Key Features

As mentioned, the big feature that had been missing from webOS was video recording.  Palm has delivered with not only video recording but on-device editing and sharing of videos.  Check out the video below for a hands-on demo of video recording.  The other big feature we were told to expect is Flash 10.1.  While Flash 10.1 is not included with the software update you can visit the App Catalog to download a Beta version of Flash soon.

Here’s the official Palm blog announcement as well as the Palm webOS update feature page.

Enhancements

The most visible enhancement to webOS 1.4 is the new launcher animation:  When apps launch now a window with the App’s icon is shown until the app is loaded.  The next enhancement has been expected every update since it first appeared in the code: LED blink notifications.  Indeed, the patch to enable the notifications has been one of the most popular patches.  This feature causes the center button on the Pre (and the LED behind the gesture area in the Pre Plus) to flash periodically when the phone is off and there are pending notifications.

One area of improvement touted in the release notes is performance and battery life.  Specifically, the performance of the phone, mail and calendar apps has been enhanced.  Further, several of the apps have been enhanced to make it easier to e-mail or dial embedded contacts and phone numbers.  Additionally, you can now choose whether Wi-Fi turns off or not when the screen turns off.

Another enhancement is that the old POP e-mail behavior is back as an optional setting:  You can choose to have e-mail that is deleted off the POP server deleted from the phone.  A welcome change for those who only use their phone to check e-mail when away from a desktop.

Fixes

Several bugs were reported fixed with this version.  These fixes included mail attachment issues, contact synchronization issues  See below for the link to the version notes.

Under the Hood

As always, a number of enhancements did not make it into the official change log.  In particular, developers will likely have access to new features, though the official SDK has not yet been released.  What is visible is that the browser has been updated to a more recent WebKit release.  It now scores a 92 out of 100 on the Acid3 test.  Over the course of the next few days we’ll gather some of the other changes that didn’t make it into the release notes and update you with them here.  Please use the comments below to add new features you’ve found.

Version Notes

Here are links to the version notes:

• Sprint Palm Pre
• Sprint Palm Pixi
• Verizon Palm Pre
• Verizon Palm Pixi (Link please?)
• O2 Palm Pre (updated)
• O2 Palm Pixi (Link please?)
• Movistar Palm Pre (Not updated as of 1:28 AM EST, 2/28/10)
• Movistar Palm Pixi (Link please?)

Jon Rubinstein, Palm’s Chairman and CEO, took the stage in Las Vegas to recount where Palm’s been and tell us where Palm’s going.  Click on the video to watch the entire 50 minute presentation.

The follow are the key points:

Hot Apps Bonus Program

Katie Mitic, Palm’s SVP of Product Marketing, announced $1 million in prizes to be awarded to top webOS developers.  The prizes are open to both free and paid apps developed using Palm’s existing Mojo SDK.  The prizes are tiered as follows:  $100,000 each to the top downloaded free and paid app, $10,000 each to the developers of the next two most downloaded free and paid apps and $1000 each to the developers of the next 200 most downloaded free and paid apps.  The download period will be between February 1, 2010, and May 31, 2010.  Drop by the newly relaunched Developer Center to get started developing your app today.

3D Gaming Comes to the Palm Pre

The announcement that got the most reaction was the release of 3D accelerated games, made available by Palm’s new Plugin Development Kit (or PDK).  Joining Palm onstage to make the announcement was Travis Boatman, VP Worldwide Studios for EA Mobile, who introduced some of their new titles.  In all, twelve PDK titles are available in the App Catalog, including the much hyped Need For Speed Undercover, The Sims 3, X-Plane 9 and Tetris.  You can see a video review of Gameloft’s Ashpalt 5 on WebOS Roundup.

More important than the release of these twelve games, though, was the PDK itself.   The PDK allows for development of applications that work with webOS but that are developed with C and C++ — in other words, native applications.  One of the criticisms from some developers is that Palm’s Mojo SDK, based on HTML, CSS and JavaScript, is too slow for some types of applications.  The PDK, and the fact that Palm has been testing this with some partners possibly since the release of webOS, indicates that Palm was well aware of this and has a solution.

While we’re excited about the release of the PDK we’re not sure that the capabilities of the Canvas element have been fully realized by game developers.  As Frank Zammetti pointed out, there is a tremendous potential for applications developed with existing Web standards.  Particularly as we see technologies such as WebGL get included in webOS.  Further, battery draw from games that tap the GPU will likely be big issue.

The PDK is scheduled for release in March on the Palm Pre and a later date for the Pixi.  In case you missed the significance of the statement, the 3D games available today in the App Catalog are only available for the Pre, not the Pixi.  Those missing 80 pixels could be very significant indeed.

