Posted 10/01/09 at 07:59:33 AM by Paul Lilly

Palm on Monday announced the availability of webOS 1.2, the latest operating system for its Palm Pre smartphones, and with it a whole bunch of new features.

"For starters, we've beefed up Palm Synergy to include LinkedIn contact syncing," Jon Zilber, Palm's director of online communications, wrote in a blog post. "Info from LinkedIn profiles (like job titles) will now appear in your Palm Pre contacts. The new update also facilitates links across more different flavors of IM contacts. Business-oriented webOS 1.2 customers will also appreciate support for heterogeneous EAS policies (for workplaces with a mix of end-users in which some accounts support EAS policies and others don’t)."

In addition to the above, Zilber said the updated OS also includes the ability to filter emails in a current folder just by typing a search term, users can download files in the browser, music buffs can download songs from the Amazon MP3 Store via either WiFi or WAN, you can now tap a phone number in a calendar note to dial it, the ability to pause a podcast and pick up where you left off when you unpause, and cut/paste functionality in webpages and emails.

Palm Pre owners have already started receiving the update via over-the-over download.

Relase Notes

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Posted 01/27/09 at 03:00:01 PM by Andy Salisbury

Patent #7,479,949 (better known as Touch screen device, method, and graphical user interface for determining commands by applying heuristics) has been awarded to Apple at long last. And while this is mighty good for Apple, this brings a lot of potential trouble for other multitouch smartphones in the future.

The Palm Pre is one of the many devices that should be looking over its shoulder. Given that it supports swiping and pinching, much like that of the iPhone, it has plenty to worry about (namely, Apple’s legal department).

And, if the rumor is true about Tim Cook’s thirst for the blood of anyone that’s looking to rip off Apple’s intellectual property, then just about anyone that’s looking to swipe, pinch or squeeze their way to a new phone experience should be careful to tread lightly.

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