WebOS Thread

1600Points

Is there enough interest in this community to start up a WebOS thread?

I have been a big supporter since day 1 but I honestly have no idea how popular the Palm phones are in these parts.

SmokeStacks

Fuck WebOS man, the Treo is where it's at. Still rocking a 755p.

Actually, I've been considering upgrading because my phone is literally beginning to come apart at the seams due to it's age, but the Pixi is too small for my gargantuan monster thumbs, the Pre has a retarded keyboard, and the Treo Pro is a WinMo device.

1600Points

I actually have gotten pretty accustomed to my Pre's tiny keyboard, even with my fat fingers.

It would be nice if they would pump out some kind of software keyboard for it. (isn't it funny how one of the key things going for the pre was a physical keyboard but yet people still want a software keyboard as well?)

s3rial one

If you root the Pre (and I would assume the Pixi), you can install a software keyboard. It's not quite as polished as I'd like, but it's functional. PreCentral and WebOS Internals both have the instructions.

my Pre.

ChaosHat

I also my pre! We need to keep this thread alive for justice!

1600Points

I'm pretty darn stoked about the news this week which validated those NFS screenshots and Open GL support for the phone coming sometime in the future.

I'm curious what the "big" announcement will be at CES.

My bets are:

Gaming Reveals
Verizon Phone Versions (which we all know is already coming)
Possibly something to do with slingmedia (I remember slingbox support being one of the bullet points for this phone)

I guess we'll see.

Cronus

I like the Pre keyboard. If you give it a chance it works very well. The keys only have to go down a millimeter or so to be pressed so even with my fingers, pushing down on a key only results in that one key press.

On another note, has anyone got any game recommendations for the Pre? Ideally something with 30-60 second rounds or a game I can put down at anytime.

ChaosHat

I got the phone for Christmas and so far the only thing I don't like is how freaking sharp the bottom edge is. I guess I can use it as a shiv in darkened alleys but man.

Mega Playboy

I been a Palm fan since I got my Zodiac but now Android is call me.

1600Points

Cronus wrote: »

I like the Pre keyboard. If you give it a chance it works very well. The keys only have to go down a millimeter or so to be pressed so even with my fingers, pushing down on a key only results in that one key press.

On another note, has anyone got any game recommendations for the Pre? Ideally something with 30-60 second rounds or a game I can put down at anytime.

Topple Ball is funish.

a few friends of mine created an RPG which I am now working on as well. (they are releasing free expansions for it) called wizardsRPG.

Just so you don't get the wrong idea on the quality of the game here is the website.
http://www.alderangaming.com/

it's still pretty fun though.

Word Ace is pretty fun if you like that sort of thing, the multiplayer is kind of neat.

Other than that not much in the way of games at the moment unless you like things with facebook integration, which I don't.

Kogareru

Cronus wrote: »

On another note, has anyone got any game recommendations for the Pre? Ideally something with 30-60 second rounds or a game I can put down at anytime.

YES. might i recommend DOOM:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbGFJF4M77U&feature=player_embedded

Also, they've updated it so you don't have to run anything from the terminal anymore just click on the doom icon (the Linux penguin covered in blood..) I downloaded it using preware.

Big Dookie

Don't know if you guys have seen, but they now have Quake running as well. No hardware acceleration yet as far as I know, but still... quite an accomplishment. This bodes well for the future of WebOS.

http://www.youtube.com/webosinternals#p/a/f/1/xVdhJC63ThQ

I'm hoping the big announcement at CES is that the UI will soon be utilizing the Pre's GPU. If there's one complaint I have about WebOS, it's how laggy and sluggish it can be sometimes for simple things like scrolling through messages or moving between launcher screens. I could care less about games honestly, just give me a polished UI and I'm happy.

1600Points

Is it wrong to wish for something like Palm partnering with Sega to port the entire library of Dreamcast games to WebOS?

What a wonderful world we would live in.

Cronus

1600Points wrote: »

Is it wrong to wish for something like Palm partnering with Sega to port the entire library of Dreamcast games to WebOS?

What a wonderful world we would live in.

That's the same world with the waterfalls of cognac and rainbows of bacon right?

I would love some NES games. I just don't want to jailbreak thing.

s3rial one

You don't really need to jailbreak anything on a Pre. Just enable developer mode, and you can do damned near anything you want to it.

Most of the hassle with modding the phone comes from tweaking existing files. But, at least in theory, you wouldn't need to do that with, say, an emulator or something of that nature.

