Texas Instruments: The New Force in Palm's Cellphone Chips

TI, which has decided to exit the market for baseband chips, seems to be the big winner in the new device. The company provided Palm with a chip called the OMAP 3430, which has an application processor design called the Cortex A-8 from ARM Holdings that is two or three times more powerful than its predecessors, estimates Jeff Dougan, a TI director of product management.



TI’s OMAP line also contains other speciality blocks of circuitry, known as cores in industry parlance. One is a digital signal processor to accelerate high-quality video capture and playback. Another core manages three-dimensional graphics. Still another manages photographic images.

But Palm didn’t go the single-chip route with the Pre, iSuppli notes in a report issued Wednesday. It did choose Qualcomm for baseband technology, but broke from a common pattern by choosing alternative suppliers for the application processor (TI) and power management chip (Maxim Integrated Products).

[Originally Posted at prethinking.com]

Rooting the Palm Pre and the webOS

This has been a long day full of Palm Pre webOS rooting news. Many of the contributors over at precentral and others around the world, have been up half the night and most of the day working with the Root system of the Palm Pre. The guys over at http://predev.wikidot.com/ have already posted a YouTube video of how to exactly Root the Palm Pre.




The written procedures are below:

Windows:

1.Download the WebOS image
2.Rename this file to .zip, and extract it
3.set the Konami code on your pre (upupdowndownleftrightleftrightbastart), and put it into dev mode. Plug it into your windows laptop after it's booted
4.Run the driver installer from the extracted file, it is: webosdoctorp100ewwsprint/resources/NovacomInstaller_x86.msi
5.Install Python 2.6
6.Get the rooter from subversion: http://svn.saurik.com/repos/webos-dev/trunk/rooter/
7.Run talk.py inside of the rooter in subversion, it'll output a bunch of lines. If you see an error, join the irc (irc.freenode.net #webos-internals)
8.Turn on the wifi on your pre. Get your pre's IP address, and you can telnet into it (username: root)

Mac OS X:

1.Download the WebOS image
2.Rename this file to .zip, and extract it
3.untar resources/NovacomInstaller.pkg.tar.gz (tar -xzvf)
4.run NovacomInstaller.pkg
5.click through the installer
6.put your Pre in dev mode following instructions above
7.connect to your mac via USB cable ( no need to select a mode, doesn't seem to matter )
8.cd /opt/nova/bin
9. ./novaterm
10.At this point you should have root

[Originally Posted at rethinking.com]

Total cost and feature chart: iPhone 3G S vs. Palm Pre vs. Android G1

Many original iPhone adopters have their contracts ending this summer and many others are simply looking to take the plunge on a new smartphone. There’s never been as many solid choices in smartphone market than there are right now with the new Palm Pre and iPhone 3G S, plus the Google Android G1, the Nokia N97, the BlackBerry Bold, and the BlackBerry Curve 8900.

BillShrink.com, which runs a Web site dedicated to helping consumers save money on their every day bills, has put together an excellent chart (see below) comparing the features and total cost of the iPhone 3G S, Palm Pre, and Google Android G1.

This comparison is based on unlimited data, unlimited voice, and unlimited text messaging. The iPhone comes in as the most costly device at $3800 over two years. The Palm Pre was the cheapest at $2600, with the G1 falling in the middle at $3150.

It should be noted that the Palm Pre really shines because of Sprint’s All-Everything plan, as Sam Diaz recently noted. If you don’t need unlimited voice or texting, but just unlimited data, the wireless costs of the three phones (and the different carriers) are actually pretty close in cost.

IT departments that buy any of these phones in bulk will get better pricing on both hardware and group plans, but this chart is still useful for individuals and small businesses that purchase smartphones at retail.

See Chart Inside...

Click to Enlarge


[Originally Posted at blogs.zdnet.com]

My top 5 wish list for the Palm Pre

For a first-generation device, the Palm Pre is quite impressive. Palm has developed a strong operating system in WebOS, beating the competition in certain areas and laying a solid foundation for future devices. However, as with any product, there's always room for improvement.

Earlier this week, I listed five of my favorite things about the Palm Pre and as promised at the end of that post, here are five things that I dislike about the smartphone or would like to see in future updates/devices. Fortunately, some of these issues, as well as others not mentioned here (voice dialing, video recording, Bluetooth tethering), can be resolved through over-the-air updates, but here's my Top 5 wish list based on the smartphone as it is now.

Improved battery life: While the overall reviews (from both tech journalists and Pre owners) have been positive, there's been one universal complaint about the Pre and that's battery life. Palm has already identified a bug with the AIM client that is sucking more power than it should be and has promised a fix for it. There are also ways to optimize the battery life and the smartphone has a user-replaceable battery, so you can always carry an extra with you. However, it's not a completely unlikely scenario that I might be using the device heavily and have no access to an outlet or perhaps forgot an extra battery and inevitably end up with a dead Pre on my hands. Again, an issue that can be dealt with, but from an out-of-the-experience, it's still a drag.

Enhanced contact management: As I said in my post from Tuesday, overall, I really like the Synergy feature of the Pre and how it seamlessly imports all my contacts and calendar appointments from my various accounts. However, as I also pointed out, there needs to be a better way to filter or group contacts. This really became an issue when I synced my Facebook account, since I don't necessarily know every "friend" or keep in constant contact with them, so it'd be nice to assign them to have some sort of filter or easier way to manage them. Universal Search helps when you've got a specific contact, but if you're simply viewing your address book and have to sort through a long list, it can get pretty unwieldy.

