It was a brief scare, but we always like it when it wraps up with a happy ending. Palm and O2 have whipped up a fix and brought paid apps back to the European App Catalog. If you can think back all the way back to yesterday, you may recall that a second phantom webOS 1.4.1 update was pushed out in Europe, with the intention of helping move users with issues to the newer operating system. Unfortunately, it also hid all paid apps from European users, thought at least any installed apps were still there on affected phones. Thankfully, well within the promised 48-hour time frame, Pre owners on O2 can get back to the downloading of paid applications. Hugs all around.

Thanks to Martin for the tip!

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It’s a solemn act taken up after every update to webOS: reapplying all of your patches. While things have gotten to be significantly easier since the advent of Auto-Update Patch Technology (otherwise known as AUPT), there’s still some work that needs to be done. Or at least, some clarification.

So here’s the deal, as explained by WebOS Internals’ Rod Whitby: AUPT makes things easier for the end-user, but patience is still needed. As with webOS 1.3.5 and webOS 1.4, the version of webOS 1.4.1 that was pushed to users was different than the version distributed earlier to developers. While it’s not a major difference, the numerical difference is enough that the patches the WebOS Internals crew had prepped for release were no longer registered.

AUPT works like this: A log of your installed patches is stored on the device, when you perform a webOS update, Preware then references that log and redownloads the patches. If a patch hasn’t yet been ported to the new webOS version, then a dummy placeholder patch is downloaded merely to stand in place for when the update is made available. When the different version of webOS 1.4.1 was shipped and users attempted to reapply patches before they had been reverified, they simply downloaded a bunch of placeholders. A word of advice: don’t panic and doctor your phone the next time webOS is updated and none of your patches work. It takes time for the patches to be checked against the new version, and even then your favorite patch may end up broken.

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With the sad news that we are going to be looking at several different versions of webOS out there for the near future, we had started to give up hope that Canada would join Europe in getting paid apps in a timely fashion, as previously rumored.

Likely we’ll have to wait until this evening to find out for sure, but Cocolabaloune points us to Palm’s Knowledge Base article for webOS updates for Bell Canada. New since yesterday: they list webOS 1.4.1 and they have the release date down as 1 April 2010. If it pans out, Palm is just one day late – but we figure Canadian users will be happy to be a dollar short. Because they’ll be buying apps. See what we did there?

Thanks, Cocolabaloune!

Update: webOS 1.4.1 has landed for Palm Pre users in Canada on the Bell network, as Tyler tells us. Go get it, Canadians! As a reminder, here’s what’s new in webOS 1.4.1. There’s plenty to discuss with 1.4.1.x, so we’ve set up a few forum threads:

• Use the Anticipation Thread until webOS 1.4.1 is released for your carrier
• webOS 1.4.1 Discussion - for general "I got it!" and other discussion
• webOS 1.4.1 New Features & Changes 
• webOS 1.4.1 Issues 
• webOS 1.4.1 Patch Discussion

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After watching O2 customers have all the fun earlier this hour, it looks like Sprint customers can now update their webOS devices to 1.4.1.1. You can check out the webOS 1.4.1 changelog here - it’s mainly bugfixes, but some of those bugs have been annoying quite a few webOS users.

We’re not sure what the extra ‘.1′ means or when Verizon will get some update action, but we’ll let you know when we find out. Update: a couple anonymous tipsters have let us know that Verizon will be waiting for "several more weeks" for the webOS 1.4.x update.

Homebrewers, remember: simple patches should be fine, but if you’re overclocking you must uninstall before updating.

Thanks to everybody who sent this in!

We’ve set up a few forum threads for 1.4.1.x discussion:

• Use the Anticipation Thread until webOS 1.4.1 is released for your carrier
• webOS 1.4.1 Discussion - for general "I got it!" and other discussion
• webOS 1.4.1 New Features & Changes 
• webOS 1.4.1 Issues 
• webOS 1.4.1 Patch Discussion

 Update: ...and we have official release notes for the Palm Pre and Palm Pixi on Sprint, but they’re no different from what you’ve seen here earlier today.

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Palm has gone ahead and made it fully official on their developer blog: webOS users in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Spain, and France are now able to purchase apps from the App Catalog. Perhaps not coincidentally, those are the only places we’ve been able to confirm have received the webOS 1.4.1 bugfix update. Palm is encouraging developers to head back to the developer center and update their apps for more regions (us too!).

