Thanks to the early seepage of webOS 1.4.0 to some GSM Pre owners we can show you what some of the improved aspects of the update look like. A lot of the changes are under the hood, but Shadow-360 of the UK has posted in our forums several screenshots of the newer and recording-er Video app, as well as new options in the reset screen and a much-improved call log that gives you more options and info on your missed calls and sorts calls by caller. Additionally, Media Sync has disappeared from the plugged-into-USB options (no surprise, and no loss since iTunes sync hasn’t worked for months anyway) has been turned off by default, but can be turned on in Settings. As we already heard, Blink Notifications come enabled out of the virtual box this time. Check out some more screenshots after the break!

Update: Also after a break, a video recorded on the original 1.4 Pre in Vietnam by Tomi666. Check out how well it renders the splash. Shadow-360 is also continuing to post more screenshots in this thread.

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There’s been some confusion as of late about how Flash will be coming to webOS and to which devices. It all pretty much stems from Jon Rubinstein’s announcement at CES about the very same thing, where he said that Flash would be available to “all Pre phones.” Note the lack of “Pixi” in that statement. Does this mean that Flash won’t be coming to the Pixi at all?

Flash 10.1 will not come built into webOS 1.4. The new version of webOS will come with support for the Flash plug-in, which will be available for free from the App Catalog. Additionally, it’s going to be Adobe’s call as to when the Flash plug-in makes its way to the App Catalog.

Of course, we all are looking forward to full video recording and editing on the Pre and Pixi. Palm has also promised battery and speed enhancements, but those sorts of things tend to incremental, so don’t expect the world there.

On top of the above, we also have this posting in Sprint’s forums via QuarlesLT in our own forums detailing just a little bit more about webOS 1.4:

Get even more out of your Palm Pre and Pixi, Palm webOS 1.4 update is on the horizon.
I wanted to let everyone know that we’re planning to have an update to your Palm Pre and Palm Pixi later this quarter. We’ll be updating to Palm webOS 1.4. A few of the key updates include:

• Video Capture functionality with editing capability
• Adobe Flash Player 10 (Palm Pre only)
  
• Full Phonebook transfer capabilities
  
• Calendar Enhancements
  
• Messaging Enhancements
  

These are just a few of the high-lights with much more detail to come. I’m sure there will be a lot of questions around timing and details of the update and I won’t be able to share any more than what is listed above but we wanted to let our Community know it was coming.

So 1.4 is looking like the .5 update over 1.3.5.1 that is really is: some nice enhancements here and there, but it we don’t expect revolutionary changes. 

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[ youtube link ]

While doubleTwist has always been great for syncing your Pre with iTunes whether or not Apple was unhappy enough to break Media Sync, it still leveraged your music purchasing through iTunes. While you could still download music from Amazon MP3 from your browser and load it into iTunes through Amazon’s own desktop software, it wasn’t exactly the most elegant solution. doubleTwist has decided to make that easier and has integrated the Amazon MP3 Store into their own sync software.

As with Amazon MP3 on the Pre, doubleTwist now has access to over five million songs in Amazon’s catalog, available for purchase as both complete albums and individual tracks. Thankfully, like doubleTwist’s syncing software, they’ve also made the Amazon MP3 Store dead easy to use. This implementation is actually quite a bit easier than trying to utilize the Amazon MP3 Store via their browser-based interface, which was quite clearly designed for the purchase of physical media that built Amazon into the retail powerhouse it is today.

With Amazon MP3 available on both your Pre and now easily on your computer via doubleTwist we now have one fewer reason to rely on iTunes for our music synchronization needs.

[via: TechCrunch]

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In this ongoing battle between Palm and Apple over Media Sync, both sides have played coy with their public statements on the matter. Palm updates Media Sync to "resolve an issue preventing media sync from working with latest version of iTunes," while Apple warns that "newer versions of Apple’s iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with unsupported digital media players." Apple reiterated that warning after Palm’s latest update to webOS re-hacked and expanded iTunes sync support, and that warning comes as little surprise. The question is how long can Apple and Palm keep up the game before it becomes too difficult for one party or the other to hack or break support. Bring on iTunes 9.0.2!

