This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sprint. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you ever lost, misplaced or had your mobile phone stolen? How long did it take for panic to set in? I know I’d be unnerved if it happened to me. The new Sprint Total Equipment Protection App allows Sprint subscribers with Android, Blackberry and select feature phones to help alleviate that panic quickly, with this app, you can:

1) Locate phone
2) Sync contacts
3) Remote wipe phone
4) Lock phone
5) Sound alarm

The app is free if you’re already a Sprint Total Equipment Protection (TEP) customer. When you first purchase a phone from Sprint, you have 30 days to enroll. If you didn’t do that but would like to now, you are in luck as Sprint has opened up enrollment to existing customers till August 30th.

The Locate phone feature allows you to find your phone on a map using GPS technology. If you think the phone has been stolen, you can lock it and wipe the data remotely so that the thief can’t use it.

There’s also an alarm feature that you can use to cause your phone to sound an audible tone to help you find it in your house. I’m sure I’m not the only one that has lost my phone under a pile of magazines somewhere on my desk at one time or another.

The contact syncing feature allows you to wirelessly sync your contacts and transfer them to a new phone. This isn’t a big deal for Android users since our data is already synced with Google. But it is handy for feature phones and Blackberry users.

Additional info about the Total Equipment Protection (TEP) Plan:

Customers that didn’t enroll in Total Equipment Protection within 30 days of activating their phone are still able to add TEP to their phone as Sprint is holding an Open Enrollment from August 1-30, 2011. This means any Sprint customer can add the Total Equipment Protection feature. In addition to the new App features, TEP provides Sprint customers with a quick and convenient way to receive a replacement if their phone is ever lost, stolen, damaged or malfunctions after the warranty expires.

TEP cost $8.00 per month. The Protection App included with TEP with no added cost provides the ability to find a misplaced phone with an audible alarm, locate your phone on a map using network integrated GPS technology, remotely lock a missing phone, as well as wirelessly sync and manage and restore your contacts. Should a customer need to file a claim a deductible of either $50 or $100 is required for approved claims. While some people might think the deductible is a bummer, have you ever check on the non contract price of that EVO –$449. Or even that LG Optimus you thought was free — $299 is the full retail.

To enroll or learn more visit www.tepenroll.com. Current Sprint customers should hurry, they only have till August 30th to add the feature to their existing phone.

Filed in categories: Android related, Blackberry related, News

Tagged: Sprint

New App Helps Sprint Customers Find Misplaced Phones originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 19, 2011 at 9:00 am.

Before the specs of the iPad had been announced in January of this year, Dave Rees and I posted a wish list for the features we wanted the ‘iTablet’ to possess. Both of us hoped for an 8 x 4″ sized device. When I learned that the iPad would be closer to 8 x 10″, I was really disappointed. I didn’t want something that HUGE. But then I got my hands on one and it was love at first swipe. That was months ago though… the landscape for non-Windows tablet devices is shifting. Where the iPad was the only gun in town, we now have choices. Once such choice is an Android tablet like the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Sprint recently sent me a loaner device to try. Let’s take a look.

Hardware Specifications

Carriers: Sprint, AT&T, Verizon, Tmobile, US Cellular
Operating System: Android 2.2 (Froyo)
CPU: Cortex A8, 1GHz CPU, Hummingbird
Memory Capacity: 512MB(ROM) + 512MB(RAM) + 128MB(One D-RAM) + 2GB (User Memory) + 16GB microSD™ card preinstalled (supports up to 32GB microSD card)
Display Type: 7.0″ WSVGA TFT (w x h: 600 x 1024 px)
Connectivity: Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0
Camera (Front): 1.3MP
Camera (Rear): 3MP Auto Focus
Sensor Type: Accelerometer, Geomagnetic, Luminance, Gyro
Battery: 4000mAh
Form Factor: Tablet -Portrait Primary
Dimensions (Wx H x D): 7.48 x 4.74 x 0.47 inches (HxWxD)
Weight: 13.58 ounces

Like the Galaxy S phones also from Samsung, the Samsung Galaxy Tab is available from the major US carriers including Sprint, Verizion, AT&T, T-moble and US Cellular. Each one has mobile (3G/4G) data coverage in addition to WiFi. That means they require a 2yr data plan.

