While the iOS and Android-using Angry Birds addicts await the promised Christmas edition of the poultry vs. porker game, we in the webOS world are beginning to feel a bit left out. We didn't get the Halloween edition, and we haven't yet seen any of the new levels either. Given that Rovio Mobile did (handily) win $110,000 in the recent PDK Hot Apps competition, we were hoping for a little more love from our Finnish friends. We know the webOS user base is smaller than those of the other OSes, but we're certainly tremendously energetic and loyal!

It does, though, appear that webOS will soon be seeing something new from Peter "Mighty Eagle" Vesterbacka and his colleagues at Rovio. After a flurry of tweets to Rovio Mobile from webOS users on November 28th, the company responded to one that it has "submitted update that brings exact same levels as for iOS, just waiting for Palm to fix issue re Pre." It gave a similar answer to other tweeters, as well as saying that it was "[n]ot sure about the seasonal stuff yet."

Whatever the "issue re Pre" that is keeping the update from the App Catalog, we hope that Palm and Rovio can work it out quickly. Meanwhile, we look forward to future releases of this and other games, and a broadened webOS platform that will encourage more developers to write for or port to our devices.

Source: Rovio Mobile on Twitter

What this does demonstrate with startling clarity is how fast Palm really can iterate updates. Since the unlocked devices were not purchased from any carrier (direct from HP, as it were), owners of such phones need not wait on carrier approval for their updates to come - it’s just Palm. That’s a two-sided coin, of course. You get the updates faster, but without the thorough testing that carriers tend to require before releasing an update on their contracted masses.

Update: Just got the word from Palm: bugfixes, as you would expect with a .01 update. 

Source: webOSroundup; Thanks to everybody that sent this in!

It was a different time, both literally and figuratively - one only need look at the modern smartphone landscape to see how drastically things have changed since June 2009. For perspective, the top-tier phones of the day: the iPhone 3GS, the HTC Hero (only in Europe), the BlackBerry Bold/Tour, and the Palm Pre. My, how things have changed. After the break, we chronicle just how webOS has changed over the past 16 months.

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We've been waiting for what seems like has been ages here in the States for the latest version of webOS 1.4.5.1, complete with support for indie 3D titles, to come available.  We thought we'd see the update last month when a Sprint reseller got word that the update was going to hit on the 7th, but that time has come and gone without so much as a peep from Palm or Sprint regarding the update. So no promises this will pan out. At all.

However, a tipster from our forums, leprecub, has dropped word that Sprint's 3rd party ISC Portal suggests that the update is imminent. It should bring the same change log that we first saw last month. Note that the release notes below are in line with what we hear from developers already running 1.4.5:

The new build # is 268.

Palm Pre Software Update to webOS 1.4.5.1
Specialists: All Customers: Palm Pre Users
Effective Date: 8/10/10
Details: A software update is available for the Palm Pre on 08/10/2010.

Fixes, Feature Updates and Enhancements 

Web: Podcasts now download correctly. Web: text entry can now be entered correctly 
Email: Sprint branded default email signature correctly branded Power consumption / battery optimization
Videos: A user can now send a video via multimedia messaging from the Video application 
Video: the video trim feature now works to send in a message. 
Sprint TV: Upgrade to V 3.5.4 
Sprint TV: Enhanced Parental controls

No word whether this build still has the webOS 1.4.5 game-save bug (we'd like the think the delay between this release and the non-US release came from the time it took to fix that bug). We've all had our hopes up that this release was imminent enough times that we're not really recommending you start hitting that update app just yet - but then again it has mysteriously appeared for one user, though we're betting in that case the Pixi Radio Swap had something to do with it.

Source: PreCentral Forums; Thanks, leprecub!

It came to our attention last month that because of some changes that Twitter had implemented in the way that it allows third party applications to integrate with the service, a number of webOS Twitter clients - most notably Pivotal Lab's Tweed - began to experience issues relating to the upload of media.  After a few weeks of broken functionality, there's good news for those Tweed users who haven't been able to upload anything: the latest update to 1.20, which is now live in the App Catalog, fixes those issues that prevented the uploading media.