Video Recording, Editing and Sharing

Those of you who’ve been following the homebrew announcements knew that video recording is possible on existing webOS devices.  It was only a matter of time before Palm incorporated the feature into the OS.  Palm demonstrated their upcoming video recording functionality at CES.  What they also demonstrated was the integrated video editing and sharing capability.  With a few clicks, Paul Cousineau, Director of Product Marketing at Palm, edited a video he shot live at the event then uploaded it to You Tube.  After it was uploaded, he used another feature to share the video with his Facebook feed.

Many have criticized Palm for not having the feature available before now.  Hopefully, this very slick implementation will go a long way towards smoothing any ruffled feathers.  What’s more important is that this feature will be included with webOS 1.4, another free update available to all webOS devices sometime in February.  Although it wasn’t discussed, we hope that audio recording will also be included in 1.4.

Flash 10.1

It was confirmed that Flash 10.1 will be available soon.  According to Paul Cousineau Flash 10.1 will be available for download from the App Catalog.  This feature will open up the Web even further for webOS devices.  Some have pointed out that the recently announced SlingPlayer, being Flash-based, will work on webOS, allowing you to watch and control your TV on your Pre or Pixi.

The Pre Plus and Pixi Plus

Palm also showed off the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus smartphones at CES.  The Pre Plus sports double the memory and storage (512 MB RAM, 16 GB Flash) of the original Pre and sheds the center button.  The Pixi Plus adds WiFi and more storage and memory.  Both devices will ship with Touchstone compatible backs.  These two phones will be Verizon exclusives (see below).  No doubt the increased memory and storage will be important for applications developed with the PDK, as many users have noted that the 3D apps sometimes fail to launch with the dreaded ‘too many cards open’ message.

Another Verizon exclusive will be the ability to use the Pre Plus or Pixi Plus as a MiFi hotspot, allowing up to five devices to share the 3G connection.  All you’ll need to get your laptop online is the app and a webOS device on Verizon.  What was not disclosed is how much the data plan for that will cost.

New Networks

Palm announced two new network partners at CES:  SFR in France and Verizon Wireless in the US.  As mentioned above, Verizon will be getting an exclusive on the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus (at least in the US).  Verizon currently has about double the subscriber base of Sprint in the US so this opens up a huge market for Palm and app developers.  What remains to be seen is how Verizon will promote the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus.  If they are half as successful as they were with their Droid Does campaign then the more consumer-focused webOS devices will sell very well.

Analysis

It seemed that Palm’s announcements were targeted very strongly towards developers.  Palm realizes that in order to compete with Apple and Android its important to have apps.  The opening of the developer program, the freeing of the app distribution process, the Hot Apps program and the PDK all point to the fact that Palm is deadly serious about expanding its App Catalog.  Palm is actively courting developers and is making it clear that they embrace openness, even giving a ’shout out’ to the homebrew community at CES.  This is very exciting news and this strategy will very likely bear fruit.

What a strikingly different out-of-box experience awaits those users whose first webOS device runs webOS 1.4 as compared to those of us who started with the first release of webOS.  Certainly the underlying OS that we all love hasn’t drastically changed but the power, features and available apps have grown tremendously.  Kudos to Palm for the customer focus and rapid updates.  This is clearly one area where Palm outshines Apple and Android.  Many Android devices are stuck on older versions of the OS and are unlikely to ever see updates and Apple’s releases are slow in coming.

Prior to CES we predicted a number of things.  We got most of them right.  We missed on seeing a non-Palm branded webOS devices and we didn’t have any clue about the Hot Apps program.  However, what was most important about CES is that Palm has again generated buzz.  They showed that Palm was not to be ignored in the smartphone wars of 2010.  They reinforced that they are committed to extending the functionality of their devices through more updates to the OS.  They showed they’re committed to reaching more end users.  We think 2010 will be a great year for Palm and a great year for webOS users.

Other Reviews of Palm at CES

All Things Digital agrees that Palm has shaken things up once again.  Slashdot has some coverage of the Hot Apps Program.  Ars Technica ha a writeup about CES.  PC Magazine has a hands-on with the Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus.  About Palm Pre has some interesting thoughts on Palm’s developer strategy that mirror our own.  And, of course, PreCentral has a lot of articles about CES.

Overview

Palm has released webOS version 1.3.5.  Pre and Pixi users on select carriers can now download the latest version of webOS by launching their Updates app.  A quick note for those who dabble with patches and themes:  remove them before attempting to install the update.  This latest version of webOS uses a new patching process that keeps the size down by applying only the difference between the original files and the changed files.  This new update is only 13 MB, compared with the ~60 MB downloads from the previous updates.  In order to insure it works correctly, clear out any changes you’ve made to system files.

