Posted by alect on January 26th, 2010 in
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FCC investigation be damned, Google has finally managed to bypass the App Store and release Google Voice to the iPhone (and webOS, too) the same way it pulled off Latitude, i.e. via a HTML5-based web app. According to Senior Product Manager Vincent Paquet, it should work with any HTML5-compliant device, although the formatting at this point has been tailored to Apple and Palm’s platforms. So here’s how it works: much like with its mobile Gmail site, the app caches your contacts list in a browser page. All the usual GV functionality is there, writing SMS messages, checking your inbox, and even listening to voicemails (although that latter functionality wasn’t working for us yet in our trials). Placing phone calls is an interesting trick: as pictured above, after you choose the recipient, the app prompts you to call one of Google’s local numbers via the native dialer — even for international calls, hence the lower rates by paying through Google. The recipient will see your proper GV digits, and upside with this method is you’ll still be able to utilize call waiting and background usage. The catch, of course, is a call history littered with random numbers. It’s not a perfect solution by any means — if anything, take solace in an assortment of home screen icons for each section of the app — but it’s probably the best we’re gonna get for the time being. The page should be up and running later today, so if you’re anxious, direct your mobile browser to voice.google.com and just keep hitting refresh.
Google Voice comes to iPhone and webOS, as a web app originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted by alect on January 26th, 2010 in
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What’s the solution to Apple’s stinginess about Google getting an official Google Voice app on the iPhone App Store? A webapp that has about all the functionality, but usable on any HTML5-capable smartphone.
The webapp mimics the functionality of hitting up Google Voice on your desktop. You can make calls, send texts, listen to voicemails, change your settings and access your contacts all from your phone’s browser. It syncs up with your Google account’s contact list—not your iPhone’s contact list—so you’ll have to make sure to sync your contacts to Google first. The Pre however, if you already have your GV account as one of your contacts, should have a more transparent process.
Unlike the Google Voice app now, which calls your phone first and then connects the other party, you actually dial out directly into the Google Voice service, which then hooks you up with who you’re trying to reach. It’s going to be like the 406 numbers that Google Voice users are used to using for shortcuts to their contacts, but possibly not 406, since Google has a pool of numbers they are using.
Google also tells us that you can add dialing credits directly from the phone if you want to make overseas calls, saving you the trouble of having to get on a computer.
All in all, the experience is solid and fluid, mimicking an iPhone app as best as possible on a web interface. If we had any gripes, it would be that when you’re texting someone from your contacts list, it only grabs the phone number and doesn’t display the name after it. Also, that you can’t text multiple recipients. But calling from your contact list is fluid and takes only one more step than regular dialing from your iPhone.
It’s not as good as a native app, but it’s more than adequate. [Google Voice]
Posted by alect on January 26th, 2010 in
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It’s completely anecdotal and lacking in what some might call “scientific rigor,” but we’re digging the, ahem, relevance of Phil Gyford’s little text input faceoff he performed for his blog recently. The piece pits an Apple Newton, Palm Vx, Treo 650, and Apple iPhone up against each other, with regular pen and paper and a laptop’s full QWERTY keyboard thrown in for reference. The results may or may not surprise you, but (spoiler alert) after the MacBook Pro took top honors in blazing through a 221 word passage twice, the iPhone beat out the rest of the competition, with the three pen-related inputs (pen and paper, Newton MessagePad and Palm Graffiti) all taking up dead last. The iPhone, Treo and pen and paper all were relatively close in speed, and naturally your mileage may vary. That said, where do you think you fall? Drop in your results in comments (the full text he used can be found at the source link) or hit up the poll below with your best guestimate. We’re dying to know!
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Pen input faces off against hardware and software QWERTY keyboards: there can be only one (maybe) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted by alect on January 26th, 2010 in
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No CommentsWe want to get some feedback from you guys on how many of you either bought or are planning to buy a Palm Pre Plus or Palm Pixi Plus now that they’re available on Verizon.
So, what’s the deal? Did…
Posted by alect on January 25th, 2010 in
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No CommentsSprint’s seven month run as the exclusive carrier of Palm’s webOS handsets has come to an end as the Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus are now available from Verizon Wireless. Verizon customers interested in the refreshed devices can score…
Posted by alect on January 25th, 2010 in
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No CommentsCongrats, Palm, you’re now officially on a second US carrier. Yep, the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus are now up for sale on Verizon’s website — you’ve read the review, are you taking the plunge?
Update: Just noticed that the limited time, buy one get one offer that promised a free Palm Pixi Plus with your purchase of a Pre Plus isn’t active — it’s only being offered along side the Pixi Plus. But let’s give VZW a few hours to get their system up and running before burning down the village.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus now on Verizon’s site originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted by alect on January 24th, 2010 in
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No CommentsHow long does it take for a smartphone to go from two hundred bucks on contract all the way down to a big, fat goose egg? If you’re Bell — and the phone is the Palm Pre — the answer is right around five months, apparently. Following its August release and a couple of mid-course pricing corrections, Bell’s now making Palm’s first webOS-based device available for free just as long as you’re willing to commit to three years at a minimum spend of CAD $50 (about $47) a month. The move likely comes on the announcement of the Pre Plus, perhaps as a preemptive strike against any of its competitors planning on carrying it — and if we were Sprint right now, we’d be paying very, very close attention to these guys.
Bell’s Palm Pre now free — in exchange for three years of your life originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 24 Jan 2010 03:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted by alect on January 23rd, 2010 in
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No CommentsPardon us if we’re playing the role of Captain Obvious here, but just a heads up: we’ve got some pretty solid evidence before our eyes that Palm has GSM versions of both Verizon’s Pre Plus and Pixi Plus in the pipe. Said proof comes via the certification gurus at TUV Rheinland who’ve listed both a P101UNA and P121UNA in their systems from Palm; P101 and P121 are the numeric codes for the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus, respectively, and “UNA” indicates a GSM variant (versus the deliciously underhanded “EWW” for CDMA). Now, neither AT&T nor Palm have given a lick of indication what two models they’ll be releasing later this year — but this is certainly a convenient coincidence, isn’t it?
Palm crafting GSM versions of the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 Jan 2010 10:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink PreCentral | TÜV Rheinland (P101UNA), TÜV Rheinland (P121UNA) | Email this | Comments
Posted by alect on January 23rd, 2010 in
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No CommentsWell, this was probably bound to happen someday, but we still can’t not sniffle a bit… the Treo Pro seems to have disappeared from Palm.com. The site has of course been mainly trafficking Palm’s webOS devices — the Pre and Pixi — as of late, but until very recently, it still listed its last non-webOS device, the Window Mobile Treo Pro, a much older phone first outed in August of 2008. If you’re hell bent, of course, there are still plenty of places to get one of these bad boys, so we’re not going to sound the death knell yet — but it will be missed.
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Treo Pro up and vanishes from Palm website originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted by alect on January 23rd, 2010 in
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No CommentsOfficially speaking, the Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus still have a weekend ahead of ‘em before they can be sold, but if you know the right person in your local Best Buy, you could very well be playing with one hours before your contemporaries. An anonymous tipster beamed over the image you see above via our handy iPhone app, noting that both of Palm’s first entries onto Verizon’s network were in stock. Granted, neither are for sale per se, but what’s stopping you from moseying on down and giving it a shot? Nothing, that’s what.
[Thanks, Anonymous]
Palm’s Pre Plus and Pixi Plus slipping into Best Buy locales everywhere originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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