Just the Facts: Palm's Keynote at CES 2010

For those wanting to know the low-down on what Palm's keynote speech was about, I highly recommend you mosey on over to precentral.net for all of the juicy details. Or... just watch the video posted above!  If you want "just the facts," here's the scoop:

- Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus are launching on Verizon January 25th.
     ..... For details on the Pre Plus, click here
     ..... For details on the Pixi Plus, click here
     ..... No word on when Sprint will get them (can't imagine it'll be later than summer 2010)

- Both phones get a 1.4 update in February, which will include:
     ..... Video recording! Includes editing and direct posting to Facebook and YouTube
     ..... Flash 10.1! "Flash" allows for richer browsing and watching embedded videos
     ..... Faster performance, better battery life

- Oh yeah, and the Palm Pre (not Pixi) has 3D gaming NOW! Get 'em while they're hot!
     ..... Need for Speed Undercover
     ..... Asphalt 5
     ..... Sims3
     ..... Let's Golf
     ..... Monopoly
     ..... Scrabble
     ..... Oregon Trail
     ..... Glyder 2
     ..... X-Plane

If you're still aching for more info, you can check out the info that was teased out of Palm CEO Jon Rubinestein by tech journalist Kara Swisher (from AllThingsDigital)...  Among them?  He's never used an iPhone... as in, ever! Video is posted below!

My Favorite webOS Apps for 2009

Well folks, it's been six months since webOS launched, and we now have 1,000 total apps in the U.S. App Catalog!  But which are worth downloading?  I recently did a blog on the my favorite webOS games for 2009, but hey, we buy don't just buy these phones to use as toys, right? They're tools.


UPDATE! I should add that on 1/7/10, Palm launched some awesome 3D games for the App Catalog, which completely changed the landscape of webOS gaming! Check out those new awesome apps in the App Catalog now. 

While the App Catalog has nowhere near the number of apps as other platforms just yet, there's still quite a few jewels you should pick up.  You just have to know where to look, and that's why Totally Palmed is here to help!  I've watched the catalog closely since I first got my Pre in June and have downloaded tons of apps.  After the break, fire up your Palm App Catalog and follow along with me as we go through which apps are, in my opinion, worth downloading.  No, I don't get any kickbacks or free downloads for doing this! Hey, I'm just a nice guy, what can I say.


Much, much more after the break!

My Favorite webOS GAMES for 2009

So... you have a Palm Pre or a Pixi, and you're ready to spend a little of your hard-earned cash on games to pass the time.  After all, Palm has finally lifted their app limit, right?  Let the shopping spree begin, right?

... But which games are actually worth your money?

As of this entry, there are 1000 apps in the Palm App Catalog.  Of those, 229 are games. While the App Catalog currently doesn't offer famous games like Bejeweled just yet, there are still some "jewels" to be had in the gaming department.

Of course, nobody wants to get stuck with a crap game after paying for it, and Palm's lack of a refund policy doesn't help matters, either. That's where Totally Palmed comes in! After the break, read my opinion on which games I think are worth their price. (Bear in mind I haven't downloaded all webOS games... just a bunch more than my wife should know about.)   If you feel any other games deserve mention here, please share it with us it in the comments section below!

[UPDATE] Well, this is embarrassing!  At CES 1/7/10, Palm released awesome 3D games for the Palm Pre which totally changed the landscape of webOS gaming.  So I guess this entry is sorta/kinda moot.  However, these games are not available for the Pixi, and are more expensive ($6-10), so this post may still be of some use to you!

Palm Pre and Pixi for TOTAL Beginners!

A while back, I wrote an article titled "How to: Get Ringtones on your Palm Pre."  It had a lot of good stuff on there about... well, setting up ringtone! I also wrote about simple, safe, and easy fixes for the Palm Pre's most common problems.  But as I helped beginners with their Palm Pre's, I noticed how lot of people felt TOTALLY LOST on doing even the most BASIC functions (like copy/paste... hello?), even after having owned it for a while!

Fear not, friends, because TOTALLY PALMED is your mejor amigo. ... That's "best friend" in Spanish...... never mind.  Read on after the break to learn how to do the most basic things with your Pre.  (P.S. These lessons can apply to the Pixi as well!)

How-to: Erase Your Palm Pre and Palm Pixi

Sometimes in life, you just gotta go back to a fresh start... a clean slate... a new beginning... square one... tabula raza... you get the idea.  Being a Palm Pre owner since June 2009, I can tell you that this certainly applies to webOS devices. Those of you "in the know" are aware that you can do many cool things with webOS homebrew... you can make the Pre look like a Blackberry, for example.  You can patch the Pre to hang up when you close the slider.  All very cool stuff, but I noticed that after getting carried away with patches (I used upwards of 30!), my "Precious" was really starting to slow down.


Many of you have noted that your Palm Pre has slowed down dramatically since Palm's infamous 1.3.1 update.  While this update provided us with cool things under the hood (laying the groundwork for Flash, video recording), on the surface many felt like they were robbed of some of the Pre's snappiness and stability.  And we can't have that!


Fear not friends, because TOTALLY PALMED is on the case!  More after the break...

"The Palm Pre is no iPhone Killer..." Blah, blah, blah.

The moment Palm birthed the Pre into this world, it was immediately thrust into the shadow of a giant. Much like David facing Goliath, Palm's Pre stood toe-to-toe with Apple's colossal iPhone.  Although this analogy has been used time and again, people - including those who should know better! - expected the Pre to be a Goliath from the outset.


Well, it's not.  Try a pre-pubescent David with zits, and you wouldn't be far off.  Tired and seemingly hopeless biblical references aside, I think that Palm is in pretty good shape.


Allow me to explain my logic here...  after the break!