Results tagged “Pre” from BrainDrain

You may notice that the BrainDrain is running a little slow today, and that's because I've installed the Ampache media server on the box so's that I can get to my audio collection from anywhere. There's even a Pre app for Ampache (a couple of them, in fact) which means that once I get it setup I should have access to my music collection via my phone. And that means that my Pre will have just taken one step closer to being that "all-in-one" media device that I keep talking about because I can leave the iPod in the car or at home more often - so long as I can get to my music collection via wi-fi or EVDO on the Pre, that is.

The only bugaboo here is that whole network availability thing - I'm not sure if my signal will be strong enough to stream the files while I'm driving or if I happen to be in a cell-blocking building. I don't know where I'm going to land on the IBM campus next week, and there's a good possibility that I'll be in a location that has poor cell reception. The Pre defaults to the old Sprint network - which I call "1x" due to the icon on the phone - when the cell signal is weak and it cannot connect to the EVDO "Sprint Speed" network, and I'm not sure that the old data network can stream the music fast enough to make Ampache useful. Plus, the more I use my phone as an iPod, the more often I have to charge it up, although I suppose that if I just keep it on the Touchstone or plugged in I won't really have to worry about that.

Anyway, if I can get this thing setup like I believe I should be able to, I am hoping that this will make the Pre my One Device to Rule Them All (to borrow from Mr. Tolkien) and may relegate my iPod to the center console of the G35 for roadtrips and Pre backup. With this 1-2 combo, coupled with the coming of Flash to the Pre later this year, I think that Apple is starting to look a little rotten if all works as I envision that it will.

I'll keep you posted.

For the record, I'm posting this because I believe that Palm (and perhaps Sprint) are doing things all wrong and are hobbling the Pre due to dragging their feet on getting a plethora of apps available in Palm's App Store. Apple's "there's an app for that" has already become ubiquitous and for the Pre to succeed (in spite of Sprint's continued hemorrhaging of customers due to terrible service), Palm needs to quit trying to promote quality over quantity when it comes to available applications and allow people to post apps. Palm's current catalog sits at 34 official apps, whereas the homebrew app community - applications that have not been officially sanctioned (and are therefore free) - sits at somewhere around 137!

Granted, a lot of those apps range from the very useful to the downright silly which I just won't use. But being beholden to Palm while they put a stranglehold on the app community and just dole out new apps in a trickle doesn't work for me. I believe that this kind of activity will only serve to confirm the Pre as an also-ran when it's two main competitors (the iPhone and the G1/G2) already have dozens if not hundreds of apps available - whether they're useful or not.

To tantalize any Pre owners out there as to why they might want to do this, let me ask one question: do you wish you could have a different sound for system alerts, or change the sound for the calendar alerts? Right now, Palm doesn't offer you a way to do that, but the homebrew community does. Both precentral.net and pimpmypre.com have applications that will allow you to do this. Within the homebrew community you can find ports of old favorite apps as well as new apps that are done specifically for the new WebOS.

So, if you want to know how to open up your Pre and allow installation of homebrew apps in 15 minutes or less, hit the jump and see the procedure I followed.

I've been gushing about the Pre for a couple of months now and this blog has become a casualty of my infatuation with it. The killer confluence of having no job but having a phone capable of web browsing and twittering has led to heavy use of the phone rather than the laptop (which, sadly, is also brand new but doesn't quite fit in my pocket as well as the Pre does). This got me thinking about my habits and why I'm quick to pick up first iterations of some things and yet so reticent to switch for others. Let me explain.

When it comes to phones, I will get the first iteration of a handset without waiting to see the initial reviews as long as I perceive the device being capable of inching me ever closer to my idealized version of the "one device to rule them all", Hitchhiker's Guide-like pocket media device. Software is a whole different matter: I jumped on the BumpTop bandwagon to try it out even though it is in beta, but only went to Windows Vista from XP because my new machines came with it preinstalled and putting XP back on them would be more pain than it was worth. You'd think that a technophile like myself would have the latest and greatest everything, but that's really not the case. If something works and it ain't broke, there's really no need to go replacing it and potentially setting myself up for the frustrations and quirks that new things generally possess the first time around until the early adopters help work out the kinks.