Better Universal Search: The Pre's universal search works well, but right now, it's limited to just contacts, applications, the Web, Google Maps, and Twitter. The Palm Pre holds a lot of information, especially with the Synergy function, and its incapability to search e-mails and calendar entries is a bit of a head-scratcher for me.

Soft keyboard: As I've said many times before, a physical keyboard is a must for me (just a personal preference), but that doesn't mean I think a soft keyboard is completely useless. In fact, the Pre needs one. When viewing Web sites in landscape mode, there's no way to enter text into search fields without having to flip the smartphone back to portrait mode and using the physical keyboard. Does it take a huge amount of effort? No, but it's still inconvenient. We had similar issues with the T-Mobile G1, RIM BlackBerry Storm (lacked portrait keyboard), and Apple iPhone (lacked landscape), all of which eventually resolved the problem with updates, and hopefully Palm will do so sooner rather than later.

More memory: This can't be fixed on the current Pre, but hopefully something Palm considers for its future WebOS smartphones. It might be that 8GB of memory is enough for some people, but I would still like the option of an expansion slot. If not that, then higher-capacity devices. I happen to think that the Pre has a pretty decent-sounding media player and a beautiful screen for viewing videos, so I'd like to load up the phone with a bunch of media without having to worry about the remaining storage. Plus, I like what I've seen so far in terms of applications, and as more become available, I imagine I'll download more. Not that apps take up a lot of memory, but still.

Those are my big-ticket items. Now, once again, it's your turn. I've already received a number of e-mails with wish list items and other issues, such as limited Microsoft Exchange support (specifically PIN service and remote wipe), soft ringtones, limited copy/paste, and not being able to forward text messages, but if you've got the same concerns or new ones, share them below.

[Originally Posted at news.cnet.com]

Palm Pixie leaked as follow-up to Palm Pre

According to the data buried within the webOS structure, Palm has two new handsets in the pipeline, code-named Pixie and Castle. Although there are no details about when these devices will be launched, the Pixie is expected to have around 4GB of storage, compared to the 8GB capacity of the Pre, and a two-megapixel camera, compared to the Pre’s three-megapixel snapper.

The Castle, which is also known as the Palm Eos, is expected to be shaped like a BlackBerry, and have a 2.6in touch-screen, 4GB of storage, integrated GPS and a two-megapixel camera.

The Palm Pre was launched in the United States at the weekend to rave reviews. It has won praise for its innovative operating system and ability to run multiple applications simultaneously. The Pre is exclusive to the Sprint network in the US, and the operator reported steady sales over the opening weekend. However, the Pre may soon find itself overshadowed by Apple’s new handset, the iPhone 3GS.

Palm has not yet announced a UK release date for the Pre, which some are viewing as a competitor to the iPhone. However, the device is expected to go on sale by the autumn, and O2 – which has the exclusive carrier rights for the iPhone in the UK – is widely expected to be chosen by Palm as its preferred operator.

In separate news, Palm announced that Jon Rubenstein, who joined the company from Apple as executive chairman in 2007, has been appointed chairman and chief executive. Rubenstein was widely credited with helping to create the Pre, and the new operating system webOS.

[Originally Posted at precentral.net]

Palm knows EAS support is lacking, fix due within 60 days

There are a few areas that Palm could stand to improve webOS and the Pre. One of the most glaring are the holes in their implementation of Microsoft Exchange Active Sync. As undoubtedly many of you have discovered when attempting to hook your Pre up to your corporate EAS server, the Pre does not support EAS remote wiping or EAS pin locks (though such features do exist via your Palm Profile and on the device, respectively). Without those security features that many corporations demand, the Pre simply won’t connect, meaning the investment was for naught.

Thankfully, we’ve received word from Jon Zilber, Director of Online Communications at Palm, that they’re working on it:

Palm understands that some business customers need support for specific Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) policies. We are working to develop support for EAS PIN and password enforcement, as well as EAS remote wipe, for webOS and hope to announce these new features within the next 60 days. We will deliver the features through our over-the-air update system, which Palm has already started using to bring new updates to Pre users as they become available. Until then, Palm Pre customers can enable a PIN or password directly on a device, and can also remotely wipe a device via a Palm profile.

We’ve also heard from a source within Palm that they are aware that many are having problems with SSL connections (in that their server doesn’t support it but the Pre demands it anyway) and are working on a solution that should hopefully be out in the near future. These changes should hopefully fix the vast majority of Exchange server issues we know that many of you have encountered. Just hold on tight, the fix is coming!

[Originally Posted at precentral.net]

The Missing Sync for Palm Pre arrives

Less than a week after the Palm Pre landed in thousands of eager palms nationwide, the first local desktop synchronization solutions are coming. Perennial saver-of-Mac-Users Mark/Space has released the first beta of The Missing Sync for Palm Pre (with a PC version on the way). The Missing Sync creates a new Synergy profile for Calendar and Contacts and will sync with iCal and Address Book, or Microsoft Entourage if you so desire. The Missing Sync will also make it easy to sync music (via iTunes), photos, documents, movies, and more. It also comes with a Safari component that will send your bookmarks to a new bookmarks app on the Pre (which will then launch the links in Web).



The Missing Sync for Palm Pre also comes with proximity sync of your Synergy information over your Wi-Fi network, meaning you never have to think about syncing with your computer - it just does it. For a limited time, The Missing Sync will be available as a free beta application and can be found in the App Catalog on your Palm Pre, and the desktop component is up on Mark/Space.com. When The Missing Sync for Palm Pre comes out of beta, it will be available for $39.95.

[Originally Posted at precentral.net]