Developer mode is the Contra code. No kidding.

upupdowndownleftrightleftrightbastart

Big Dookie

So in case you guys haven't heard, Sprint increased their regulatory fee by $0.20 a line, meaning that they've changed their terms and conditions, allowing us to get out of our contracts without having to pay an Early Termination Fee. I called today, and after a few arguments and transferring around, I got them to mark my contract as fulfilled (even though I'm only 6 months into it) and put me on month-to-month.

If you are wanting to jump ship for one of them fancy new Android phones, or if you're happy with Sprint and just want to get out of your contract like me, now might be a good time to give them a call.

SmokeStacks

WebOS devices are pretty cool.

I thought about getting one, but then I had the strangest feeling that I should wait for a week and a half before I make a decision. Just, you know, out of the blue.

Big Dookie

I would imagine that the major announcements today will be more utilization of the GPU for games and snappier performance (especially considering the great strides the WebOS Internals guys have made since the newest OS update) and the establishment of WebOS devices on other carriers.

It's already been confirmed that Verizon will be getting updated versions of the Pre and Pixi, with the upgrades on the devices being double the storage memory and the addition of WiFi, respectively. A Pixi with wifi on Verizon is actually very tempting, I have to admit. I love the Pixi's form factor. However, I still have hopes that they will possibly release a brand new device today that will have the power of the Pre with a similar form factor to the Pixi or Treo Pro. I'd be all over that.

ChaosHat

Big Dookie wrote: »

I would imagine that the major announcements today will be more utilization of the GPU for games and snappier performance (especially considering the great strides the WebOS Internals guys have made since the newest OS update) and the establishment of WebOS devices on other carriers.

It's already been confirmed that Verizon will be getting updated versions of the Pre and Pixi, with the upgrades on the devices being double the storage memory and the addition of WiFi, respectively. A Pixi with wifi on Verizon is actually very tempting, I have to admit. I love the Pixi's form factor. However, I still have hopes that they will possibly release a brand new device today that will have the power of the Pre with a similar form factor to the Pixi or Treo Pro. I'd be all over that.

Eh, I would still recommend to most people that you take the Pre over Pixi. For 50 dollars more, you get a bigger screen and better processing power behind it. My Pre is already a little laggy when navigating menus and stuff, so I can't imagine on the Pixi. Granted, this could all change once the GPU is unlocked, but still.

baronfel

So after reading the Engadget wrapup on the Palm CES event, and checking out the webOsInternal twitter feed, I'm really excited for the future on my Pre. We've got hardware-accelerated 3D gaming on the cusp, Flash support incoming, video recording and editing officially supported (although you can do this already with homebrew), and your Pre can also serve as a WiFi broadcast point for up to 5 other devices. Also, with the Plugin Developer Kit, you can run native C/C++ apps on WebOS. Man, I'm totally geeking out over this.

The only thing I would have wished to see would be concrete info on GPU-accelerating the UI. Other than that, color me satisfied!

Big Dookie

Unfortunately, that last point was the very thing I was hoping for the most out of the presentation this year. I feel like a jerk complaining about it since everything else they're delivering is really great, but the slow and laggy UI is something I just can not move past.

The bad thing is that I've been reading that apparently the Pre Plus on Verizon isn't simply a storage memory upgrade, but they're doubling the RAM to 512 MB as well which will give it a smoother interface and more multitasking capability. This indicates to me that Palm has no plan on significantly improving the software to make it run better, but are instead going to let improved hardware take care of that aspect. Makes me feel a bit likea guinea pig for getting the device early with Sprint. I know that's the curse of early adopters, but it still stings.

I would imagine that it really stings for people who just bought a WebOS device in December, and now have to live for two years with a phone that's already out-dated.

baronfel

Yeah Dookie, I read about the 512MB RAM upgrade as well and was a bit over it, but overall I've been more than happy with webOS. I guess I'm just eternally optimistic that when the 3D games drop we'll get a surreptitious upgrade on the UI front as well. I know others have had complaints about UI responsiveness, but the only times I've really had issues were when I was getting notifications during a phone call.


I'm also hearing rumblings from the webOS guys that the tether app is Verizon-only and will probably be a hidden fee based thing. Anyone have any other info on this?

Big Dookie

From what I've read, yes, the tethering feature is for Verizon only. It'll probably be a fee-based service though anyway, so I doubt it's something I'd pay for one way or another. If it were free, that'd be another matter.

In any case, despite my grumblings, I still love WebOS and am thrilled about most of the stuff they announced today. Can't wait to try some of those games out. I just hope Sprint isn't going to be left out in the cold and will be getting a new device soon as well.

