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I Miss You webOS

Night time on the Seawall, the best time to ride!

It has been a long while now since I have posted anything here. Being very busy doing other stuff (such as living life) is only part of the cause. No longer using a webOS Device is the real culprit.
My Pre finally died on me a number of months ago. I dropped it a few times too many and it ceased to function. Which reminds me that I still need to figure out how to pull the files out of the phone when the touch screen doesn't work. I need to be able to turn USB mode on somehow. Usually you just tap the screen at the bottom where the icon appears, but this isn't an option for me. Hopefully I will figure something out. I would like to get the 6 gigs of music I had stored.
For the past couple months I've been using a Motorola Spice running Android 2.1. The phone itself is very similar to the Palm Pre I was using. Same look and design (verticle slider keyboard) and the same size. Even similiar specs on the CPU. But It's allot sturdier and solid. It feels better in my hand for sure, much less flimsy and fragile.
It does seem slower and less responsive though, with the response time on many functions being quite frustrating. Android OS (IMHO) does not hold a candle to webOS. Not even close. From what I've seen, 2.2 (and up) looks considerably better. But 2.1 is nowhere near the 1.x I was using. Never mind webOS 2.x.
Copy and paste is for me the most glaring example. It's a real pain in the ass! It was so easy on webOS that i got spoiled. It makes blogging on my phone a bigger hassle than it used to be.
On the plus side is the app catalog. For example, this post was written on my Bogger app. It's a decent app, but minus a few specific feature (having to do with links and photos) I think I preferred my Notes app on the Pre.
C'est la vie. It's getting dark here on the Seawall and I am looking forward to the ride!

Rest in Peace

My Pre has finally died. It took one bump too many. I really do not know what I am gonna do. I have a week before I can afford to actually do anything about it. I haven't gotten around yet to speaking with Bell to see what they can do for me, but I will do so on Monday. My preference would actually be a Pre2, but I don't see that happening. BB Torch maybe? Perhaps an Android (although which one I really have no clue.

I need to do something soon though. I am having serious withdrawals right now. I've gotten spoiled over the last 6 months on always being connected. I don't like being unplugged.

It is very likely that this blog will be discontinued. Without a (working) Palm Pre in my possession I don't really see the point in writing about how much I love it...

But I do have a couple others, and who knows, maybe I'll love my next phone enough to want to write about it too.

The Drunken Uncle

I've been thinking lately about Palm and HP. About how the launch of the the Pre 2 has got to be the worst in marketing history. Seriously, HP couldn't have done a better job of killing Palm if they tried. There's no way this was how Palm meant to launch this phone. It's all quite pitiful.

It does leave me optimistic though. As far as I can tell, the Pre2 is a pretty decent phone. Significant resources must have been spent developing and manufacturing them (although I bet they cut the run down allot from what had been planned earlier). And yet it would seem that HP doesn't really think it's good enough. They don't really want to put their name on it. They want people to forget all about Palm. And to start thinking about HP webOS.

About the amazing devices that run it. Wicked phones and tablets. Eventually our entire home could be a bunch of interconnected HP webOS devices. The kitchen for sure (even the toaster!). HVAC and other climate controls. I would imagine that they'll figure out a way to leverage webOS into the laptops and desktops. The living room would be the hardest room to get into. They could always buy a TV company. But I doubt they could afford Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo - who currently own the living room.

Either HP is extremely confident in what they've got coming. Or they are extremely incompetent. I'll go with confident. So confident that it would appear to be in their best interest to let Palm and the Pre/Pre2 wither and die off a slow fade. There's no way HP couldn't have done this a helluva lot better had they actually wanted to. It really looks like they plan to start from scratch, and join the smart phone fray as a new entrant. Not as the returning underdog who just received his interence. Bon soir Palm. It was nice knowing you.

Hello HP webOS. Considering that I really do need to get a new phone. And that I will have buy one at full price. I probably won't mind being able to enjoy it for awhile before making another such purchase. Which allows me to say, take your time - do it right.

What's Next?

I am very seriously considering the purchase of a new smart phone. It does not look like there will be a webOS option on Bell any time soon. Which means that I will have to get something else. I could possibly wait a month or two before getting a new phone, but not much longer. This Pre is really hurting. I do not think I love it quite enough to get another, even if I could. I would gladly buy a Pre2 - if I could. 

If I had a working Pre I'd be more willing to wait for spring (and I see no reason to believe I'll see any new WebOS phones on Bell before March). But I don't, and I'm tired of using a broken phone. I really am. Getting myself one of those new-fangled smart phones is sounding like a better idea every day.

Microsoft's Windows Phone looks promising. But I just can't imagine owning a phone that doesn't multi-task. I hear that this is a priority for the updates, but how long will that take (webOS microphone API)?

My biggest reservation about the IPhone is the lack of a keyboard. I'm not a big fan of on-screen keyboards. They eat up too much real estate. I prefer to see as much of my text as possible. I can be a little wordy at times and my notes tend to be a tad long. However, Bluetooth keyboards are quite prevalent so I am willing to consider joining Steve's little army of I Clones. Technically, the hardware is state of the art and the OS is polished and stable. I-Tunes though is another knock against it in my books. I hate it. I prefer to be able to add any song I wish, at any time and from any computer.