Hardware

You knew I was going to compare the Galaxy Tab to the iPad… Side by side, this is what we have. When I first pulled the Tab out of the box, I thought “this is exactly what I had wished that the iPad would look and feel like” back in January.

It’s pretty much half the size of an iPad.

My first impression of the Galaxy Tab was that it looked like an oversized Samsung Fascinate. The front has a 7 inch display with a half inch bezel on the sides. There are no physical buttons on the face of the device, but below the display are the same 4 soft touch buttons that we find on most Android phones. They are mapped to Menu, Home, Back and Search.

Above the display is an ambient light sensor and a front facing camera.

The display is very nice. It’s no AMOLED like the Fascinate, but it’s still very nice. Bright, crisp and clear.

The back of the tablet is slightly curved and made of glossy white plastic. The 3MP camera and LED flash are located in the upper corner.

Even though the camera is only 3mp, it does a pretty good job. And it’s definitely cool to have a 7 inch viewfinder! The macro capability is not so good though…

Along the top edge is a standard 3.5mm stereo headphone jack.

On the opposite end is a surprisingly iPad/iPhone shaped charging connector and speakers.

The left edge has a microphone.

And the right edge has the power button, volume buttons and microSD card slot.

In hand, the Galaxy Tab feels very solid. It easily passes my standard Gadgeteer squeeze test. No creaking, cracking or rattles to be found. As far as size, the Tab probably almost perfect for some people, but feels a little small screen-wise to me because I’m so used to the iPad.

Software

Happily, Sprint doesn’t add a bunch of ‘junk’ apps to the Tab that you will wish that you could delete. The few things they do add are a Hotspot app, Qik video chat app that uses the front facing camera, Sprint Zone and a Gameloft link for game demos.

One of the main things I love most about Android is the customization options.

The Galaxy Tab interface is just like other Android devices. You have a home screen that you can add widgets and application icons. This is where Android shines.

The icon view is just like I remembered with the Fascinate, including horizontal scrolling.

The pull down status screen has a handy collection of toggle icons for Wifi, Bluetooth, GPS, Sound and orientation lock. There’s also a useful brightness adjuster.

The advantage of a tablet is that some of the stock apps have additional information available on the display. One example is the different calendar views like the one shown above.

The same can be said of the Contacts app.

The Tab makes a very nice device for reading your email. The screen size is just right and not too small for that task.

One of the things I tested right away with the browser was going to the WordPress admin page for this site and checking out the dashboard and content editor. I was happy that I could see the web page stats in the browser. They are flash based and don’t show up on the iPad. Unfortunately, just like with Safari on the iPad, the editor doesn’t work in visual mode on the Tab either… Not sure why that is. Maybe someone more knowledgeable can explain why.

I also tried various Flash game sites and was able to play games. This is something I don’t normally do, but it works just fine for those who were wondering.

I enjoyed playing games on this device too. Although the app market isn’t flooded with really high quality games like the ones we see on the iPad, there are still a lot of good games that are fun to play on a larger display. Angry Birds is great as is Dungeon Hunter.

Using the Tab to do real work through a web browser can be done, but the screen size is a bit limiting for sites that don’t have a mobile version. I would often find myself squinting and/or constantly zooming in and out to see all the info.

That said, I’d rather carry the Tab in my gear bag everyday than the iPad because it’s more portable. But to further confuse you, I’d rather take the iPad on a vacation with me instead of the Tab if it were going to be my only device. An iPad is more comfortable to use as a websurfing and email device since it has a larger display. The iPad is also easier to type on using both hands in landscape mode with the on-screen touch keyboard. You can actually connect a Bluetooth keyboard to the iPad which allows it to almost become a laptop replacement.

Apparently Galaxy Tabs can also be paired with a Bluetooth keyboard and even a mouse – but, I tried 2 different keyboards and 2 different mice with my Sprint Galaxy Tab review unit and was not able to get either one to work with the Tab even after successfully pairing them.

System Performance

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is fast. It feels faster than my Droid X even though they both have the same speed processor. I have no complaints at all when it comes to how the Tab performs as far as launching apps, scrolling pages, etc. It’s very impressive.

