Smartphones and Cell Phones

Evernote for the Palm Pre lets you quickly capture notes on the go

I was all excited to discover Evernote for the Palm Pre last night and immediately downloaded it and installed it on my Pre. After spending a bit of time with it though, it needs some work to make it more functional for me. You can create text notes and have them synced to your account, but most of the other functionality is still under development and not that refined.

June 11, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

One week with my Palm Pre-cious reveals the good and bad

Tomorrow morning will mark the end of my first week with the Palm Pre after waiting in line in Hawaii for a few hours to ensure I could pick one up. Like the T-Mobile G1 that I bought on launch day last Fall, the Palm Pre runs a new Linux-based OS and both mobile operating systems have been surprisingly quite functional and stable. There are several things I love about the Pre and a few I do not like so let's take a look at the device and Sprint service after my first week of usage where I will also offer up some thoughts on how and/or what could be improved with updates or future devices. You can check out my image gallery and video below for some visuals of the Palm Pre as well.

June 11, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Mobile Carriers

Evernote for Palm Pre now available

I have mentioned my love of the Evernote client and service for a couple of years and was caught way off guard when I went into the Palm WebOS App Catalog just a few moments ago and saw they already launched a client for the Pre. I LOVE this application and have to say that having this on the Pre just moved my "keeper meter" a bit farther to the right and applications such as this may drive me to permanently add the Pre to my mobile device collection.

June 11, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

Local Outlook and more syncing come to the Palm Pre

Applications are rolling out slowly, but surely on the Palm Pre and part of the fun aspect with devices like this and the G1 are discovering the new apps in the handset store as they are released. Those of you who have Outlook and other PIM desktop clients will be happy to know there are now applications to sync with your PC and Mac in case you do not have Exchange or want to sync in the cloud.

June 10, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

The Cell Phone Junkie Unlocked #23, Palm Pre hands-on impressions

I love talking about mobile technology with fellow mobile enthusiasts and was honored to be asked to appear with Mickey and Joey on the The Cell Phone Junkie Unlocked #23 to talk about my last several days with the Palm Pre. The Pre was just launched Saturday and you probably read about my Hawaiin line waiting to get the Pre. Overall, I am quite happy with the Pre and think Palm did a great job with WebOS for the most part. I would like to see Palm improve their PIM apps, primarily the Calendar, and take the lead once again for managing your calendar, contacts, and tasks. It was great to chat with Mickey and Joey about the device and I hope I was able to answer all their questions and help out listeners to get a feel for the device. You really should get down to your Sprint store to try one out.

June 9, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

What's this? Nokia showing US buyers some N97 love

Today is a happy day for me and tomorrow should be even better, thanks to Nokia. I read a Tweet by Chris Ziegler, Engadget Mobile editor, where he stated, "I am literally beside myself that I’ll have an N97 NAM tomorrow. what an unexpected surprise!" I asked if this was a preorder or a review unit and he told me that the N97 NAM was going to be in the Nokia Flagships stores (in Chicago and New York) today! I then contacted Nokia and found out that pre-orders made through the Nokia USA store will also ship out today and since I paid for overnight shipping with my order I should receive it tomorrow, 10 June.

June 9, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

Like the G1, the battery seems to be the Palm Pre's Achilles heel

I took a look at laying out what we knew about the Palm Pre in my first Clash of the Touch Titans article and found the Pre to be an exciting device. After getting a bit of hands-on time with the Pre at CTIA in April, I asked if the keyboard was the Achilles heel and it turns out the keyboard isn't that great, but something else is much worse and is the Achilles heel for the device. Much like the T-Mobile G1 (also running a new Linux-based OS) the Palm Pre has very limited battery capacity and I can't go a full day with either of these devices.

June 8, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Palm Pre Calendar application is weak

Palm was the leader for managing your PIM data (calendar, contacts, tasks) and many people today still use Palm devices that are not phone-enabled just for these functions. Given that PIM was a strong suit of the Palm branding, I am quite surprised with some of the limiting functionality in the integrated PIM apps found on the Pre in WebOS. Palm has had quite some time to optimize their own integrated PIM suite and left out several parts that current Palm OS owners have come to rely on.

