Droid Does?? No it certainly does not!

How on Earth is it possible that the supposed "robot phone" that "does more than a smartphone" is too stupid to work with Microsoft Exchange?? This baffles me because all along I was under the impression that it would have "full ActiveSync support built in", but apparently this is not the case. I'm not real sure why it doesn't work, and I'm certain that I don't care, but this is something that completely ruins the option of this being an enterprise solution for a smart phone. The Apple iPhone didn't have Exchange support for a little over a year, but they finally got it and got it right. This is the second version of the Andriod OS and I expected a lot better from Google, or Motorola, or whoever is at fault here.

The phone can be synced to an Exchange server, but only the inbox is accessible. If that's not bad enough, the security policies that are in effect in almost every Microsoft Exchange environment cannot be enforced. Administrators cannot enforce a password and lock-out time limit, they can't remote wipe the device, and even with third party software it seems that the device simply is not for an enterprise environment. Yet.

I'm sure the Droid will have some type of update or something that makes it completely work with Exchange as it should, but the question is: when will that happen? This is very disappointing for the people who used their upgrade to get this phone only to have to return it because of the way it violates most computing policies. Now the upgrade has to be used on something less Droid-like…

Way to go Droid guys.

Comcast Launches TV Everywhere

Today Comcast launches their TV Everywhere streaming venture to the wild. Now called Fancast Xfinity TV, it is made available nationally to all customers with cable and internet subscriptions. Installation of a simple browser plug in allows you to watch TV from your computer. Currently you can authorize up to 3 computers per account, and that may change in the future, who knows. Log in once from home to Comcast.net and download the Move Networks powered player, authorize the computer, and proceed to stream from a pretty large library of video on demand.


Of course, for everything good, there has to be a downside right? Well, as of yet there is no word on HD streaming and it does count against your 250GB limit if you use it from home. Not too bad.

CDOT Releases Blood-Alcohol Content App for iPhone

Want to estimate your blood-alcohol content after a night on the town? There's an app for that.

The Colorado Department of Transportation released a free iPhone app that lets users estimate what their BAC might be. The app takes basic information like your weight, sex, how many hours ago you've been drinking, and what you've been drinking. It's obviously not an exact science, but it should give you a good idea of how much alcohol is in your blood stream.

The app makes the estimation and then comes back with messages like "You're buzzed", "Don't even think about it", and "No hangover expected".

A spokeswoman for CDOS says, "People just need to be aware of hoe alcohol affects them. This is just a dool to give them a little idea of where they are."

The app even uses the GPS to determine where you are so you can click the "Taxi" button and be connected to the nearest Yellow Cab office, way easier than dialing 777-7777!

The app is part of CDOT's "Plan Ahead" campaign to cut down drunk driving this holiday season. They even have a new website, PlanAheadColorado.com that will list more than 60 bars and restaurants in Denver, Boulder, Ft. Collins and Colorado Springs that will provide free $5 vouchers for cab rides this holiday season. There are also seven hotels in Denver, Boulder, Ft. Collins and Colorado Springs that will give customers a discount if they ask for the "Plan Ahead rate".

Download the R-U-Buzzed iPhone app here! (Must have iTunes installed…duh)
Source: The Denver Post

Got My Google Wave Invite Today!

I haven't personally been able to check out a whole lot about it, but you know me, I'm all for trying out something new. Especially when I have heard claims that it will "change email forever" and change the way we communicate online. So I applied for an invite a couple months ago and this morning I got an email inviting me to use it. Check it out: About Google Wave

I'm currently using Internet Explorer 8 and when I accessed the Wave site I was prompted that I had to install the Google Chrome Frame. I could either install the frame or use Chrome, Firefox, or Safari instead. Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but I'm using Windows 7 and the added functionality of IE with W7 (tab previews) is enough reason to use it over the others. So I tried to run the installer and it failed, I'm assuming it's because of my firewall at work so I'll just have to use Chrome instead.

Finally got signed in and this is what it looks like:

At this moment I have no idea what to do with it, and I'm assuming that will change once I have more contacts using it as well. So for now, I'm just going to play around a little and read up on the Google Wave website.

It says I have 6 invites. First come first served my friends, it says that the invites are not instant, but email me if you're interested and I might could hook it up!

Sony Adding “Premium Level” Subscription to PSN

In the never ending console war there are always stupid reasons people choose to be on board strictly with one console or another. I have always found console loyalty to be one of the stupidest things people can tie themselves to, but then again, I'm fortunate enough to be in a position where I do not have to choose one console or another.

Seemingly one of the biggest reasons people claim PS3 to be "better" than the Xbox 360 is because their online service is free. There are a lot of things that come along with "free service" though and with Xbox Live being a paid service, they clearly have set themselves apart as the premiere online gaming community. Just ask anyone who had to suffer through connection issues on a PS3 game running over PSN that simply do not exist on the same title running on Xbox Live and it becomes clear that Live's model is a success. The stability of online play, the major updates to the dashboard, the burden of running a server being taken off the developer, the uniformity of Xbox Live features in all titles…the list goes on and on.