I can’t comment a lot on battery life, but from the time I’ve had with this device, I’m really impressed. I’ve gone a couple days between charges. I definitely can’t do that with my Droid!

Bottom Line

The best thing about the Samsung Galaxy Tab is its portability, speed and the customization features of the Android OS. The worst thing about it is that it is expensive if you buy it without a contract. And if you do opt for a contract, that saddles you with another monthly data bill. I’d really like to see a WiFi only version like the iPad. I don’t believe that’s an option yet.

I think the Galaxy Tab excels as a PDA, email, casual web surfing, ebook reading and game play device. But for real work on non-mobile style web sites, it feels confining. I want to see/try an iPad sized Android tablet. Then, I think I could definitely use one as a desktop replacement. If this is just a taste of things to come though, I’m excited.

Filed in categories: Android related, Reviews

Tagged: Android, Sprint, Tablet

Samsung Galaxy Tab Android Tablet Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 14, 2010 at 11:59 am.

This is an amazing phone to hold and use. I haven’t been this enchanted by an electronic gadget in quite some time. It seems like it can do everything- sometimes almost reading my mind. Of course, there is the occasional ‘huh’ moment trying to figure something out that should be a piece of cake, but overall it is a nice machine!

The HTC EVO 4G (Sprint) shares many of the characteristics of the HTC Incredible, amply reviewed earlier by Bryan Sherman. The packaging, set-up, Sense UI, main camera, HTC Sync, available apps, and even battery life are all similar to what he found in this series with the HTC Incredible.

So what makes the EVO different and amazing? The big things are a massive screen, a front-facing camera, and no trackball. Let’s look at a few specifics-

Size. Here is how the EVO stacks up to the Palm Tx and iPhone:

• HTC EVO: 4.8″ x 2.6″ x 0.5″, 5 oz, 4.3″ screen
• Palm Tx: 4.8″ x 3.1″ x 0.6″, 5.3oz, 4″ screen
• iPhone: 4.5″ x 2.4″ x 0.5″, 4.8oz, 3.5″ screen

It feels very different in my hand than my old Blackberry or most other cell phones. Many people have commented that it feels ‘big’, but I think that depends on a lot on what you have been using. I think the size and gentle back curvature fit my hand nicely, but I am also used to carrying my old Palm Tx everywhere.

Buttons: The EVO has 4 flat buttons along the front- home, menu, back, and search- no trackball, nothing protrusive. The power button is on top, and there are volume control buttons on the upper right side.

In fact, the lack of a trackball, hard camera button, etc. is a glitch in some apps that assume that all Android phones have one- but I am sure most of them will be updated soon.

The buttons are also pretty sensitive. One small nuisance I have been having lately is brushing a button that takes me somewhere I did not want to be.

Speed. the 1Ghz Snapdragon processor is fast, even on a regular 3G network. Speedtest.net’s Android app shows mine at 917kbps download and 1866kbps upload at best so far. I have only rarely had to wait for the processor to finish any task I have asked of it. It is also a multi-tasker- a nice feature for us old Palm users!

Many reviews of the speed of the EVO compare it to other devices and find it lagging or sluggish. I have not noticed this but have also not compared it head to head against the iPhone or other Androids. I think it is more responsive than my Blackberry was, but that is not hard to do.

The ‘star’ of the EVO is the 4G network. I don’t have that and have not been to a city yet that does. Reports of 4G experiences vary and often include words like ‘fast’, ‘spotty’, and “not quite there”, but this is a great 3G phone without it.

Kickstand. This is a pretty minor feature, and only really works in landscape mode, but it is a great example of a ‘why didn’t they do this long ago’ thinking. I’d like it better if the Sense screens supported landscape mode so I could use it as a desktop information device when charging. By the way, the kickstand is anchored to the frame of the phone, not just the rather thin back.

Front camera. The 8 megapixel main camera is killer, but this thing also has a 1.3mp front facing camera. There are rumors that it flips everything (bug or feature?) and I have not found how to use it yet, so this may have to wait.

Screen: One of the cool things about the old Palm period was that each PDA had a better screen than the last. I have no idea how the EVO screen stacks up against other Andriods but I am seriously in love with this huge, bright screen!