Blackberry Torch doesn't look so bad to me. I realize that the tech press doesn't have many good things to say, but that's true of the Pre as well. I've seen a few in action, and they seem to  run very fast. The OS seems to run crisp and responsively. I need to see it's YouTube performance before I can decide if it's acceptable for what I need.

Google's Android OS and the phones that run it would seem to be the most attractive option. Especially considering how much I use Google products on the web. It's seemless and hassle-free integration with Google has always been one of webOS' strongest features for me. It would seem safe to assume that an Android would do this at least as well. The fact that I can get one with an actual keyboard is another plus.

Here's some of what I'm looking for in a smartphone:

Google account synch. I need to be able to access my full google account. Gmail, Calender, Docs, Blogger, and YouTube. Effortlessly. With a touch or a flick. Not allot of typing (I don't expect to have to login more than once). I have no intention on taking a step back here. A step forward (threaded e-mails) would be nice. To be able to do it all at once with 5 or 10 "cards" (or "windows" or whatever you want to call them) all open at the same time, with the ability to instantly switch between them (alá webOS 2.0) would be ideal. Stacks and Just Type (search and UI) that accesses your apps as well as your contacts, tasks and calender would be gravy.

I need to be able to fully access (and watch the videos I've saved, which goes without saying) my YouTube account. Blogging YouTube music mashups is what I do. And I do it mostly from my phone. It would be safe to call this feature a deal-breaker. I have no interest in any phones that don't do this. I need to be able to easily download as well. This I have currently through homebrew, but it's still not a feature I am willing to give up. To be able to run YouTube in the background would be a real sweet bonus. I installed a patch for his but it didn't work due to conflicts with other patches. If I come across any other phone that does this I'll definitely give it another look!

FaceBook is a very important smartphone feature for me. I may be spoiled here as it is my understanding that this is another area webOS excels at. In my experience FB has actually gotten worse. I used to be able to post links. Not any more. Back in August I could pretty much do anything and access anything on FB all from my phone. Now I can barely do anything. Change my status and respond to ongoing threads is about all I can do now. Accessing some of my groups is very difficult, when it's even possible. I want the full FaceBook experience - on my phone! I used to have it and I want it back!  Uploading straight from my camera directly to FB is also nice. I'm pretty sure every smart phone does it though so I'm not worried.

Twitter is also important for me. I am confident that all the phones will have something at least as good as BadKitty for webOS. 

I want a phone that does all of this - at once. I want to be able to write a decent essay (like this one) while being notified of new tweets, FB actions, text messages, emails and appoinments. I don't want to have to save anything or worry about losing any data (or game progress) when a phone call comes in. I want to be able to switch between different apps and "screens" without having to start up or shut down anything (and without having to "wait"). A dozen or two ("screens or "cards") at least with no noticeable hit in performance would be the bare minimum. My pre can do a dozen, the Pre2 can do 50, with Stacks!

That's about it. Any phone that does all this well will surely be able to handle whatever else I think of later. I would love to get some feedback on what phone would be best for me.

http://ferenczyram.blogspot.com - my personal blog
http://ferenczypre.blogspot.com/ - webOS & Palm
http://ferenczymu.blogspot.com/ - youtube mashups

-- Sent from my palm Pre

Feeder

A big consumer of my time (and battery life) lately has been Feeder. It what I read the most after email and FaceBook. In fact some of my email and FB I now read on Feeder. 

I do most of my info intake through rss feeds. I have a number of favourite sites, bllogs, newsletters and FB friends who I subscribe to using Google Reader. Which feeder integrates with flawlessly. For a human-sponge like me, this app is so useful It's become essential. It allows me to follow allot of information in a lot less time. I love it and couldn't imagine not having feeder available any where I am.

http://ferenczyram.blogspot.com - my personal blog
http://ferenczypre.blogspot.com/ - webOS & Palm
http://ferenczymu.blogspot.com/ - youtube mashups

-- Sent from my palm Pre

Welcome to Vancouver HP

I took a walk downtown today to visit the new HP store. Despite the cool (but sunny) weather, allot of people were out and about. An early start for the Canucks (home) game may have also played a part.

The new store is pretty cool. It's small and a bit out of the way (across from the Shagri-La). Inside it sort of reminds me of a Bell store. Same size and feel. But much cooler gear.

They don't carry any phones and won't be for few more months when HP launches "their own" phones. The really didn't know much at this time about phones, webOS or Palm. The Pre2 really is nothing more than the last gasp of the old Palm.

They did have some other really cool stuff though. The Envy with Beats notebook was particularly awesome. So was the printer with the Android Tablet. 5" is perfect. Sort of reminded me a bit of a (way cooler) PSP. I can't wait for some webOS Tabs.

I will make a return visit next week to enter the draws again. They've already given out quite a few awesome prizes!

http://ferenczyram.blogspot.com - my personal blog
http://ferenczypre.blogspot.com/ - webOS & Palm
http://ferenczymu.blogspot.com/ - youtube 

-- Sent from my palm Pre