Obviously Sony has taken notice as well. This is just my speculation, but I think today's announcement by Kaz Hirai himself shows that PSN knows they need to step it up and catch up to Live. Announcing some vague plans for a "premium level" service, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai confirmed the plans. "We will be building upon our current free [PSN] service offering with premium content and services to start the subscription model," he said. What this means is still up in the air, but I would bet that we can count on seeing some type of "pay-to-play" model similar to Xbox Live.

Chrome OS Released as VMWare

Want to try out Chrome OS a little? Well now you can – via Virtual Machine. There has been a virtual version of Google Chrome made available completely free, you just have to have VMWare or VirtualBox (free) installed. You can head over to GDGT.com Google Chrome Virtual Machines to get image files for VirtualBox and VMWare. (I was only able to successfully install the VMDK (VMWare link) version so I'm not sure what the "VirtualBox" link does).

A few things to keep in mind, I did not create the image, it came from a torrent. This means that some open source guy could have injected some code to steal your Google info, probably not, but it could happen. Just use alternate/junk Google account credentials and that potential threat is nipped. Second, this is virtual machine, hopefully the people reading this blog are experienced enough to know that with a virtual machine, the OS will never run natively and the performance will reflect that. There will be no 10 second boot time and you may find things to be more sluggish than the native OS (running on a SSD no less) will perform way better.

OK, so I don't have VMWare so here are instructions on how to do this on VirtualBox. Download VirtualBox for whatever OS you have from here: VirtualBox Downloads. Install VirtualBox and start it. Click the "New" button:

A wizard will start and walk you through the OS setup process. Click Next:

Type in the name for your OS and select Linux for the OS Type and Ubuntu for the Version. Click Next.

Select the amount of RAM you want to give the machine and click Next.

Now extract the compressed VMDK image file you downloaded because it needs to be loaded into VirtualBox.

Select to "Use existing hard disk" and click the folder icon to navigate to the VMDK image file you just extracted. Click Next.

Review the settings and click Finish.

Now you can highlight the OS you just installed and click "Start"

The OS comes up as "chromium os" and the log in is via a valid Google account.

Have fun!

Google Reveals ChromeOS

Google previewed Chrome OS, a new operating system based on Linux and the Chrome browser. It's very early on, as there's not even a beta available for it, but it seems pretty exciting. The OS runs within a Chrome browser. The idea is to provide an OS for people who just get on the internet, it boots up in about 10 seconds, has no file system, and no installing of apps. The OS can detect USB devices like external drives, or smartphones and uses a notepad which can create Google Docs documents. Web apps can be launched from persistent app panels and things like Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, and others can be minimized to "panels" and run in the background. Google is very up front in saying that Chrome OS is focused on very clear use for people who primarily use the web and they are not at all trying to "do everything".

Google has talked details on a launch but they say that "by this time next year" it will be available and it won't run on just any device – there are going to be some specific hardware requirements. For example, the biggest thing is that Chrome OS won't run on anything other than solid-state drives. This means you will have to have a "Chrome approved device" which is an interesting move by Google. But since the thing is open source, there can potentially be many different hacks that allow it to be installed on anything.

For more info, check out the coverage on Engadget.com:

Google's Chrome OS revealed -- with video!

Palm Pixi Arrives

Palm releases its second WebOS device, the Palm Pixi, and again it's exclusively on Sprint: The Now Network.

The Pixi has a cool form factor and is slimmer than the Palm Pre. The obvious difference between the two is the lack of a slide out keyboard on the Pixi. Instead, the device is all in one with the screen and keyboard, similar to a Blackberry or Treo. According to Palm, the Pixi is aimed at a different audience than the Pre. They're going for a younger audience with less money on hand and less need for productivity functionality. For starters, WiFi is no included with this device like the Pre. You could say that with Sprint's EVDO data speeds, you really don't need the WiFi, but it still seems silly to take it out. The camera is 1 megapixel lower than the 3MP Pre, the screen is a little smaller, and the processor is a little slower as well. All this to keep costs down.

The Pixi is obviously not intended for every user, especially not for those who already have a Palm Pre. It does introduce another WebOS device to the market though, and at a price of $100 from Sprint, it's quite affordable. Looks like Walmart is selling the Pixi for $50:

UPDATE: Looks like Amazon is letting it go for $25!!
Via http://Twitter.com/engadget: Palm Pixi one step closer to free, now $25 on Amazon http://bit.ly/2jbq4R

For a full review of the Palm Pixi, head on over to Pre|central.net and check out their write up. Videos are included as well.

Palm Pre WebOS 1.3.1 Available Now

Another major update from the folks at Palm. I'm downloading it as we speak.

Here is a list of the included changes, though some of these are hidden features not made known in the change log.


Enjoy:
Speed Improvements:

- Photo app switching between individual photos by swiping left to right is faster in portrait and landscape

- Scrolling in the photo app is definitely much faster

- Music app speed improvements. Switching in and out of screens within the app is much faster.