Cronus

They have been improving things with their software updates too. Personally I don't mind. Really anytime you buy a device like this you can always wait for a better version, but there will always be a better version. Eventually you just have to buy a new phone and not wait forever.

corky842

Oh fuck yes, it's got X-plane!
Oh dammit, apps aren't installing. Time to go see the Doctor.

1600Points

I'll update the OP tonight when I have some time since we have a boatload of news.
Anyone tried the games yet?

Big Dookie

I got NFS. It's pretty good. Graphics are very good, controls are tight, and it actually has somewhat of a story to it. I want to get the new glyder game as well.

baronfel

I grabbed Monopoly because I'm a whore for that game. Controls are slick and responsive, it looks beautiful, and it has killed my productivity at work today. From what I can tell it's functionally equivalent to the iPhone version, which makes since since i think the iPhone has support for OpenGL-ES 1.1 as well... I could be mistaken on that front though.

But yeah, Monopoly is great fun, and will probably help my upcoming flights go smoother As an aside, does anyone know of a good ebook reader for the Pre? I was looking around at Shortcover on the app store, but that didn't seem to have support for .lit or .opf files I already own.

Big Dookie

Finished Need for Speed. It was actually really good. My only real complaint is that there doesn't seem to be quite enough straight-up races in the game. There are too many "cause massive damage" or "escape the cops" or "total this other car" modes. I just wish there were more normal races.

Otherwise though, great stuff. I wasn't a big fan of the tilt controls at first, but the more I played it the more they grew on me. The drifting controls especially were well done, which was surprising because it's the one aspect I hated the most initially. However, once you figure out how it works, they're actually quite elegant, and drifting feels really great when you nail it just right.

I'd say it's worth $10, especially since I could see myself playing through it again at some point.

1600Points

Sweet, AC on the Pre, anyone played it yet?

Big Dookie

So guys, there is this new patch out by the webos internals guys, and it overclocks your Pre to 800 MHz. And from what everyone can tell, it doesn't seem to have any real adverse effects other than the expected small hit in battery life. I installed it today, and I can attest to the fact that it makes it feel like a whole new phone. Everything is MUCH faster and smoother now with this patch installed. Hopefully it won't blow my CPU up after a few days of use, but so far it seems to be stable, and the performance increase is very, very noticeable.

Go here to get it.

Phoenix-D

I'll leave that one to the tweak people for a while, see what happens.

Though I do have plenty of battery life since I grabbed the extended battery. Thing's HUGE, but it feels like it improves the grip of the phone, and the weight isn't actually that noticeable in use.

Definitely makes me think phone makers have been leaning too far towards small.

EliteLamer

Big Dookie wrote: »

So guys, there is this new patch out by the webos internals guys, and it overclocks your Pre to 800 MHz. And from what everyone can tell, it doesn't seem to have any real adverse effects other than the expected small hit in battery life. I installed it today, and I can attest to the fact that it makes it feel like a whole new phone. Everything is MUCH faster and smoother now with this patch installed. Hopefully it won't blow my CPU up after a few days of use, but so far it seems to be stable, and the performance increase is very, very noticeable.

Go here to get it.

You know that bricks your phone in 6 months right?

Phoenix-D

Oh by the way, if anyone is considering the Pre+:

Be aware that Verizon has pulled some of their normal phone-neutering shenanigans with the Pre. Specifically, the GPS features will be wildly inaccurate unless you are paying for their nav service, or trick the phone into thinking you are.

corky842

EliteLamer wrote: »

Big Dookie wrote: »

So guys, there is this new patch out by the webos internals guys, and it overclocks your Pre to 800 MHz. And from what everyone can tell, it doesn't seem to have any real adverse effects other than the expected small hit in battery life. I installed it today, and I can attest to the fact that it makes it feel like a whole new phone. Everything is MUCH faster and smoother now with this patch installed. Hopefully it won't blow my CPU up after a few days of use, but so far it seems to be stable, and the performance increase is very, very noticeable.

Go here to get it.

You know that bricks your phone in 6 months right?

[citation needed]

Phoenix-D wrote: »

Oh by the way, if anyone is considering the Pre+:

Be aware that Verizon has pulled some of their normal phone-neutering shenanigans with the Pre. Specifically, the GPS features will be wildly inaccurate unless you are paying for their nav service, or trick the phone into thinking you are.

Oh, lovely . Too bad Verizon isn't dead yet (and will probably be around forever).

Big Dookie

EliteLamer wrote: »

Big Dookie wrote: »

So guys, there is this new patch out by the webos internals guys, and it overclocks your Pre to 800 MHz. And from what everyone can tell, it doesn't seem to have any real adverse effects other than the expected small hit in battery life. I installed it today, and I can attest to the fact that it makes it feel like a whole new phone. Everything is MUCH faster and smoother now with this patch installed. Hopefully it won't blow my CPU up after a few days of use, but so far it seems to be stable, and the performance increase is very, very noticeable.