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As rumored, this morning’s webOS 1.2.1 update did indeed bring a fix to Media Sync, allowing the Pre to yet again sync more-or-less seemlessly with iTunes 9.0.1. The update brought another tongue-in-cheek changelog note from Palm: "Resolves an issue preventing media sync from working with latest version of iTunes (9.0.1)."

Resolves the issue of Apple now wanting you in, eh? Now it’s time to figure out what Palm did this time that took less than 40 hours of work, and how long it will take Apple to put out an iTunes update to break it again. Eventually we’re going to reach a point where either Apple will have to radically overhaul the iTunes sync structure to block the Pre, or one of the two parties relents and stops hacking/patching their software. Given the enormous number of iPods on the market right now, it’d be a daunting task for Apple to completely reprogram iTunes to block the Pre, and at this point they’re starting to run out of ways to tell if an iPod is really an iPod, short of asking for serial number authentication.

Clearly, Palm has decided to ignore the protestations of the USB Implementers Forum, and considering that there’s not much the USB-IF can do in this matter, that’s little surprise. Of course, there are other avenues that Apple and Palm could pursue over Media Sync, and while many of us would prefer that Palm stop applying their limited resource to fixing something that Apple will actively try to break, one does have to admit that their gumption in the face of a media monolith like Apple is impressive. If not a little misguided.

The new update to Media Sync also allows for the synchronization of full photo albums via iTunes (from iPhoto on a Mac or Adobe Photoshop Elements on Mac or PC). The photo sync has also been updated so that it no longer tries to send full size images to your Pre, instead it sends a smaller version to your phone. In Palm’s words: "Media sync now allows for synchronizing photos without requiring the full-resolution originals. This provides faster display of high-quality full-screen images and enables users to store more photos on the phone."

So, any bets on how long it takes Apple to rebreak Media Sync, or are you just so fed up with this saga that you don’t even care?

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Less than a week after webOS 1.2.0 landed, Palm has started pushing out webOS 1.2.1 to Palm Pre owners nationwide. As rumored, webOS 1.2.1 fixes iTunes sync support, as well as fixing the seriously borked Exchange support that webOS 1.2 brought. The whole update weighs in at 38 MB and is available for download now through the Updates app on your phone. Palm’s official (and brief) changelog is posted after the break.

Thanks to everybody that sent this in!

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We know that webOS and the Palm Pre are 1.0 1.1 products, so we’re going to cut you some slack for now. But that slack is starting to run out, and looking at the competition there are some areas where I think you could improve the Pre to both catch up to and leap frog over iPhone and BlackBerry and Android. So here’s what I’d like to see in the way of software updates before that slack runs out and the real complaining starts.

My list is after the break, and it’s by no means comprehensive. Feel free to sound off in the comments if there’s something you think should be added in!

Oh, and Palm, this isn’t an ultimatum or anything. It’s a wishlist. Of stuff I want. So consider it a shopping list, and you’re the grocery store. Some things we can do without, but others are staple items that we need to get through the week, and if you don’t have it, we might have to go across town to the other grocery to get it. After a while, that can get kind of old and we might consider just going to the other store. We don’t want to, as it’s simply not as nice, but they have a lot of what we need.

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Before we begin, you might be wondering what exactly is this "Orb" thing, and why it matters. To put simply, Orb allows you to stream media content from your home PC to just about anything that has an internet connection, a web browser, and a media player. This is accomplished by downloading and installing the Orb application, which then scans your media files and makes them available for streaming via Orb’s MyCast login system (only you are able to access your media files, unless you specifically share them with someone). The only downside to this method; it requires an "always on" home PC (no Mac support, unfortunately), and a broadband connection. That said, if you meet the minimum system requirements, Orb is a great way to access your media content without having to directly load it onto your Pre (especially important considering we only have 8 GBs of space).