- Scrolling in contacts has become much smoother and it doesn't get stuck quite as often.

- Browser scrolling has improved. Seems much smother zooming in and out.

- Google maps loads much quicker.

Phone App:

- Contacts logo in the top right has been changed to match the contacts app logo.

- Answer calls and hanging up is much smoother less buggy.

- New option to allow international calling. In phone > Preferences you can slide option left to right.

Contacts App:

- When linking accounts to a contact it no longer changes the default profile to the most recently linked contact.

- Two more options have been added to Contacts > Preferences & Accounts: Company & first name, Company & last name

Calendar App:

- When you tap and hold an event without moving your finger, then lift, you can edit the title of that specific event.

Photo App:

- Options are now displayed at the bottom of the screen.

- Photos are now only displayed in their respective folders. There is no 'All Folders' view anymore.

- Screen captures no longer takes two screen shots when pushing the hot key combo one time.

Launcher:

- Default applications app is there and you can change the default app for phone, emails, addresses, or web links as well as different file types. (This option is greyed out)

Messaging:

- When you tap on a single message in the messaging app you now have the options, Forward, Copy Text, and Delete.

- If you set a custom tone for the messaging app it will only play it when the card is not in focus. Otherwise it plays the default notification.

Music App

- Now when listening to a song in the music app you can bring the drop down menu up and choose to add that song to a Pandora playlist, Search it on YouTube, or search it on Amazon MP3.

- You can now bookmark your place in multiple songs. Any songs or podcasts you start on in the music app will now all be saved afterwards. In 1.2.1 Palm added the feature that allows your music app to remember where you last left off but only for one track.

Email:

- Empty trash button is now available.

- You can now search for folders in the search option on email by simply typing that folders name.

- You can now use short cuts to complete some specific tasks while viewing an email.

Examples:

Gesture + M = Move To Folder

Gesture + G = Set Flag

Gesture + S = Show Recipients

Gesture + K = Mark as Unread

These commands can also be found in the drop down menu.

- New Gesture hot keys are also available while writing a message.

Examples:

Gesture + J = Set as High Priority

Gesture + D = Discard Message

Gesture + S = Save as Draft

These commands are also available under the drop down menu.

Browser:

- Under preferences there is a new 'Default Search Engine' option. (Google is the only choice right now)

System:
- WebOS 1.3.1 has laid the groundwork for Adobe Flash's soon to be released Flash 10.1. Place holders are now in locations where Flash content is.

- WebOS 1.3.1 has laid the groundwork for video recording by including the Linux binaries needed to record video that is compatible with the stock media player. (Via Precentral)

- When 'Data Usage' is turned off in phone > preferences WebOS will not stay connected to your WiFi even when the phone is locked. If 'Data Usage' is turned on WiFi will automatiically turn off when the screen is locked.

- When you are out of space while trying to download a new app there is a new message. 'There is not enough memory in the application storage area'. (Please Palm fix this by the time the App Catalog is out of BETA)

- When the Palm Pre is now on a Touchstone charger you can set the screen to lock after a certain time.

- When you restart or shutdown your phone there is a new circle symbol on the screen.

- Shutdown screen now has additional options. You can hold down the power button and tap power and choose to reset or power off.

- Airplane mode as the small (i) next to it which will link you to the help menu about Airplane mode.

- LEDs on the center button no longer flash when you lock the phone.

Sprint TV:

- App UI has been changed

Netflix Coming Soon to PS3

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/10/ ... station-3/


Attention, PlayStation 3 owners: want to watch a movie streamed instantly from Netflix via your PS3? I've got terrific news for you; very soon you'll be able to do just that.


We're excited to announce today that Netflix and Sony have partnered to bring you thousands of movies and TV episodes streamed instantly from Netflix to your TV via your PS3 system at no extra charge. When the application launches next month, you'll be able to access and watch thousands of Netflix choices directly through the XMB. We think that the nearly nine million PS3 enthusiasts and 11.1 million Netflix members in the U.S. will make quite a match.

If you want to get a head start on your PS3 Netflix experience, you can sign up today at http://www.netflix.com/ps3.

For more information, check out the press release below (or click here), and stay tuned to the PlayStation.Blog for further updates on the rollout.


*****

COMING SOON: NETFLIX MEMBERS CAN INSTANTLY WATCH MOVIES AND TV EPISODES STREAMED TO TVs VIA THE PLAYSTATION®3 COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM

With Movies Streamed Instantly from Netflix, Blu-ray/DVD Playback and Downloadable Videos via the PlayStation®Network, the PlayStation 3 System Offers The Industry's Most Comprehensive Options for Watching Movies and TV Shows

FOSTER CITY and LOS GATOS, Calif., October 26, 2009 – Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA) and Netflix, Inc. [Nasdaq: NFLX] today announced that they are joining forces to make thousands of movies and TV episodes from Netflix available to be streamed instantly to TVs via the PlayStation®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system. Netflix expects to begin streaming via the PS3 system next month at no additional cost to Netflix members in the United States who have a PS3 system.