Battery. To be fair, I need to report that most reviews of the EVO have blasted the battery life. This has never been a deal-breaker for me since I have the luxury of letting things charge in the office as well as at home or in my car, but it is not a very long-lived battery on its own.

You can try some apps, some tricks and settings, etc. but the best option is probably a bigger battery, with even bigger ones rumored for the summer. (Note- I’ve been told that the HTC Hero battery fits, but have not confirmed it for myself yet.) Since it uses a standard micro-USB to charge, you can also use several external battery options, like the previously reviewed Tekkeon unit, but you would probably want something smaller.

Qix and Sprint HotSpot. These features sound wonderful-a videophone and a wireless modem for your laptop respectively, but they also cost extra for their services, and with the cost of the phone, combined with the $10 extra data cost, and the need for one of the ‘Everything’ plans, I just am not paying for it right now. I am going to try to see if I can find a way to tether without it, perhaps using PDANet or something.

The real measure of a device is not just the specs, though. What is it like in actual use? Here are some ways I have used this phone this week:

As a web device. The Internet comes up quickly with the default browser, and it works more like a laptop than any other hand-held device I have used. In landscape mode, it is eerily similar to using a small netbook!

The EVO on my HP Mini 1000. Forgive the smudges and flecks!

You use gestures to move around- swiping, wiping, pinching, etc. Occasionally, I found myself triggering some unexpected modes- fast scroll, very slow scroll, etc. but it usually works smoothly. Touching a link could be a problem since most pages open with small text, but you can pull the page out to zoom and it becomes a pice of cake to touch the right spot. This zooming also makes it easier to find a font or image size that makes the best match between your vision and the screen size- nice!

A feature I did not see a lot of hype on is that this phone will connect via a cellular connection, or optionally, via a wi-fi connection. This comes in handy sometimes, as I will mention below.

Another interesting feature is Voice Search, via Google. Open the Voice Search window, speak, and it finds what you said. I have not used it a lot, but without any pre-training, it exactly identified 4 for 4 of my searches!

As a phone. Doesn’t it just figure that no one would call me this week? This is a very capable phone. Voices sound kind of hollow or harsh, but they are loud and clear. You can access commonly needed controls easily, and you can make lots of interesting, but familiar adjustments. (It reminds me more of my Palm Centro than my Blackberry Curve in this sense.)

You can multi-task to an extent during a call. If you can link up to the ‘net via a wi-fi connection, you can even surf during a call. The phone senses it’s proximity to the face and turns off the screen when talking, so you need to enable speaker phone for this.

A combination of the power button and a security ‘screen swipe’ prevents ‘pocket dialing’, and you can adjust these settings.

As a book reader. I do a LOT of reading on-line, and the EVO is a good electronic reader. The big bright screen is obviously the top selling point but I have to say that I miss the ‘autoscroll’ feature that was so common on Palm reading apps. The ability to use gestures to adjust text size, and the auto-portrait/landscape sensing is nice. I really think I prefer a D-pad or similar control for scrolling over the swiping all the time.

As an music player. The default player is OK (note that the Sense UI music page and the Music app are slightly different but obviously connected- the app has more options). Sound quality is a bit hollow and much better over the headphones, volume is good. The interface is easy, etc. Adding to or creating playlists, for example, is pretty straightforward. If you mount the EVO as a disk drive, you can add music via drag and drop.

As a movie player. This one is schizophrenic. It handles YouTube, etc. nicely (and supposedly much better on the 4G), but it is difficult to get your other downloaded or ripped movies and videos to play- you have to get them to the right format with the right settings- shades of the Palm Tx again! I bet they would look great when you do it, though.

As a camera (still or video). Very nice 8Mp pictures, and no hard camera button, but otherwise about what you would expect. A minor quirk is that runs in landscape mode.

Taking a picture of taking a picture of a picture of a picture.

As a keyboard. Whether it is just a website URL, a text-message, or a longer bit, you will probably use the keyboard. If possible, use it in landscape mode- the portrait mode is more cramped side to side. The board is nothing special. The word prediction is average or maybe a bit less, and it seems to take it forever to learn new words. It also seems to respond differently in some apps than in others. There are other on-screen keyboards available with mixed reviews.

Not quite as wide as a netbook keyboard, but it does do prediction.

