Usability

Installing Homebrew Apps Without Rooting Device (Firmware 1.04)

Thanks again to Sir Mycroft over at PalmCentral for the great tutorial on how to do this. I was skeptical since I have rooted devices in the past on whether this would fully work. I decided to help a buddy out and try this on his device and surprisingly it works without any troubles. I found that this tutorial is mainly for XP users but does include a workaround for the vista users as well as fellow X64 bit users. I have found this to be the easiest and quickest way to get those neat homebrew apps and games onto your device quickly and stress free. I would recommend this to any of the users that don't feel comfortable rooting their device to get homebrew apps on their devices. Sir Mycorft has put the following how-to guide together to let anyone who wishes to enjoy some of the fine homebrewed applications that are being produced by the members at Precentral. This guide should not be viewed as a way of derailing the efforts of other members to develop a packaged means of delivering applications to stock Pres. I certainly wish to encourage that development. This guide is instead meant to act as stop-gap measure for those who want the great apps being produced, but do not have the desire to root their Pres, and no longer have the option of exploiting the e-mail hole after the 1.0.4 WebOS update. The how-to guide is in plain English, and is extremely simple. You need not be a techie or hacker to get homebrewed applications onto your Pre. If you are able to download a program from the internet and drag and drop a file, you have what it takes to get these great programs up and running on your Pre. If you had the wherewithal to find this thread in Precentral and currently possess a desire to get the applications in the homebrew section, you can do this. You have my word on it.… Read more

WebOS 1.1 Emerges!

A quick post to comment on my early impression of WebOS 1.1.

First of all, thanks to Palm for updating WebOS so often and so quickly. The rate and pace instills a great deal of user confidence in the future of the Pre and in your dedication to making it a phone users stay excited about. Thanks!

What's New?

The Palm official list can be found here. The compiled list of the "tons of undocumented features" can be found over at my home away from home, Pre Central.

From the looks of it, there are lots … Read more

You really can take it with you

You know that USB drive you're carrying around with you? Toss it. What you may not know about the Palm Pre is that it works as a storage device which you can connect to practically any USB connector that has proper generic storage device drivers.

If you've connected your Palm Pre to your computer (Mac or PC), you've probably noticed three options: Media Sync, Just Charge, or USB Device. If you select USB Device, your Pre acts just like any USB storage device. You can copy files to and from it, and you can even install ringtones … Read more

Looks Like No Homebrews for this Homegrrrl

Why it looks like I won't be getting any homebrew apps for now.

Well, I uninstalled everything and followed the full instructions for installing the Mojo SDK on my Macbook Pro with OX 10.4, and it appears as though I am SOL for now.

Unless I was drunk when I first went through this process a couple days ago and have completely forgotten what I saw on the various download pages, the information about what OSX will install the Mac OSX Version of the SDK has changed (see screen shot below).

There is (now, at least) a qualification … Read more

And some "extras"

I've, unfortunately, been out of commission lately and very lax in getting any updates in. I'm finally walking back among the living and enjoying the Palm Pre the more that I use it.

I had planned out an entire entry to write this morning and I'll put that on the back burner for later today - my experience on the train coming into the city still has me chuckling.

I zone out on my commute into work. Throw the earphones on, shut my eyes and listen to music all the way in. So as I stepped into the train today my Pre was already in my hand (closed, thankfully) when someone deciding at the last minute to run off the train blew by me, knocking the phone right out of my hand. I heard it smash to the floor and was convinced I was doomed. But, as I've noted before, when it's closed the Pre is one tough egg. It bounced once and stayed put, waiting for me to pick it up. There aren't even any scratches on it from the fall.… Read more

Task Bar Apps

Once I had a few days use of the phone and started to figure out which applications I would likely be making heavy use of, I wanted to change the listing in the task bar to reflect that. The picture to the right shows the default arrangement: phone, contacts, e-mail, calendar and launcher.

Mostly, I wanted to ditch the contacts icon. With universal search (which is great), I had, and continue to have, found no big utility in launching the contact application, much less having it placed in such a prominent real estate. I understand it being there by default though, as it is one of the first things people with a new phone play around with.… Read more

One Solid Option for Protecting Your Screen

My experience with the Invisible Shield screen protector.

Last week, I went into Best Buy with an Invisible Shield I had purchased online and paid a guy $8 to install it. I waited till now to post because I wanted to see how it cured. Bottom line? I am very happy with it. It looks almost perfect.

The process took about 15 minutes in the store. One thing I didn't expect was that you are supposed to leave your Pre untouched for a while (ideally 12 hours) after installation. I had planned to run errands after and it was … Read more

Useful Goodies For The Pre, What Are The Must Haves

When it comes to accessories, face it, there are always the cheap ones that break quickly and ruin your device. Than there are the slightly more expensive ones that not only don't break, they also PROTECT your device/investment. When I go to purchase an accessory, I do a lot of shopping and looking around for reviews through multiple sources like Google, Amazon, Youtube, forums, etc. Once i have all information and pricing gathered i make my decision on what accessories will fit me best and where i can get the best price on that accessory. I was once again lucky enough (thanks to accessorygeeks) to test out some new goodies for the Palm Pre. Today I will be doing a full review of not only a desktop cradle and spare battery charger, but also a oem battery itself, a snap on black protective case, and a glare free, oil free, clear screen protector. When browsing around their site you can find anything and everything quickly and easily, whats also nice is that the prices are fair for their accessories that they do offer for each and every phone. First I would like to do a little review on the screen protector that I have been using for a couple days now. So far I'm very satisfied, in the direct sunlight it does a great job of diminishing the look of the glare allowing the user to still be able to see the icons on the device. The feel of the screen protector is very smooth and honestly I don't know it is even there so the invisible part in the title is very true. Not only is it a smooth stroke with the finger it isn't gooey like some protectors that almost grip your finger when gliding across the screen. I would recommend this without doubt to any of the Pre users or potential Pre users for their devices. 9.0-9.5/10 AccessoryGeeks Link… Read more

Pre WiFi (easy breazy!)

Connecting to Wireless Internet on the Pre is really quite easy, and very handy. By choosing the WiFi option from the Applications (or even touching on the top right of the screen and choosing "turn Wifi on") it immediately starts looking for networks. While I did not try out all types of wireless protection (like WEP, WPA, WPA-2, etc...), I did log on to a open network, an open network with a portal requiring a password to proceed to the internet, and onto a friends protected network; I was able to easily connect to each. I found on the password protected portal, I was easily redirected to the login page, but once I authenticated, it was difficult to tell it was successful and tried to keep re-entering my password. However, I opened a new browser found I was connected no problem.

… Read more