Today's announcement pairs two of the most popular and fastest growing home entertainment brands in the U.S. The PS3 system's installed base has reached close to 9 million units in the United States, and Netflix recently reported 11.1 million U.S. subscribers as of September 30.

The partnership further solidifies the PS3 system as the most complete home entertainment hub on the market today, enabling consumers to play high-definition games, watch Blu-ray movies, listen to music, view photos, browse the Internet, and download content from PlayStation®Network − from exclusive games to blockbuster movies and popular TV shows. PS3 system owners will soon enjoy an unparalleled experience watching their favorite movies and TV shows streamed instantly from Netflix, downloading from the PlayStation Network or watching Blu-ray/DVD media. The Netflix offering expands on the entertainment experience delivered to PS3 system owners via PlayStation Network.

For only $8.99 a month, Netflix members can instantly watch unlimited movies and TV episodes streamed to their TVs and computers via Netflix ready devices such as the PS3 system and can receive unlimited DVDs delivered quickly to their homes.

"The PlayStation 3 system has always been about more than just gaming, and it will soon be the only platform in the industry to offer consumers such a variety of convenient options for enjoying movies and TV shows," said Jack Tretton, president and CEO, SCEA. "Whether you want to watch content on Blu-ray disc and DVD, download it from the PlayStation Network's video delivery service, or stream videos instantly from Netflix, the PS3 system is the only solution that offers it all."

"As instantly watching movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix becomes an increasingly popular way to enjoy the Netflix service, our goal is to rapidly expand the devices that stream to our members," said Netflix CEO and co-founder Reed Hastings. "As a leading game console and Blu-ray disc player, bringing Netflix to the PS3 system is a real win for both Netflix members and PS3 system owners."

Initially, watching movies instantly streamed from Netflix via the PS3 system will be enabled by a free, instant streaming Blu-ray disc that is being made available to all Netflix members. The free instant streaming disc leverages Blu-ray's BD-Live™ technology to access the Internet and activate the Netflix user interface on the PS3 system, which must be online via Wi-Fi or Ethernet.

Netflix members simply slide the disc into their PS3 systems to reveal movies and TV episodes that can be watched instantly. These titles are conveniently organized into a variety of categories based on members' personal preferences, popular genres, new arrivals and members' individual instant Queues. Members can use the Netflix Web site or navigate directly on their PS3 systems to add movies and TV shows to their Queues. With the PS3 system's Wireless Controller, members can choose a movie to watch from their instant Queues or just play directly from any of the lists. They also have the ability to read synopses and rate movies. In addition, they have the option of fast-forwarding and rewinding the video stream via the Wireless Controller.

Netflix members and PS3 system owners can now reserve a free instant streaming disc for PS3 systems by going to http://www.netflix.com/ps3. Upon availability, the instant streaming disc will be delivered for free by first-class mail, generally one business day after members request it.

About Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. continues to redefine the entertainment lifestyle with its PlayStation® and PS one® game consoles, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, the ground-breaking PlayStation®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system and its digital services which include the PlayStation®Network and the PlayStation®Store.

Recognized as the undisputed industry leader, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. markets the PlayStation family of products and develops, publishes, markets and distributes software for the PS one® game console, the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, and the PlayStation 3 and PSP systems for the North American market. Based in Foster City, Calif., Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. serves as headquarters for all North American operations and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

About Netflix, Inc.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is the world's largest online movie rental service, with more than more than 11 million subscribers. For only $8.99 a month, Netflix members can instantly watch unlimited movies and TV episodes streamed to their TVs and computers and can receive unlimited DVDs delivered quickly to their homes. There are never any due dates or late fees. Netflix members can exchange DVDs as often as they want using a postage-paid return envelope. Members can choose from a vast selection of DVD titles and a growing library of movies and TV episodes that can be watched instantly. Netflix is partnering with leaders in consumer electronics to bring to market a range of devices that can instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix directly to members' TVs. These devices currently include Blu-ray disc players and new Internet TVs from LG Electronics; Blu-ray disc players from Samsung and Best Buy's Insignia brand; the Roku digital video player; Microsoft's Xbox 360 game console; TiVo digital video recorders; and, soon, the PS3 system and Internet TVs from Sony and VIZIO.

Change the Log On Screen In Windows 7

Tired of having the same logon screen as everyone else with the same OS? A standard ctrl+alt+del image too boring for you? Well, now you can change all that.

Windows 7 does not really have an option to change it, but the background can be changed with some simple registry work.

Edit the registry key located here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background

Change the value from 0 to 1.

Copy any potential background image to:

C:\Windows\System32\oobe\info\Backgrounds (must create folder)
(Images must be less than 256Kb and must be named: BackgroundDefault.jpg)

If done correctly, your background image for all Windows screens will be changed to the picture you selected.

T Mobile Looses Sidekick User Data

Ouch…so apparently life on a cloud isn't too pleasant. The T-Mobile Sidekick works on cloud computing. This means that all user data is stored on the T-Mobile servers and data is synchronized whenever the phone is rebooted. Recently T-Mobile lost all its customer data in a catastrophic server crash – and here's the best part – they had no backup system.