I think that it really boils down to the sexy factor of the device (yes, gadgets can be sexy). If a device fits into my idea of how I want to live and/or be perceived, then I tend to be more willing to accept potential design issues, irritations, and potentially high cost in order to have it; if the thing has some neat bells and whistles but doesn't really have any compelling features or reasons to switch (e.g. Vista vs. XP), then I am much more likely to keep the old and only switch to the new when forced. For example, if I internally see myself as some sort of hacker or coder where a laptop is the tool of the trade (as often happens after reading a William Gibson novel or watching Hackers), a new laptop or a new operating system that comes closer to matching my internal visualization is going to grab my attention. On the other hand, if I see myself as one of the digerati that wants to have access to information anytime, anywhere, the specific device itself fades into the woodwork and the dimensions of a device that will allow that always-on connectivity comes to the fore - hence, my current fascination with the Pre. My current persona is more interested in consuming information and communicating in short text bursts, quick photos with snarky commentary, or old-fashioned vocal conversation than in typing out long, well-constructed trains of thought about single subjects. This perception then results in a laptop sitting at home gathering dust and a smartphone on or about my person at all times which needs to be charged twice a day.

I'm generally not a patient person and when I am confronted with my own idiosyncratic behavior - a willingness to accept a half-baked device as "good" because it has some new functions that I desire greatly, in this case - it causes me to pause and take a look around. Perhaps that explains why I can get tired of new things so quickly; it probably explains why others get bored so easily too. My internal persona of who I perceive myself to be changes often enough that it impacts my spending habits for gadgetry and paraphernalia to support my current perception and when something new catches my attention, the previous acoutrements fall by the wayside to make room for something new. I fully expect that once I get another job, my laptop will surge back to prominence and my Pre will be relegated to my pocket for the majority of the day, to be used only in the short bursts of time that I'm away from my computer rather than to be the focal point of my online communications and information gathering activities.

Then it will become the search for the next latest thing and the cycle will start all over again. Which leads me to the point of this thought process: how does one become content with what one has and not get caught up in this lifetime battle to become the ever-changing persona they perceive themselves to be on any given day by constantly desiring to get the latest and greatest material goods to support that persona? That's the question I'm currently pondering these days.

What do y'all have to say about that?

I find myself playing the waiting game once again where it comes to employment. I talked with my contract fixers last week and caught wind of a potential three-month contract, but haven't heard back from them since; I'm not sure if that means that they're still gathering information or if the response from the requestor put the job parameters outside my defaults for acceptance. In the meantime, I've also submitted a writing test for round two of the interview process for an awesome writing/blogging job and I'm anxiously awaiting the status of that. I would really like to have that job and I'm unsure if the "no news is good news" adage applies in this situation. It's been a week and a half now, so I'm getting antsy - however, it was close to a month before I heard back from them on my initial application, so maybe they just move slower than the tech industry light speed to which I am accustomed. It is also quite possible that God is using this to teach me yet more patience and with that in mind, I'd better settle in and relax for the long haul.

But I'm not just sitting here on my hands doing nothing; nosiree bob! I've started on the F-14 model (pics of the ongoing build will be up soon) which is taking up a lot of my spare cycles - hence the dearth of blog posts in the last six days - and I also received my copy of Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology today and have started reading that. I've never taken a good, hard look at basic core theology before...I've read through a book or two, such as Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ, but they have been mostly apologetics or study methodology books more than core texts on theology. It is gonna be a hoss to get through what with being over 1,100 pages in length including appendices and such. As it is a text book however, the conclusions of the pieces and parts are independent of one another such that I can treat the book as more of a smorgasbord than a cafeteria line and hit the specific doctrines in any order that I choose.

I will also have to admit that the lack of regular posting on the BrainDrain is due in large part to the insertion of the Pre into my daily life. My laptop is on standby for much longer periods of time these days and I'm doing a lot more tweeting, IMing, and emailing on the Pre. Typing out long missives for the blog via the Movable Type interface in the Pre web browser can be done, but it is rather tiring and that has caused me to go all "single serving Jack" on my approach to bloggination by using Tweed to post my free associations in pseudo-real time. That should tell you just how compelling I find my Pre to be, because I'm telling you that nine times out of ten I'd rather use my smartphone to do internet-y things than to fire up my new Dell Studio 15 in order to chat or blog. It really is well on the way to becoming my major indispensable piece of personal electronic gear.

And now that you are all caught up, I now return you to your regularly scheduled life. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by. No, really...go on. You need to pick up some milk before your wife freaks out, and don't forget to buy Toby a new tricycle to make up for the one you ran over last night after coming home late from spending too much time with "the boys". Shame on you.