Personally, I’m waiting for it to connect to a Bluetooth keyboard, which it does not currently do well according to forums, but that may change in version 2.2. I’d even go for a  version of Palm’s old Graffiti!

As a game player. This is going to depend on your style, tastes, and which apps you load, but I would rank it far above a Blackberry, and maybe not quite as good, overall, as a Palm. The ability of some games to use the sensors is fun, but the lack of a trackball or other hard buttons makes other games harder. Many games look great on the big screen, others look sadly pixilated or dated. Sometimes, I even just wish I had a (gasp!) stylus to help selections.

Spider Solitaire in two versions- the EVO's has no 'back' option! Dang!

As a tool. There are a lot of apps that I use at work or around the house, from a level that gives numeric readings, to bar code scanners, to a great Google-powered night sky map. For the most part, this works great, and the combination of cameras, sensors and GPS capabilities mean there are probably thousands more ideas just around the corner.

My laptop is not quite level.

As a laptop. One reason to consider a phone like this is to further the trend of replacing laptops with cell phones. Other than the keyboard and battery, I would say this one is pretty much there. It has good storage, can store to the cloud (such as via DropBox), has a great screen, and is eminently portable.

This device has so many features that even after almost a week, I have not tried them all- like voice commands.

To be fair, this is a very cool phone, but not a perfect one. I would bet that this will soon reveal itself to be a transitional phone with something cooler coming out in a while. A couple other quickie dislikes would include a very thin, but apparently well-secured back (I expect we will see replacements soon) and not many accessories just for it yet. It also has a certain amount of ‘bloatware’, like Sprint Football, NASCAR, Sprint TV, and Peep. I am sure each has many fans, but they are tough to uninstall or ignore.

The HTC EVO 4G from Sprint. I love it, flaws and all. I mean this in a good way- it feels like the heyday of Palm, when the unit could do anything and the world was opening up with new things every day.

Filed in categories: Android related, Reviews

Tagged: evo, HTC, smart phone, Sprint

HTC EVO 4G from Sprint Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 11, 2010 at 11:00 am.

Sprint just announced the HTC EVO phone as an exclusive Sprint phone, scheduled to land this summer. In the press release they call it a “device beyond compare” and its specs are pretty impressive.

The phone will have:

• 8 MP camera that can record HD-Capable video
• 1.3 MP forward-facing camera
• Android 2.1 with Sense UI
• 1 GHz Snapdragon processor
• 4.3″ screen with pinch-to-zoom
• Ability to act as a mobile hotspot for up to 8 devices
• HDMI connection
• A kickstand to display the phone

You can see more details at the Sprint EVO site. Pricing has not been set.

Filed in categories: Android related, News

Tagged: 4g, Android, Sprint

HTC EVO 4G for Sprint Announced originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 23, 2010 at 5:59 pm.

My time with the Palm Pre has come to an end. As each day has passed, I’ve grown more fond of this phone, but I still do not see myself switching carriers from AT&T to Sprint for it. It’s a nice first generation webOS device from Palm, but it’s not quite what I had dreamed it would be. With that said, let’s take a look at the following features:

• App Catalog
• PIM syncing
• Built-in video applications
• Classic emulator

Let’s go shopping!

Apple may not have been the first company to have an application store on a mobile device (Handango is another one that comes to mind), but they have paved the way with a very easy to use interface and an excellent software update process.

The App Catalog on the Palm Pre is another similarity that this phone has to the iPhone. After the app catalog is launched, you are presented with various ways to filter the list of applications. Featured, Popular, Most Recent, Entertainment, Utilities, etc are just some of the ways to display lists of apps for download.

Tapping an application icon brings you into the detail page for that app. Typically you can see screen shots, ratings, reviews, number of downloads and a button to download / install it. Currently the applications are all free to try and there aren’t any paid apps (that I’ve seen).

The selection of applications is very small right now. I’m not sure there are even a hundred apps yet. Even so, the quality of the applications that I’ve tried have been very nice – and again, very iPhone-ish in look and feel.

As an example, here are two of my faves…

The first one is a Pandora radio client. I’m a big fan of Slacker Radio, and this is similar in that you can create your own channels of music from your favorite artists.

