PC
IM+ All-in-One MobileMessenger on the BlackBerry.
(Credit: Shape Services)IM+ All-in-One Mobile Messenger has been around the longest and has demanded the highest price. It also has, for some platforms, the most advanced features. For all platforms, it supports emoticons, status messages, alerts, notifications, and multiple languages, has customizable settings, and is capable of running in the background. This list is also common to BeejiveIM and Mundu IM.
On BlackBerry, the latest version of IM+ All-in-One Mobile Messenger ($30) lets you take photos on the fly and IM them to friends. You can perform a similar trick with voice messages you record through the application. There's also a built-in translator and an SMS credit service, which sells text messages for 5 cents apiece to most countries; this will be a perk for some. Unfortunately, it lacks a way to bounce among open conversations; and the emoticons should be easily accessed from the chat window, not just the menu system.
The Windows Mobile versions look almost wholly unrelated to their BlackBerry cousin. There's a Today screen plug-in we like that summarizes your online status and unread messages, and support for tabbed conversation windows that makes tracking multiple conversations simple. The new capability for Windows Mobile phones to log onto IM+ All-in-One Mobile Messenger without the program logging you off any other running chat application is also commendable.
Here's All-in-One Mobile Messenger on a Nokia.
(Credit: Shape Services)However, the file transferring and multimedia messaging is absent. While there are understandably hardware and firmware limitations, the program strangely costs $10 more. The Nokia and Sony Ericsson versions of IM+ All-in-One Mobile Messenger are also $30 and add landscape mode and file transferring. The service offers basic, but solid, multinetwork chatting for the Palm operating system.
While there are arguably better value options for the Windows Mobile devices and Palm, IM+ All-in-One Mobile Messenger makes a convincing choice for BlackBerry, Symbian, and iPhone operating systems, the latter of which is currently completely free.
Networks: AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo
Trial length: 5 days
Cost: $11 lifetime license
Platforms: BlackBerry, Palm, Sony Ericsson, Windows Mobile Smartphone, and Pocket PC; iPhone-optimized site
Here is the Sony Ericsson version of Mundu IM.
(Credit: Geodesic)Mundu IM is the baby of the three, and also the least expensive, with an $11 lifetime license fee. It's also got the stingiest trial length (a mere 5 days), so don't try it unless you're feeling chatty. Like IM+ All-in-One Mobile Messenger, Mundu IM's offerings and visual appeal vary by operating system. Its look is bright and fun, while managing to maintain order.
Beyond the basic customizations, status messages, and emoticons, Mundu IM is the most impressive on Palm and on both Windows Mobile platforms.
On these devices, it boasts the capability to archive chats, ping you with e-mail notifications, transfer files and photos, and "conference" a group of pals into a single chat window. Sony Ericsson and BlackBerry users can conference chat, but cannot transfer media, receive e-mail alerts, or save their chat history. There is, however, a search bar to quickly select contacts from a long list. We're less excited about Mundu's penchant for stealthily advertising itself to buddies in chats they receive.
Mundu IM for iPhone (beta) is an optimized Web site, so don't attempt loading it from the App Store. It's restricted to integration with Yahoo, Windows Live Messenger, AIM, and Google Talk, and to basic chatting functions, but it looks great and is currently free.
At $11, Mundu offers the best deal of the three in chatting, though financial concerns aside, it's a better all-around application for Windows Mobile and iPhone users than it is for BlackBerry owners. It doesn't have the race won yet, though; BeejiveIM is also a tough contender.
Networks: AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, MySpace, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo
Trial length: 30 days
Cost: $20 single-device; $30 lifetime license on BlackBerry; $16 for iPhone
Platforms: BlackBerry, iPhone and iPod Touch, Windows Mobile for Smartphones, and Pocket PC (beta)
And here is the BeejiveIM chat window on a BlackBerry.
(Credit: BeejiveIM)BeejiveIM (formerly JiveTalk) has a good range of features and a compelling format. In addition to multilanguage support, status updates, emoticons, and notifications, BeejiveIM can call, e-mail, and send BlackBerry PIN messages as the protocols allow. You can view chat history and, uniquely, mail it to yourself for safekeeping. Group chatting is supported, and there's limited file transferring on BlackBerry via AIM and Windows Live Messenger. So far, it'll only work on phones in the 8100, 8300, and 8800 series.
While BeejiveIM's BlackBerry application may not have all the bells and whistles of the others, it does have an intuitive format that's easy on the eye. For instance, you can click the icons floating at the top of the screen to switch among conversation windows, and in the preference window, you can select one of eight design treatments for your chat bubbles.
BeejiveIM for Windows Mobile phones is free at the moment, which is the good news. It's running a beta build, though, so some bugs are to be expected.
BeejiveIM's decision to charge $16 for the iPhone application is questionable. While the iPhone application is attractive, it doesn't yet support emoticons, group chatting, or full hyperlink support. In contrast, Palringo, MunduIM, and IM+ All-in-One Mobile Messenger are all free, and Palringo offers voice and picture messaging and drop-in emoticons.
Fring (and EQO) give away multinetwork IMing while selling cheap voice calls.
(Credit: Fring)As mentioned above, there is another way to chat with friends on multiple networks completely free. Fring and EQO are two VoIP-focused applications that sell cheap international calling, but they also throw in chatting for free among many networks, among them Windows Live Messenger, ICQ, Google Talk, Twitter, AIM, and Yahoo. Fring has also recently introduced file-sharing. Fring is not available yet for BlackBerry, but it is strong on most of the other devices, including Symbian, iPhone, Windows Mobile, and mass market phones.
EQO works similarly, giving away chatting and charging competitive rates for international calls. EQO includes Jabber in its chatting lineup and is also available on BlackBerry in addition to LGs, Nokias, Samsungs, and so on.
Hopefully Fring and EQO's free services will put the press on these other very good applications to lower prices or devise other revenue streams to support free chatting.
In the end, your choice comes down to which applications are compatible with your operating system and how involved a chatter (or talker) you intend to be. For instance, BlackBerry users will get more advanced features out of IM+ All-in-One Mobile Messenger, but if you're looking for chatting basics, MunduIM becomes the better deal, even Fring or EQO. However, if you're interested in a chat-only app, BeejiveIM's chatting logic and appealing interface may still keep it in the running, especially if you give yourself all 30 days of the trial period to get hooked. Give one or more of them a try, then let us know what you liked, loved, or hated.
Ready, chatters? Go!