Early word was that T-Mobile could not recover any of the data and they encouraged users not to reboot their phone. At current time Microsoft has said that they can recover most, if not all the data, for users. T-Mobile now seems to be confident that they can recover all the data and they are offering $100 to anyone whose data cannot be recovered.

Class action lawsuits have already been filed for people who suffered losses. One lawsuit claims that T-Mobile misled customers into thinking their data was safe. Another lawsuit says that the T-Mobile's advertising did not disclose the fact that T-Mobile had no backup solution for this data. Sidekick user Maureen Thompson alleges in a lawsuit filed in federal district court in San Jose, California that one of the major selling points of Sidekicks was that users always had access to their personal data, and that such data would and could properly be entrusted to the defendants to maintain and retain, safely, securely and always available.

Thompson claims she "suffered a complete and catastrophic loss of all data", including appointments and contacts. Her daughter, an aspiring model and singer-songwriter, lost photos and lyrics she wrote that she had stored on the device.

Thompson's lawyer, Michael Aschenbrener of Kamber Edelson claims that Thompson and her daughter chose Sidekick to avoid the very scenario that occurred.

It looks as though T-Mobile has been working around the clock to get data restored and it now appears that minimal users will suffer data loss (whatever "minimal" means). I'd be terrified if I were a Sidekick user.

Today I Leave Windows Mobile

A couple weeks ago I got a new phone, an HTC Touch Pro. The phone was pretty cool, but there was one major flaw – Windows Mobile. I've always preferred WinMo for my smartphone or pocket PC needs but I've become quite frustrated with their lack of innovation. The OS has been essentially the same since the year 2000. 9 years is just a tad too long to keep any OS on the market with little to no changes along the way.

Over the past 5 years alone, between WinMo 5, 6, and then 6.1 (6.5 coming later this year and still no significant changes) WinMo has brought nothing to the table other than small cosmetic differences. Their touchscreen phones are plagued with slow and unresponsive actions, unintuitive applications and "features, buttons that require the use of a stylus pen, small scroll bars, a terrible web browser, and the dreaded pocket-dial failure. The Verizon Touch Pro even went as far as including a horrible keyboard flaw when they placed the up arrow key in between the N and M. Seriously? What idiot thought of that?

Windows Mobile used to be fun to me because anything I didn't like on the phone, I could change via registry hacks or 3^rd party software. I guess I've grown tired of trying to improve on something that should have been done already. I've had the Palm Pre for a while, and I'm at wits end with WinMo, I've decided to go with a Blackberry Tour for my work phone.

Just got it today:

I'm getting it all charged up, and Enterprise Activation is complete, so let's see how this works out.

Goodbye Windows Mobile. Maybe we can reconnect after WinMo 7 comes out?

10 Most Brilliant Products of 2009: Palm Pre

Popular Mechanics releases its 10 Most Brilliant Products of 2009 and the Palm Pre made the list.

"Most breakthrough innovations make their greatest contributions when they become products people can buy. Here, Popular Mechanics awards the top 10 most brilliant gadgets, tools and toys that you can buy in 2009."

Published in the November 2009 issue.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/upgrade/4332407.html

Here's what they had to say about the Pre:

The Palm Pre (which costs $200 with a contract from Sprint) doesn't break ground with any one engineering advance. Instead, it sets a new standard by putting all the best available technologies together. Most cellphones—even high-end ones—excel at some tasks, while utterly ignoring others. The Palm Pre's features read like a gadget geek's wish list: optional inductive charging, a full keyboard, the ability to sync with iTunes—and it can run multiple applications at once. Sometimes more is more. 

Way to go Palm! If you haven't heard me say it yet, I really like my Pre! I'm glad that the phone is getting some of the recognition it deserves. Palm hit it out of the park with WebOS and as time goes on, things just keep getting better, more developer support, which leads to more apps, and more functionality brought to the phone via over the air updates. Oh and just to be fair, the price of a new Pre is $149.99 now, not $200.

Palm Pre WebOS 1.2 Update Available Today

For those of you without a Pre, this means nothing. For the rest of you, the latest WebOS update is finally here. This adds a few things that I'm glad are here like copy and paste within applications and an updated App Catalog. Just go to "Updates" from your Pre's launcher and download the approx. 74Mb update.

webOS 1.2.0

• Version information
  
• New applications
  
• Feature changes to existing applications
  

Version information

• Version: webOS 1.2.0
  
• Release date: 28 September 2009
  

New applications

NONE

Feature changes to existing applications

Amazon MP3

• Songs can now be purchased from Amazon MP3 over a phone network connection. A Wi-Fi connection is no longer required.
  

App Catalog

• In preparation for e-commerce in the App Catalog, to purchase apps, you can enter credit card information by selecting Preferences & Accounts from the application menu in App Catalog. Credit card information is stored with the Palm profile, not on the phone. You can choose whether you need to enter their Palm profile password each time you make a purchase, or for the first purchase in any four-hour window.
  