Another aspect of the update is that it will take some time to complete, so don’t be impatient and definitely don’t pull the battery during installation.  The solution to the app install limit requires that apps must be migrated to the USB partition.  This process takes place after the phone boots for the first time and can take a while to complete.  This process will slow the phone down so be patient if the phone seems a bit sluggish at first.  This is normal.  You’ll be able to enjoy the speed enhancements as soon as it completes.

Homebrew Notice

As mentioned, be sure to uninstall all patches and themes before updating.  For those who rely on Preware for patches, themes and homebrew apps, be sure to update the Package Manager Service and reboot before starting the over-the-air update of webOS.  Also, once 1.3.5 has updated, be sure to use the ‘Update Feeds’ menu option to update to the 1.3.5 feeds.

If you have already updated to webOS 1.3.5 and Preware or the App Catalog has stopped working for you, use WebOS Quick Install to re-install the Package Manager Service from the WebOS-Internals (all) feed.  Included with the latest version of Preware is an app called Emergency Migration Helper (EMH).  This app will fix the problem.  Please read this post and this one for more information.  For those confused by the Aussie-ism, here’s a link to some information on dog’s breakfast.

This problem can also affect homebrew services applied with WebOS Quick Install as well.  If you don’t use Preware and have installed services with WebOS Quick Install you may want to either uninstall all services or install Preware and use the EMH.

Update Information

Here are the update highlights:

• Downloaded apps can now take advantage of all of the phone’s storage capacity
• Better battery management in areas with poor coverage
• App Catalog has been improved, including background downloading of apps and one-touch updates of installed apps
• Improved speed in Calendar day view
• Pixi (and Pre) users can now download updates in areas without 3G coverage

You can read the details for Sprint customers:  Pre and Pixi versions.   The only difference we could spot between the Pre and Pixi updates was the following additional Pixi item:

This release includes improvements to help ensure consistent phone response to user actions, including times when the user is using multiple applications/features at the same time.

There are likely a number of under-the-hood and undocumented changes that occurred.  We’ll try to update the post later with the new information.  In the meantime, you can check out this PreCentral post.

OpenGL Appears

We were tipped off by Rod Whitby of WebOS Internals that within this OS update were the drivers necessary for OpenGL support.  For those who don’t know, OpenGL is a cross-platform library for creating 2D and 3D graphics.  The Palm Pre and Pixi smartphones include a GPU for hardware accelerated graphics.  These drivers will allow certain applications to take advantage of that GPU.  As you may remember, there was a leaked video of a Pre running Need for Speed.  This article over at PreCentral points out that the video seems to be the genuine article.  This should mean that developers will now be able to produce much more graphics-intense apps.

Update Issues

Some users have reported problems with the update hanging during the install.  Please be aware that the update process does take a long time (30 minutes or more according to some).  My own Pre got stuck for over an hour.  To resolve the issue I rebooted the Pre using Orange-Sym-R.  After restarting the install process was able to continue and complete.  This should only be used as a last resort, though.  Be certain the process is stuck and not just slow before attempting it.  There’s a thread at PreCentral discussing webOS 1.3.5 update issues.

SDK

[Update]  The official webOS 1.3.5 SDK has been released.  Developers can now download the SDK and take advantage of the new features.  One new feature available to developers is the ability to set the accelerometer to high-speed mode, hopefully allowing for smoothing control on games that use tilting for control.

iTunes Again

This new version of webOS re-enables syncing with iTunes and adds the ability to sync photo albums.  We’ve covered before the cat-and-mouse game that Palm is playing with Apple.  This time, it appears that Palm has decided to more fully mimic an Apple iPod.  On the upside, this update provides more iTunes sync capabilities.  On the downside, it will likely be only a matter of time before Apple block the Pre (and Pixi) again.  The question is whether this is ultimately good for users of the Palm Pre.  This on-again, off-again sync has lead some to consider other syncing options.

Exchange Fixes

The other major part of this release fixed issues with Exchange server syncing introduced with 1.2.0.  This will be welcome news to those who are using the Pre in a corporate environment.

Timing

For those of you who’ve been paying attention you may have noticed that webOS 1.2.0 was released only five days ago.  Why update so soon?  Certainly the Exchange issues were serious and needed quick addressing.  But is that sufficient?  We’re not entirely convinced.  It was originally rumored that 1.2.0 would be released around the time of the iTunes 9.0 announcement but it was pushed off.  The rumor at the time was that it was delayed to include the above iTunes sync fix.  What seems to have happened is that Palm had initially decided to skip 1.2.0 entirely in favor of the version with the iTunes fix.  Delays in releasing or approving 1.2.1 were pushing it beyond the expected release of paid applications so Palm decided to go ahead and release 1.2.0 in hopes of meeting its deadline.  With the Exchange issue, Palm was forced to refocus on 1.2.1.  Of course, this is all just speculation.  It might only have been the Exchange issue that necessitated the quick release schedule.  It’s even possible that Palm plans to do more smaller releases, though we doubt this.