It works great via WiFi, but so far I haven’t been able to get it to work at all through a Sprint data connection. Remember though, I don’t live in an area with 3G and my signal when I’m not roaming is lucky to be 3 bars.

Another really nice app is AccuWeather. It will use your current location to display the forecast and radar.

Nice huh?

I like the App Catalog quite a bit and look forward to seeing how the application evolve. I wonder if we will start seeing Palm commercials on TV saying “We have an app for that”.

Video on the Pre

So far I’ve not been too terribly impressed with the video capability of the Palm Pre. For one thing, you can’t record video with it yet and that’s a bummer considering that the camera pretty good. I guess that’s a feature for a future firmware release. But who wants to wait?

The stock video player was not able to play any of the videos that I tried including .AVI, .MOV, .MP4 and .WMvs.

The YouTube client works great though via WiFi.

But, through a non-3G connection, not so much. The video is very jerky and pixelated if you do not have a fast connection.

There’s a Sprint TV application that is supposed to provide access to movies, trailers, radio stations, etc. I was unable to get it to work through WiFi or a data connection.

I had no problems getting a list of content to view, but as soon as I would tap one to load and watch, an error box saying that I had a network problem would pop up. Boo…

The Palm Pre as a PDA

The Palm Pre is Palm’s first device that does not sync it’s PIM data to a desktop application. Syncing is now completely cloud based to Google, Facebook or Microsoft Exchange. Since I recently have moved all my contacts, calendar and email to Google, this has been perfect for me. I love that I no longer have to dork around with special third party syncing applications like MissingSync (sorry guys) for my Mac.

The Calendar application is pretty basic. There’s an agenda view.

Weekly view.

And monthly view.

Adding a new event / meeting is pretty simple as you can see. Not many bells and whistles here. It really needs some beefing up to be sure. But of course, that can be a feature for a future firmware update…

The two things missing for me are that you can’t set a reminder for longer than 1 day and that you can’t set the alarm sound or how many times it will alert you before it gives up.

The Contacts app isn’t a fave of mine either…

I don’t like it for the simple reason that it adds everyone that you’ve ever contacted (from gmail and Facebook) as a contact. So I have over 900 contacts in my list, when it should be less than 100. Grrrrrr…

Of course to find a contact you can easily filter the list of people by typing a name. But still…

The person view shows all their numbers, email addresses, etc.

You can choose which profile to use for each contact.

Here are the fields that you can use when setting up a new contact.

More fields…

I’d like the contacts app a lot better if groups would sync from gmail. Put that on the list of potential future features.

What’s in the mail?

For those of us that live and die by email, I was anxious to check out the included mail client.

If you have more than one email account, they will show up in the main display. I just use Gmail, so that is what we see here. Tapping the little arrow to the right will show all the folders.

Unread emails are shown in bold. Gmail emails from the same person are not grouped together like they are in your desktop browser. They show up in the list chronologically. To read, just tap one.

The two finger pinch and expand gestures work here. No screen rotation though…

Inline graphics and attachments work surprisingly well too.

And of course you can move emails to any folders / labels that you have created.

I wish that there was a mail search feature and a spell check.

Palm OS apps under webOS. Let’s get Classic.

If you’re a long time Palm OS user, you’ll probably come to the Pre with some favorite applications that you want to be able to run on your new device. Not to worry, there’s an app for that. Sorry, I couldn’t resist

But yes, there is an app for that and it’s called Classic from MotionApps. A 7 day free trial can be downloaded from the App Catalog. If you want to continue using it, it will cost you $29.99.

When you launch Classic, you’ll see a familiar friend popup on the display. The only thing missing is the Graffiti area.

If you are expecting to see your PIM data inside Classic, you’re going to be disappointed… But all is not lost as you can import it. That is, you can import the databases from an older device (not the data in the webOS PIMs). But you can’t really do much with the data because it isn’t going to be backed up.

There’s a touch navigation panel at the bottom of the Classic display that can be toggled to use the slide out keyboard for certain actions.

Installing applications is a simple matter of copying the .PRC files into a special folder on your Pre while it’s in USB mode. The next time you launch Classic they will be there.

The emulator will not allow access to external hardware devices through Bluetooth, serial or USB ports.