• If you want to reinstall a purchased application you previously deleted, you can open App Catalog, search for the application, tap the app name, and tap Download again for free. You do not need to pay for the application again.
  
• A new Share button enables you to send a link to the app page in an email or text message.You can select whether to enter comments anonymously, using your first and last name, or using your first initial and last name.
  
• You must accept an end-user license agreement to purchase apps.
  

Backup

• Web browser bookmarks are now backed up to your Palm profile. After a restart or partial/full erase, the bookmark is restored in Web when you go to the web page.
  

Bluetooth

• If you are on the phone, get in a car with a previously paired car kit, and turn on the car, a notification appears asking whether you want to continue talking directly into the phone, or transfer the call to the car kit. Previously, the call was automatically transferred to the car kit.
  
• The types of car kits to which contacts can be transferred has been increased. You can transfer contacts to Toyota and Lexus car kits.
  
• You can make a Bluetooth connection to a computer even if the computer's Bluetooth device name field is blank.
  

Calendar

• On the event details screen, the Map Location application menu item is now called Event Location and has two submenu options: Show On Map, which displays the location in Google Maps, and Get Directions, which provides directions from the current location in Google Maps.
  
• The options for changing a calendar's display color and choosing whether to show or hide a calendar in All Calendars view are now accessed by opening the application menu > Preferences & Accounts > Calendar View Options, or by tapping the Calendar View Options list item in the list where you switch between All Calendars and an individual calendar.
  
• If you tap Snooze on a calendar event notification, the notification no longer reappears after the event end time.
  
• If a calendar note contains a phone number, you can tap the number to dial it.
  
• In Day view, you can press and hold the orange key/Option and tap an event to delete the event. Options displayed include deleting just this event or deleting the whole series for recurring events.
  
• Calendar now recognizes the 7th day of a given month as the first Monday/Tuesday/etc. of that month, not the second. If you choose a repeat option for an event on the 7th, the list correctly shows the option Monthly on 1st [day]. Previously, the repeat list for an event on the 7th of the month showed the option Monthly on 2nd [day].
  
• Untimed events included in calendar data migration from your desktop now appear on the correct date in Calendar.
  
• If you create an all-day event and then switch the phone's time zone, the event continues to display correctly.
  
• When you select a month for a birthday, the month displays correctly.
  
• Responses to meeting invitations are correctly sent back to the organizer. If the organizer of an event requests not to receive responses, responses are not sent to the organizer.
  

Clock

• The volume of alarms set in clock matches the ringtone volume, not the system sounds volume.
  

Contacts

• On a contact details screen, a Send Contact option is available on the application menu, with options to send the contact to a car kit or send it as a vCard attachment to an email or multimedia message.
  
• On a contact details screen, a Copy All option is now available on the Edit submenu in the application menu. Selecting this option copies the entire contents of the contact entry as plain text.
  
• LinkedIn is now available as an online account in Contacts. As with Facebook, a LinkedIn account set up on the phone enables you to download contacts from that account. LinkedIn contacts cannot be created or edited in Contacts.
  
• If a contact contains an instant messaging (IM) address, the contact is linked to the IM account buddy entry.
  

Email

• You can search for messages in any email folder simply by opening the folder and typing. Search returns any matches found in the subject, From, To, or CC field.
  
• If a message contains an inline image, you can act on the image by pressing and holding the orange key/Option and tapping the image. For all images, an option appears to share the image as an attachment to an email message. If the image is in JPG, BMP, or PNG format, a second option appears to copy the image to the Photos app.
  
• Support for paragraph text selection, copy, and paste is now available in Email. A yellow highlight appears to indicate paragraph selection.
  
• If you have multiple Exchange accounts, you can now use Exchange policies on all these accounts; previously this was restricted to one account. Additionally, IT administrators no longer have to deselect "allow non-provisionable devices" on the Exchange server in order for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync policies to work on the phone.
  
• If you change synchronization of email in a POP account to Manual, the account no longer continues to sync email automatically.
  
• When addressing a message, searching for a linked contact whose contact entry does not contain a complete last name (such as John S.) now returns the contact match correctly.
  
• When you accept a meeting invitation, the response is now correctly sent.
  
• Forwarded messages now correctly display the original message text with the formatting maintained.
  
• When you save an attached file—for example, a Word file attachment saved to Doc View—the file appears with the correct name in the application.
  
• An error message appears if you cannot send a message from an Exchange account because the account mailbox is full.
  
• The Email application always enforces EAS security policies—such as entering a password—when you try to access your Exchange account in Email.
  

Media Sync

• 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 you to store more photos on the phone.
  

Memos

• Tapping text in a memo moves the cursor to the point that was tapped.
  
• When you send a memo using the Email Memo menu option, the memo formatting is maintained in the copied memo.
  

Messaging

• When you are in a conversation with an IM buddy, the buddy's online status and custom message are displayed on the conversation screen.
  