If you’re interested in setting using Orb, and in a further display of just how awesome of a community we have, forum member deesugar has posted an excellent, very detailed step-by-step guide on how to get Orb working on the Pre. Combine this with the DoubleTwist media manager, and you could ultimately have all the media you own accessible on your Pre. Of course Orb also works with other devices as well, so you could stream to your PS3, iPod Touch, Xbox 360, and your mothers Palm Centro without having to jump through any additional hoops.

While we’d still like to one day see a 16 or 32 GB version of the Pre, this does help ease some of the pain for those of us that have more than 8 GBs of media. Let us know what you think of this solution in the comments, and be sure to head over to the forums and thank deesugar for his excellent guide.

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Remember yesterday when we reported about that new and ominous iTunes support article?  The one that may or may not be a threat of breaking Palm’s media sync, with Apple’s exact words being "newer versions of Apple’s iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with non-Apple digital media players." Well Palm’s not taking this lying down.  AllThingsDigital is quoting none other that Palm’s own Lynn Fox as saying:

"Palm’s media sync works with the current version of iTunes. If Apple chooses to disable media sync in a future version of iTunes, it will be a direct blow to their users who will be deprived of a seamless synchronization experience. However, people will have options. They can stay with the iTunes version that works to sync their music on their Pre, they can transfer the music via USB, and there are other third-party applications we could consider."

Lynn Fox (who, we can’t help but point out, is a former Apple employee)  brings up the interesting unstable symbiotic connection Palm now has with Apple.  Palm benefits from having the Pre be iTunes-compatible out of the box and Apple gains new iTunes users, customers who may potentially buy from iTunes until they upgrade devices.  At the same time, Apple may lose iPhone sales to the Pre due to the iTunes compatibility but if they change how iTunes work, it could cause issues with Apple’s own iPods or Palm could just issue an OTA update fixing that.  It seems, at least currently, that Apple’s best bet would be to allow the Pre’s Media Sync.

Of course if Palm does get shut out, Fox points out there are alternatives.  The regular USB mode would be good enough for many.  And for most everyone else, DoubleTwist has its own third party iTunes syncing solution available for the Pre right now, which itself may contribute to Apple letting Palm keep Media Sync; people are going to sync with iTunes anyway.  Regardless of what Apple ends up doing, it’s clear there will always be options when it comes to the Pre.

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As our friends over at our Apple-obsessed sister-site The iPhone Blog have noted, Apple has updated their support documents to address non-Apple synchronization with their pervasive iTunes media player:

Apple designs the hardware and software to provide seamless integration of the iPhone and iPod with iTunes, the iTunes Store, and tens of thousands of apps on the App Store. Apple is aware that some third-parties claim that their digital media players are able to sync with Apple software. However, Apple does not provide support for, or test for compatibility with, non-Apple digital media players and, because software changes over time, newer versions of Apple’s iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with non-Apple digital media players.

So what’s the deal here? Is Apple actively preparing to break iTunes synchronization, is this just sabre rattling, or is this the Apple legal team’s effort to cover their butts in the event that a change to iTunes does break non-Apple synchronization? We’re betting it’s just legal maneuvering, but we also wouldn’t put it past Apple to crack down on people breaking into their proprietary system. It all seems mighty silly, given that all of the music in the iTunes Store is now DRM-free and Apple has no reason to be kicking people out of their happy little ecosystem. Except to keep that happy little ecosystem all to themselves, which would seem to be a mighty petty move (if they were to do so).

Of course, with the Pre’s easy over-the-air software updates, Palm could push out a quick update to circumvent whatever “software changes over time” might block Media Sync. We’re just going to cross our fingers and hope it doesn’t come to that.

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