I tried a few applications and they loaded and launched fine. That said, they were not easy to actually use due to the fact that the Pre will not take stylus input and these apps have small buttons and fields that are just too hard to press accurately with the tip of your finger.

Some apps will work better than others like BlackJack Solitaire from Seahorse Software. I’m curious as to how many people will actually use Classic on a regular basis and which apps they will use with it.

When it’s all said and done…

My Palm Pre is going back to Sprint. Probably tomorrow. I like it, but I just don’t love it. I had high hopes for it that haven’t quite been met and the carrier coverage in my area doesn’t really make me want to switch away from AT&T right now. As far as the actual device is concerned, I guess I have my standards set too high. Like new gadgeteer contributor Bryan Sherman and I talked about the other day, I need to quit wishing for some new end all be all device to come on the market because it’s probably never going to happen and I’m likely never going to be satisfied.

What would make me satisfied with the Pre? A metal body, better slider mechanism, MicroSD card slot, better macro mode for pix, video recording capability, GSM version and physical buttons on the front that allow you to answer / end a call.

As it is, the Palm Pre has a very nice form factor. It’s pocket friendly with a nice display, slide out QWERTY keyboard and a decent camera. The webOS is a nice new platform that appears to be developer and hacker friendly. I think the Pre is a nice first generation device and I look forward to the release of other form factors and more features to the built in apps. I hope that the Pre helps Palm climb back up the ladder. Don’t give up Palm!

Filed in categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: Palm OS related, Palm pre, Sprint

A Week With The Palm Pre Smartphone – Day 6 & 7 originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 15, 2009 at 7:29 pm.

Sprint is giving 2 lucky winners a FREE Palm Pre with 1 year of Simply Everything service and a Palm Touchstone. This is your chance to talk, text, surf, email, map and plan in real time.  Enter to win and Sprint will notify you when this fully live phone hits the streets.

The sweepstakes is open now and ends at 11:59pm CDT on Monday, May 18, 2009.

Check out http://sweepstakes.sprint.com/palmpre for complete Official Rules, including entry instructions and prize details.

Filed in categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: Gear Diary, Palm pre, Sprint

Win a Palm Pre from Sprint originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 14, 2009 at 5:48 pm.

Palm’s press conference at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas just ended a few minutes ago. Since they originally announced this “New-ness” event, quite a few people have been speculating that their announcement would be underwhelming at best. We’ve been hearing that Palm has been down for the count for months now. As a long time Palm fan and user, I know I’ve grown bored with them over the past couple of years, but I continue to go back to the Treo or Centro time and time again. Their phones (Palm OS) feel like an old friend to me and I couldn’t help but keep my fingers crossed for the past few weeks while I waited like all of you to hear what they would be announcing. Well, I don’t know about all of you, but I’m really excited about the Palm pre (the name is completely lame though…). So long Palm OS and hello Palm webOS!

The phone looks great and I’m so happy that they included a slide out keyboard. Touch screens are great, but I likes me some keys. Here are some specs (scraped from other sites since Palm hasn’t updated their own site yet).

• New TI processor with laptop-like performance
• EVDO REV. A (Sprint)
• 3.1 inch 320×480 display
• WiFi
• Bluetooth 2.0+ (with A2DP profile)
• GPS
• 8GB integrated memory
• 3 megapixel camera with LED flash
• 3.5 mm headset jack
• Slide-out QWERTY keyboard in portrait mode
• Accelerometer, light, and proximity sensors
• Trackball ala Blackberry

There is no word on pricing yet, but it will be available sometime in the first half of this year (I hope sooner, better than later) and will sell first through Sprint. I was really hoping it would come as unlocked GSM or Verizon first. I would seriously consider jumping ship from AT&T to Verizon for this phone, just from what limited info  I’ve seen so far.

What do you guys think? Is there room for yet another mobile OS? Can Palm webOS compete with ‘old’ Palm OS, Windows Mobile, RIM, iPhone, Android and Symbian? Are you as excited about the Palm pre as I am?

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Tagged: Gear Diary, Palm, Palm pre, Sprint

Palm pre – Is this Palm’s Rocky Balboa moment? originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 8, 2009 at 3:12 pm.