• In Conversations view, a Copy All option is now available on the Edit submenu in the application menu. Selecting this option copies the entire contents of the conversation as plain text.
  
• When addressing a message, searching for a linked contact whose contact entry does not contain a complete last name (such as John S.) now returns the contact match correctly.
  
• If a contact contains an instant messaging (IM) address, the contact is linked to the IM account buddy entry.
  
• You can receive vCard contact entries as part of a multimedia message.
  

Music

• If playback of an audio file is paused or interrupted, when you resume playback, playback resumes at the point where it was paused. This applies to audio files for which the Genre field is defined as podcast, speech, spoken word, netcast, or audiobook only.
  
• You can use music playback controls on the dashboard even if the screen is locked.
  
• If the ringer switch is turned off, music playback is not interrupted by an incoming call.
  

Phone

• You can now turn carrier data services on or off in the Phone application by opening the application menu > Preferences > Data Usage > tap on/off.
  
• Default ringtone volume has been increased.
  
• Adjusting the volume of a call now works even if the screen is off. Reducing the volume level to zero sets the call volume to zero.
  
• Contact entries in the call log now show both the phone number and type.
  

Photos

• The Photos app can now display photos in JPG, BMP, and PNG format.
  

Sprint Navigation

• Sprint Navigation now pulls Google contacts from the phone, as well as Exchange and Palm profile contacts.
  

System

• You can open either the application or connection menu by dragging down from the upper corner of the phone onto the screen, as well as tapping the upper corner of the screen.
  
• When you press and hold the orange key/Option and drag onscreen, the cursor now moves one word at a time instead of one character at time in Email, Memos, and other apps. The cursor still moves one character at a time in the Web address bar and Messaging body text entry field.
  
• Notifications, including incoming phone calls, now show above the onscreen lock icon, so they can be seen when the keyboard is locked.
  
• Notification sounds play softly when you are on a call, regardless of the system sounds setting.
  
• If you copy text from an application and open the Launcher, you can paste the text to start a universal search.
  
• Universal search contact matches include an Add Reminder option that allows you to add a reminder to the contact.
  
• In universal search, pressing the orange key/Option + a letter key now searches on the letter key's alternate character (for example, 5 for F), not on the letter key.
  
• In universal search, you can enter keywords to search for applications. For example, entering "addresses" returns Contacts, "SMS" returns Messaging, and "pictures" returns Photos.
  

Tasks

• Tasks that are assigned a category now retain the category when they synchronize between the phone and your desktop. Other information including start date, status, reminder setting, and privacy setting is also retained.
  
• A new Hide Completed menu option is available. If you select this option and mark a task as completed, the task disappears from the current view.
  
• A menu in the upper-right corner of the screen showing all tasks enables you to sort tasks by due date or priority. You can also manually reorder the tasks.
  

Web

• The browser now supports downloading files from a web page. To download a file, tap the file name.
  
• The browser now supports paragraph selection, cut, copy, and paste on web page text. A yellow highlight appears to indicate paragraph selection.
  
• You can press and hold the orange key/Option and tap a link or image. Options displayed include opening the item in a new card, sharing the link or image via email, or copying the URL. For images in JPG, BMP, or PNG format, an additional option to copy the image to the Photo app is displayed.
  
• If you tap on a text field, the page zooms to a level at which it is easy to read the text being entered.
  
• If you copy text in the address bar or in the body text of a web page, a notification appears stating that the text was copied.
  
• You can accept self-signed certificates through the browser.
  

Security

This release addresses several security issues with Palm webOS software.

Palm Pre and iPhone Top Market Mindshare

If you haven't heard me say it by now, I love my Palm Pre. As a power user of many gadgets I have come to know exactly what I want a device to do and how well I think it should do said function. I've tried many devices and without a doubt the Palm Pre and iPod Touch are two of the best devices I've ever owned. They are intuitive, functional, stable, and they just seem to do things right.

At current time, the iPhone is obviously the most sought after phone available and for very good reason. About the only flaw I see with an iPhone is Apple's decision to go exclusively with AT&T and their terrible data network. The best alternative for a phone that shows as much promise as the iPhone is the Palm Pre, and it is evidenced in the following case study:
PDF: Signature Smartphones: Gaining Mindshare in Order to Gain Market Share

To sum it up, the report reveals how Palm has managed to get a huge slice of mindshare with the Pre despite being massively disadvantaged in the market. It is second only to the iPhone 3GS in the metric, which looks at three driving factors behind smartphone purchasing decisions: 1. A belief that the phone is "smart", 2. A belief that the phone is "hip or cool", and 3. The belief that the phone will make them more productive.

They rated lots of phones ranging from the BlackBerry Curve and Storm, to the Google G1, and Windows Mobile phones. The report found that only the iPhone and the Pre balanced the three factors so well that they actually deserve the price tags associated with the devices. In fact, only the Pre and the iPhone were able to even strike a balance of the factors at all, the other phones were lopsided in their balances.

There's not much more info in the study, but it is interesting to see how Palm managed to put itself back into the forefront of handheld devices. I guess having a product that is actually cool helps a lot.