France, Mexico, and Canada are "coming soon" and we hope that webOS 1.4.1 will also be coming soon to Sprint and Verizon, because though that changelog was small, there are plenty of folks here waiting eagerly for those bugfixes (and for any extra drop of improved battery life they can get).

So, folks, what are you buying?

image from tomi666

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The webOS 1.4.1 news is flying fast as furious. As Arne Hess notes over at the:unwired and as we noted a little over a week ago, Mobile Hotspot doesn’t look to be exclusive to Verizon any longer. O2 Germany customers who update to webOS 1.4.1 should be able to download the Mobile Hotspot application from the Palm App Catalog and use it to tether their Pre phones much more easily than what was previously available.

Update: scoutcamper writes in to let us know it’s now appearing in O2 UK’s App Catalog.

More on webOS 1.4.1: webOS 1.4.1 release notes, webOS 1.4.1 arrives for O2 and Movistar customers in Europe.

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 webOS 1.4.1 is landing on devices in Europe as we type this – O2 devices in the UK, Netherlands, Germany, and Spain are all seeing the update pushed out right now. 

Palm has posted the changelog for webOS 1.4.1 – for O2 Germany, Spain, and the UK. 

• You can now purchase paid applications outside the US
• Bluetooth Audio now works with BMWs
• Pinch to zoom is back in the document viewer
• Shutter delay on the camera has been tweaked
• The volume slider bug appears to have been fixed
• The bug where YouTube links on outgoing emails weren’t working has been fixed
• The forward gesture is back in the browser

In all, not a lot of huge updates or fixes. Anybody seeing anything not listed here? Talk about it in our webOS 1.4.1 new features thread. Full changelog after the break.

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We don’t know what sort of Faustian bargain has been struck here, but tomi666 (note the name!) once again appears to be the first person on the planet to receive an update to webOS.  He was first with webOS 1.4 while in Vietnam and now this globetrotting fellow is first with webOS 1.4.1 in Holland. We are expecting webOS 1.4.1 to include some bugfixes (especially for background multitasking) and compatibility for international paid applications, which are coming later today.

We can’t say yet which carriers and devices will be receiving webOS 1.4.1, but it’s a safe bet that if you live outside the confines of the United States, you should be expecting it soon. Things are developing, so we’ll keep you apprised as we learn more about who’s getting webOS 1.4.1 and what features it includes.

Update 5: As of right now it looks like the webOS 1.4.1 update has landed for O2 and Movistar customers only. Full changelog here, O2 Germany and UK customers can now download and use Mobile Hotspot.

Patchers: Auto Update Patch Technology should for the most part take care of you and you need not remove them. Overclockers: you should remove that kernel patch – a better implementation is on the way anyhow. We mean it – as mrloserpunk notes, your Pre will automatically update itself if left alone.

Updates after the break.

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As a breathless world awaits paid apps becoming available in the webOS App Catalog, tidbits are coming out left and right. First, it briefly looked like the App Catalog was offering paid apps to users outside the US, but the availability quickly dropped off and PreCentral members were left wondering what the score was. 

Meanwhile, the bugfixes (and perhaps OS-level support for international paid apps?) expected in webOS 1.4.1 are another hot topic in the forums right now. Kel101 claims a Palm customer service rep said paid apps would come with webOS 1.4.1, which should land "today or tomorrow." Kingsams also notes that O2 Germany has tweeted out that there will be a "mini Palm OS update" coming this evening that will enable international paid apps. 

In other words, overclockers, it might be time to uninstall that kernel patch.

Want more good news outside the US? Cdavidc notes that SFR has even released a webOS app in the web feed, so Pre lovers in France even have reason to get their hopes up.

Thanks to rot for the tip!

Update: We had to take the earlier photo down, but given that webOS 1.4.1 has started trickling out, we feel good that paid apps will hit today or tomorrow! 

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webOS 1.4 is the bees knees, but there have been reports of a bug or two and the altered way it handles multitasking has caused some headaches for some developers. As we mentioned in that story, Palm had promised an update ‘within 2-3 weeks’ and it looks like they are making good – we have word that Palm is currently letting some developers have a crack at the Release Candidate for webOS 1.4.1, which should allow apps to persist in the background for a little longer than 1.4.0 let them, along with a new JSON parser and presumably various other small changes.

We also hear there’s an early access release for the 2nd beta of Project Ares, the in-browser app development system. Excelsior!

Thanks anonymous tipsters!

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