Version Notes

Here are the version release notes from Palm’s knowledgebase:

Version information

• Version: webOS 1.2.1
• Release date: 2 October 2009

New applications

NONE

Feature changes to existing applications

Email

• Resolved an issue where after installing the 1.2.0 webOS update some customers running Exchange 2007 could no longer synchronize with their Exchange account for Email, Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks.

System

• Resolves an issue preventing media sync from working with latest version of iTunes (9.0.1).
• Media sync now synchronizes photo albums, maintaining the album structure in the Photos app.
• Media sync now allows for synchronizing photos without requiring the full-resolution originals. This provides faster display of high-quality full-screen images and enables users to store more photos on the phone.

Web

• Resolved an issue where if a user tried to play streaming music or video, the media stream might drop out or have a long delay before starting.

Security

This release implements several security fixes, including the following:

• Addresses a security issue encountered by webkit developers. This issue did not impact end users.

Individuals interested in contacting Palm to report suspected security issues can find more information at palm.com/security .

New Features

No new apps were added to webOS 1.2.0.  However, a number of new features were added to the existing applications.  First and foremost was the addition of cut and paste from the Web browser and other apps.  To activate the copy feature hold the shift key down and tap/drag on the browser.  Also, you can quickly select the entire document using the new Edit menu option ‘Select All’.

The App Catalog app has been enhanced to capture credit card information.  This paves the way for the opening of the App Catalog on Thursday.  Expect to see a flood of paid applications appearing now that Palm has laid into place the infrastructure for collecting payments.

In addition, downloading files from the browser is now possible.  For certain file types just clicking on the file in the browser will initiate a download and, if supported, the file will be opened by its application.  To download images from the browser press the Orange key then tap on the image.

Enhancements

Quite a number of applications and features were enhanced with this update.  Early testers have indicated that the OS seems ’snappier’ now, particularly the phone app.  Here’s a quick list of some of the enhancements:

• Browser auto-zooms to forms
• Improved global search (including being able to paste into global search)
• Searching in the e-mail app (start typing to search messages)
• Setting e-mail to Manual actually makes it manual
• Bluetooth support for car kits (download all contacts)
• Copy conversations within Messenger
• Enhancements to LinkedIn and Facebook
• Support for photo albums during Media Sync
• Backup/restore of browser bookmarks
• Ability to pause podcasts and resume where you left off
• A number of bug-fixes

You can read Palm’s official version notes for the full list of enhancements and bug fixes.

Concerns

While nearly everything in the update is an improvement over what’s come before there appear to be something that could be of concern to some:  the appearance of code to allow remote deletion of apps.  However, not everyone is as concerned.  Palm needs to have the ability to recall applications that are either a threat to the phone or are found to be unacceptable in protect to police the App Catalog.

Also of concern is the report that 1.2.0 does not increase the limit on the size of downloaded applications.  Most people who have been installing applications have run into the limit on the size of installed applications.  This limit is currently 32 MB.  If this is not addressed soon then I suspect that the App Store will not be as successful as it could be for the simple reason that people will not be able to download apps.

Final Thoughts

It’s been about two months since version 1.1.0 of webOS was released.  Many people were hoping for new applications and enhancements that did not make it into this version (particularly increasing the meager size of the application partition, as mentioned above).  However, Palm has shown that they are polishing webOS and that they are focusing on the usability and responsiveness of the Pre.  How 1.2.0 affects battery life is still to be seen.  Also, there is nothing yet available to developers to know what new features have been added to Mojo framework. Here is the Palm announcement of the Mojo SDK 1.2. If you like, PreCentral has set up several message groups to cover the release:

• Official webOS 1.2.1 New Features & Changes Found
• Official webOS 1.2.1 Issues
• Official webOS 1.2.1 Discussion

Tell us below what your thoughts are on the 1.2.0 release.  Did you get everything you wanted?

Update 1:  Added link to the new webOS 1.2 SDK release notice.

One notable fix, which only gets a small mention in the version notes, is the restoration of media syncing with Apple’s iTunes.  Some of you may know that apple blocked the Pre’s ability to sync with iTunes when it released version 8.2.1.  Now, Palm has thrown the ball back into Apple’s court.  It will be interesting to see how this game of cat and mouse plays out.

Here are the version notes for webOS 1.1.0.

For more information on updating check out Palm’s page.