Source: Pivotal Labs

Sprint webOS users: you may want to hold off on the repeated tapping of the refresh button in the Updates app that ensues before an update for at least a little while, as presumed Sprint employee and P|C forum member leprecub has it on good authority that webOS version 1.4.5.1 will be hitting Sprint on the 7th - a few days later than some of the European carriers, but in plenty of time before the upcoming PDK Hot Apps competition, which begins on the 15th that'll dole out a cool $1 million to C/C++ developers.

In addition to the change log we've already seen on Palm's own website, leprecub has a few more details on what to expect beyond the ability to deploy PDK apps on the Pixi that include always welcome power consumption and battery optimization enhancements amongst others:

Palm Pre Software Update to webOS 1.4.5.1
Customers: Palm Pre Users
Effective Date: 7/7/10

This should update your Sprint configuation to 2.5.

Details: A software update is available for the Palm Pre on 07/07/2010.
Fixes, Feature Updates and Enhancements

• Web: Podcasts now download correctly. 
• Web: text entry can now be entered correctly 
• Email: Sprint branded default email signature correctly branded 
• Power consumption / battery optimization 
• Videos: A user can now send a video via multimedia messaging from the Video application 
• Video: the video trim feature now works to send in a message. 
• Sprint TV: Upgrade to V 3.5.4 
• Sprint TV: Enhanced Parental controls 

Source: PreCentral forums, thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Thanks to Martin for the tip!

This is still developing, but if you're a GSM webOS user running webOS 1.4.1 and your device is offering you a second 1.4.1 update, it might be a good idea to hold off installing it just a bit.

The big feature in 1.4.1 for GSM Palm Pre users was that they could finally purchase apps from the official app catalog. The big "feature" in the 1.4.1 "re-update" that more than a few users are getting? Those paid apps (and apparently plenty more) have disappeared from their catalog listings. See this thread for more information.

Before we hit the panic button, though, @o2myhandy has chimed in on Twitter. They are saying that this update is getting pushed out to help out users who had issues trying to go straight from 1.1 and 1.2 to 1.4.1. They promise the apps will return. We believe them (and heart how responsive O2 has been on Twitter and elsewhere), but in the meantime if you're already on 1.4.1, there's no reason to rush into installing the update until this little app issue gets fixed. Again, this forum thread is the place to watch for updates - joebel hears that it should all be resolved within 48 hours.

Thanks to everybody who sent this in!

pReader, a homebrew graduate that already supported Secure eReader and Secure Mobipocket formats for e-books (something that has substantially softened the impact of eReader’s own lack of webOS plans), reached another milestone this week when its author Jappus announced “experimental ePub support” with version 0.8 (for now available only via the app’s PreCentral Forum homepage).

As e-book and Apple fans alike know, ePub is an open standard for e-books that Apple has announced will be the chosen format for its iBooks app on the iPad. Other e-book readers and stores already support ePub, as does Popelli Reader for webOS. pReader, though, is the first webOS appp to combine ePub support with compatibility for other secure formats, allowing users to read DRM-protected e-books from sites like Fictionwise. With this latest improvement, along with ongoing tweaks of other functions, its open-source status, and its continued $0 cost, pReader maintains its leadership among e-book reading programs on the Pre.

In a posting on Sprint’s support discussion boards a Sprint Admin has stated in a rather official tone that webOS 1.4 will be sent out to Sprint Palm Pre and Pixi owners on Friday evening, not today as had been rumored/suspected. Who exactly has their information wrong is unclear, though you know we’re pulling for today and not tomorrow (though in the grand scheme of things it makes little difference). Additionally, there’s a new changelog, which is more or less the same as the one we posted earlier today, with a few small differences. We can also confirm that the 1.4 changelog for Verizon will be the same (with the exception of Sprint-specific updates and fixes). Oh, and those Email and notification enhancements? You’ll soon be able to set your own tones for emails as well as calendar alerts.

Check out the Sprint-posted changelog after the break.

UPDATE: And just like that, the post is gone, removed from the ether that is the intertube. Regardless, we've got it all after the break.

UPDATE 2: We've received an image from another Sprint source, which is now above. It presents yet another changelog - although the list here pretty much confirms the list below. It also confirms Sprint's target date for webOS 1.4 on the Pre is tomorrow, February 26th. The screenshot (which is is cropped) also says that the Sprint Palm Pixi will receive its 1.4 update on 2/29/10 - aka a day that doesn't exist because 2010 isn't a leap year. As if there weren't enough twists in this webOS 1.4 release date drama already.  Thanks Anonymous!

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