Running XP Mode on Windows 7

As most of you know, Windows 7 comes out on October 22^nd to the general public. MSDN, Technet, and Volume Licensing members are allowed to have it now though. On top of the other great features of Windows 7 (very stable, quick and responsive, intuitive window controls, improved graphics shell…etc) they included access to XP Mode for Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 7 Professional editions. This allows enterprises to use a virtual copy of XP to run software that may not be compatible with anything other than XP. It seems like Microsoft's way of saying "why wait for compatibility testing to finish when you can run Windows 7 now?" Will it be sufficient? We shall see…

Here is a rundown of how to get XP Mode installed on a machine running Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise.

As of 8/12/09, the Microsoft instructions and files can be found here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

Verifying Virtualization Support

First you have to verify that your computer can handle the virtualization. The E6500 definitely supports it but I'm not sure about other models.

Here's the Intel software that will tell you if your processor is sufficient.
Run Intel Processor Check from here:
http://www.intel.com/support/processors/tools/piu/


Install and run the Intel software and then navigate to the CPU Technologies tab.
If the value says "Yes" in the "Intel Virtualization Technology" field, then the computer supports hardware virtualization.

Configuring BIOS for Virtualization Support

Shutdown the computer and go into the BIOS. Configuration for each BIOS will be different and instructions can be found here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/support/configure-bios.aspx

For Dell machines, do the following:
Navigate to:

1. Virtualization Support
   
   1. Click virtualization
      
   2. Checkmark "Enable Intel Virtual Technology"
      

Save the BIOS and exit.

Install the Virtual PC Software

1. Install Windows_VPC_RC from:
   http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx
   

This installs the Windows Virtual PC software and allows the Windows XP Mode RC to run.

The machine will probably ask for a reboot.

1. Run WindowsXPMode_RC from:
   http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx
   

Change Virtual PC Settings

Go into your User folder and there should be a selection for Virtual Machines:

Open the folder, right-click on Windows XP Mode and select Settings.

From this screen you can change several options, like increasing the RAM to 512 MB and changing COM port behavior.

Select "Networking" from the left column:

Change Adapter 1 to the computer's on-board network hardware (it may be defaulted to "Shared Networking (NAT)". This allows the computer to join our domain when configured from XP Mode.

Also, if you chose to save logon credentials during the XP Mode install go into "Logon Credentials" and click "Delete saved credentials". This will stop the computer from automatically logging in when trying to join the VPC to a domain.

Running Windows 7 XP Mode

Click and type "XP".

You should see the following icon come up in the search:

Click on that to run in XP Mode

That's all there is to it. Inside the Virtual XP "My Computer" was connected to all the network drives my Windows 7 machine is running. VPC can be joined to a domain or workgroup as it normally would.

Post Blog via Microsoft Word 2007

I've taken a liking to this whole blogging thing. One of the tools that is making stuff easier for me is using MS Word 2007 as my blog editor. It is super easy to type up a blog and with the click of one button have it go to the blog site of my choosing (sometimes multiple ones). When I use it to publish to Sharepoint it even allows me to add pictures to the blog post.

Here is a little documentation I whipped up if any of you want to link your Word 2007 to your blog provider.

1. Click Start and select "New"
   
   
   
2. Double-click "New Blog Post"
   
   
   
3. Click "Manage Accounts"
   
   
   
4. Click "New"
   
   
   
5. Select your blog provider from the dropdown list and click "Next"
   
   
   
6. Enter your blog account login information and click to "Remember Password".
   
   
   
7. When you click OK, the Picture Options window will pop up. Select a compatible image provider (listed in the dropdown) and click OK.
   
   
   
8. This message means you have successfully added the account to Word 2007.
   
   
   
9. Type up a blog post and click "Publish". The Publish button also includes a dropdown to Publish as Draft to your blog provider.




And there you have it.

So easy a caveman can do it...

Finally! I got my Palm Pre!!

After months of waiting and a couple more months of anticipation, the Pre was finally made available to Sprint employees and people with employee accounts. I got mine today and I'm very excited to finally replace my Windows Mobile phone with something that actually contends with the iPhone.

The friendly UPS man brought me this little box. Doesn't look too impressive, but I know what's inside! J

Open the box…nice bubble wrap they use these days:

And there it is! I recently read an article about the new Pre builds in the "sunset box". Looks like I got one.

It's a pretty cool shaped box:

And there it is in all its beauty. It has a screen protector on it and I'll probably leave that on until it falls off so it doesn't look as clean as it could.

Nice packaging effort. I like the orange ribbons around the manuals and quick start guides.

The accessories underneath the manuals. There's a nice plastic cover over them.

Included in the package: A USB cable, headphones/hands free headset, pocket carrying pouch, and wall charger.

Now I'm ready to charge it up a little bit and get this bad boy activated! For some reason the phone won't activate without first switching my current line over…gee…imagine that? LOL

I'm extremely happy to get this thing going so I'm gonna call the Sprint people and get it started! WOO HOO! Happy day!