Go here to get it.

You know that bricks your phone in 6 months right?

I don't see how you could possibly have any way of knowing that. And in any case, even if it does, I'll probably have a new phone in six months anyway, so the huge jump in performance is worth it.

EliteLamer

Big Dookie wrote: »

EliteLamer wrote: »

Big Dookie wrote: »

So guys, there is this new patch out by the webos internals guys, and it overclocks your Pre to 800 MHz. And from what everyone can tell, it doesn't seem to have any real adverse effects other than the expected small hit in battery life. I installed it today, and I can attest to the fact that it makes it feel like a whole new phone. Everything is MUCH faster and smoother now with this patch installed. Hopefully it won't blow my CPU up after a few days of use, but so far it seems to be stable, and the performance increase is very, very noticeable.

Go here to get it.

You know that bricks your phone in 6 months right?

I don't see how you could possibly have any way of knowing that. And in any case, even if it does, I'll probably have a new phone in six months anyway, so the huge jump in performance is worth it.

Check pre central.. You are overclocking a cpu of course it reduces the cpu life.

Monoxide

EliteLamer wrote: »

Big Dookie wrote: »

EliteLamer wrote: »

Big Dookie wrote: »

So guys, there is this new patch out by the webos internals guys, and it overclocks your Pre to 800 MHz. And from what everyone can tell, it doesn't seem to have any real adverse effects other than the expected small hit in battery life. I installed it today, and I can attest to the fact that it makes it feel like a whole new phone. Everything is MUCH faster and smoother now with this patch installed. Hopefully it won't blow my CPU up after a few days of use, but so far it seems to be stable, and the performance increase is very, very noticeable.

Go here to get it.

You know that bricks your phone in 6 months right?

I don't see how you could possibly have any way of knowing that. And in any case, even if it does, I'll probably have a new phone in six months anyway, so the huge jump in performance is worth it.

Check pre central.. You are overclocking a cpu of course it reduces the cpu life.

Pre central says nothing about "bricking your phone in 6 months". They warn that overclocking a CPU has the possibility of lowering your CPU's life, but state that the data they've collected so far have shown no hugely adverse effects on CPU temperature, so it shouldn't do any damage to the processor.

Big Dookie

If people are worried about it burning up their CPU, then by all means they shouldn't do it. I for one have been pretty disappointed with the performance of WebOS as a whole though, and the results I'm getting from this patch are more than worth the risk I'm taking. If it does last another six months, that's probably three months longer than I would have kept the phone without this patch.

Don't get me wrong now, I love the Pre and WebOS, but with all the amazing phones coming out in the next few months, I couldn't see myself sticking with this one much longer. With this performance boost though, I can see myself holding off on that new purchase for a while.

EliteLamer

Big Dookie wrote: »

If people are worried about it burning up their CPU, then by all means they shouldn't do it. I for one have been pretty disappointed with the performance of WebOS as a whole though, and the results I'm getting from this patch are more than worth the risk I'm taking. If it does last another six months, that's probably three months longer than I would have kept the phone without this patch.

Don't get me wrong now, I love the Pre and WebOS, but with all the amazing phones coming out in the next few months, I couldn't see myself sticking with this one much longer. With this performance boost though, I can see myself holding off on that new purchase for a while.

Oh yeah dude I feel you on that. I am going to overclock my phone once I have 6 months left on my contract. It is just that I can't afford the risk of burning my phone up before I can get a new one under contract.

syndalis

EliteLamer wrote: »

Big Dookie wrote: »

If people are worried about it burning up their CPU, then by all means they shouldn't do it. I for one have been pretty disappointed with the performance of WebOS as a whole though, and the results I'm getting from this patch are more than worth the risk I'm taking. If it does last another six months, that's probably three months longer than I would have kept the phone without this patch.

Don't get me wrong now, I love the Pre and WebOS, but with all the amazing phones coming out in the next few months, I couldn't see myself sticking with this one much longer. With this performance boost though, I can see myself holding off on that new purchase for a while.

Oh yeah dude I feel you on that. I am going to overclock my phone once I have 6 months left on my contract. It is just that I can't afford the risk of burning my phone up before I can get a new one under contract.

six months seems like a horribly arbitrary number you just kind of came up with.

I think where you live geographically and where you keep your phone on your person will play more of a part in heat dissipation issues than the minor heat bump from this specific overclock.