June 8, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Opera Mobile 9.7 beta now available for WM devices

Back in March I had the chance to check out Opera Mobile 9.7 at CTIA running on a Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1. Today, Opera announced that Opera Mobile 9.7 beta for Windows Mobile touchscreen devices is available for everyone to download and try out. I have been using it on an HTC Touch Pro2 and Pharos Traveler 137 for a couple of days and plan to post a video a bit later tonight of the new browser in action.

June 7, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

Initial Pre thoughts and answers to 11 questions

I really didn't think I would have a Palm Pre myself to answer the 11 questions I posted a couple days ago, but now that I have one I can provide you with the answers. I also won't post a full review of the Pre here yet since there are several out there that will get you through a first impressions perspective. I plan to test it out some more and offer you with some real-life examples of experiences. Please post any questions you want answered on the Pre and I'll assemble them into future posts to help you out.

June 6, 2009 by Matthew Miller in iPhone

What to do in Hawaii? Get up early and stand in line for a Palm Pre

If you listened to the last couple of MobileTechRoundup podcasts you heard me say I was not planning on picking up a Palm Pre. However, a few things occurred that made me rethink my strategy regarding the Pre. With the small number of available review units available (and no timeline of when I may actually get one to check out), my mobile device history that began with the use of Palm devices back in 1997 with the Pilot 1000 and fact that I still have a special place in my heart for Palm, and the fateful timeliness of having a business trip complete the day before the Pre launch I just could not hold back. I was out in Hawaii crawling around a ship for the last week and was scheduled to fly home on Saturday at noon. With no family or other obligations on Saturday morning, what else was a mobile enthusiast to do other than get to the largest Sprint store in Honolulu and get in line early.

June 6, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Enterprise Software

11 questions I want answered on the Palm Pre

The Palm Pre launches tomorrow and I have been reading a ton of reviews of the device posted by mobile technology sites. I played with the Pre at CTIA, but do not yet have a review device and have been thinking about whether or not I should try to find one here in Hawaii (I am on a business trip) in the morning to at least try out during the Sprint trial period. Even though there are some extensive reviews, I haven't yet found answers to a few of my questions and imagine I can get them from readers who buy the Pre or maybe some other reviewers who have the device.

June 5, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Windows

Palm Pre reviews appear; can it beat the iPhone and Android devices?

There hasn't been any good Palm Pre reviews posted and with the launch of the Pre taking place from Sprint this Saturday I expected to see a few appear to generate some talk and hype for the device. It turns out the Palm Pre has been in the hands of some reviewers for some time and I have to say that Dieter Bohn over at PreCentral.net posted one of the most comprehensive reviews I have read that includes 12 videos to go along with the text of almost every s

June 3, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Enterprise Software

Nokia N97 launching in 75 countries in June

Nokia announced their flagship new product, the N97, last Fall at Nokia World and about 8 months later we will finally see it launch around the world this month, June 2009. You should be able to find it in 75 countries in June and I understand it will launch in the UK on 19 June. There is quite a bit of excitement for the N97 in the mobile world and I have mine preordered from Nokia USA. It most likely will only be available in the US as an unlocked device, currently priced at $699 from Nokia USA.

June 3, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Microsoft

T-Mobile G1 has a much better QWERTY keyboard than the Palm Pre

I was reading through Jason Hiner's take on the Palm Pre and I do hope that Palm can compete with the device and new OS since I am a Palm fan from the good old days dating back to 1997. Jason posted five reasons to expect a homerun, but I have to take issue with a couple of them and say that the G1 already does these so they are not unique to the Palm Pre. Reason number 4, carriers want an iPhone competitor, is debatable because I think we are going to see many more Android devices that do just that. Since there is nothing solid as far as announcements go I will leave that one alone. However, I disagree with his reasons number 1 and 2.

June 2, 2009 by Matthew Miller in Hardware

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