It’s hard to believe it is October already and the leaves are already falling off the trees. Another week come and gone and today I am back with another week in review for your perusal. We found out early this week that the Palm Pre is still headed to Verizon according to an insider. The alleged insider didn’t give any word on when exactly this may happen.
Having played with the Palm Pixi early last month, we’ve been looking forward to the super-slim candybar’s full launch and the opportunity to take the second webOS smartphone for a second spin. According to the Boy Genius Report’s latest source, the Pixi is set to hit shelves – in both Sprint and Best Buy retail locations – on October 20th, which if true means there are only a few weeks to wait.
Sling Media’s upcoming smartphone plans have been tipped courtesy of a new job listing from the company. The role – Senior Mobile User Interface Designer – calls for someone with experience of (or interest in gaining knowledge in) UI designs for iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian, Android and Palm webOS.
The list of feature tweaks, new functionality and general polishing webOS 1.2.0 brings to the Pre is enough to make a Palm addict get all misty-eyed, but the company have also taken the opportunity to sneak in a less-welcome addition to their App Catalog. Over at My Pre they’ve been digging through the new T&Cs for the App Catalog which show up when you next run the download store after installing webOS 1.2.0; in them, Palm reveal that the Pre now has a “remote killswitch” to deactivate and remove applications you might have installed on your handset.
This killswitch, Palm says in the user agreement, gives them access to “add, remove, disable access to, block, or modify remotely” any application you may have installed to your Pre. Several reasons for them doing this are suggested, including restrictions from third-party license holders.
Palm have finally pushed out their latest update for the Palm Pre, webOS 1.2.0, a 79MB over-the-air firmware install that adds support for paid apps, Amazon MP3 downloads while on a mobile network (rather than WiFi) and cut/copy/paste support of text in the web browser. There’s also a new gesture – swiping down from the top of the screen toward the bottom – which opens the application/connection menu, together with music playback controls on the lock screen.
However what hasn’t changed is iTunes compatibility, with the Pre still unable to sync with Apple’s media software after the Cupertino company changed their settings to block the Palm smartphone. Recently Palm was scolded by the USB-IF for their attempts to circumnavigate Apple’s settings by using an iPod USB identification number.
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After rumors late last week that Verizon had turned their collective noses up at the Palm Pre, put off by poor sales performance and a preference for RIM and Android, BGR is now reporting that the CDMA carrier will indeed be offering the webOS smartphone. Their unnamed source has apparently confirmed that the Pre is indeed headed to Verizon, though there's no word of an actual release date.
Since the Palm Pre was revealed to be – in its first incarnation – a CDMA handset, Verizon subscribers have wondered when (or even if) it might arrive on their network of choice. Despite leaks back in August suggesting that the handset was lining up to appear as soon as Sprint’s exclusivity agreement expired, the latest talk is that Verizon have decided not to support the Pre. While Palm and the carrier themselves have refused to comment, sources close to the negotiations suggest that Verizon’s focus on RIM and Motorola’s upcoming Android handset for the network have left them with little room for the Pre and webOS.
Start the day as you mean to go on: with a bargain. If you’ve been thinking of picking up a Palm Pre, but have shied away even from the recently reduced price of $149.99 on Sprint, then how does a sub-$100 Pre strike you?
O2 have just announced that they will be launching the Palm Pre in the UK on October 16th. The handset – the GSM version of the Sprint device that has been available in the US for several months now – will be priced between free and £96.89 ($159) depending on contract.
Update: O2 in Germany and Ireland will also get the Palm Pre on October 13th and 16th respectively. German pricing details here; Irish details after the cut.
Full contract details after the cut
Palm has been apparently been busy warning UK retailers that it is less than happy with pre-order pages for SIM-free versions of the Palm Pre, informing them that the webOS smartphone will only be available in locked form (presumably to O2, the company’s UK carrier partner). Our sibling site MyPre.com has been informed by one affected retailer that Palm’s legal team “requested” in no uncertain terms that they take down their listing, where the Pre had been tentatively offered for £450-500 ($737-819).
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