Here's an update to the Pre Protection post that I wrote last week or so now that I've had a chance to use the stuff for a few days. After some initial reservations on the BodyGuardz skin, due in large part to the difficulty of applying it, I have to say that the new protection polymer works fantastically well. It's crystal clear, protects well, and is even easier to clean than leaving the Pre naked. The touchscreen sensitivity may be ever-so-slightly diminished, but not enough to raise alarm. The skin gives better grip, but may make it a little too sticky for pockets if the back skin is applied as well (I did not apply it as I'm using the flat black Touchstone back). They also have skins for iPhones and some other phones, so I would highly encourage you to use them if they have one for your mobile. Since this is the same material as the clear bra on my G35, now my phone matches my car. Genius.

The choice of the Golla case was also a good one, as application of the BodyGuardz made the front face of the phone a little stickier (due to the plastic polymer skin) and therefore made it harder to extricate the phone from the pocket of my jeans, as I mentioned above. The pouch is loose enough that the skin doesn't affect the sliding and having the extra pockets and the ability to quickly remove it via a quick flick of the carabiner is fantastic. I love it. It's stylish, it's functional, and it's easy to use.

I'd recommend both of these for your Pre or iPhone. Way better than a plastic holster, fo' sho'. The geek utility belt is so 10 years ago.

I received my Pre accessories today - a Golla pouch to carry the Pre around in and a set of BodyGuardz protective skins.

The Golla pouch is great, let me say. I don't like having bulging pockets and I've been having some trouble extricating the Pre from my pocket when sitting down (I know, I know, perhaps I should wear looser pants). The Golla will remedy this due to the nice caribiner that allows me to attach it to a belt loop in a holster-like manner without having the hip-dig of a hard, belt-mounted holster, and also gives me the freedom to attach it to a bag or whatever I'm carrying in case I want it close at hand but not buried in a deep pocket somewhere. What's more, it's a little more fashionable than a holster and protects the Pre with more cushion. The zipper pocket on the back is great for storing the earbuds and the extra pocket in front that may hold my iPod as well from time to time sets it off in spades. I foresee a lot of use out of this item for me.

The jury's still out on the BodyGuardz skin. It's incredibly difficult to apply. I expected it to be more like previous screen protectors I've used (which just covered the touchable area of the screen), but this required an application solution, turning off of the phone for 12 hours, and a lot of patience to apply. It was incredibly difficult for me to get the skin in place and have all the bits and pieces laying down and covering as they were supposed to and I'm afraid that there will be some little edges that didn't stick quite completely that will end up getting caught and frayed and eventually peel off. The skin is supposedly the same protective plastic as the clear bra on my G35, but I definitely have my reservations. I can only assume that the 12-hour off time is to allow the phone to dry in case any of the application solution gets down into the phone while you're trying to apply the skin. All I have to say is that this skin better protect my Pre from bullets or it's comin' off. And of course, they don't yet have a HOWTO video on applying the skin to the Pre. Excellent.

So there you have it - right now, I'm sitting at about 50% satisfaction with my newly purchased protective options and I'm just waiting for the jury to come back in on that second one to see if it gets the thumbs up or down. For you Pre owners out there, I'd recommend the Golla case right now - it's worth it, in my opinion. Way better than that lame little slip cover that comes with the phone.

According to Everything Pre, Apple has made the first move to screw Pre users by pushing an iTunes update that breaks the Pre's ability to sync with iTunes. It is irritating that Apple would do this because they do allow the Amazon MP3 Downloader app to sync purchases from Amazon with iTunes on a PC, and the Pre comes with an Amazon MP3 Store app already installed.

This move doesn't make sense to me because the only reason that anyone uses iTunes is if they already have an iPod or iPhone, and so I can't imagine that Jobs & Co. are somehow losing revenue from having a raft of Pre users using free Apple software but that won't buy Apple hardware. I haven't used the terrible iTunes store for several years now (due to playback problems with Apple's own hardware in regards to DRM'd junk from the iTunes store) and have bought all my music via Amazon. So, limiting me from being able to do this on the fly with my phone just because it happens to not be an iPhone seems to serve no other purpose than to add additional ill will in my mind towards Apple.

The "we're so cool, we don't need customers" philosophy is getting pretty close to causing you to lose another one, Steve-o. Interoperability is the key here - when will you get that?

If you've been following my Twitter feed today you'll know that I went to Sprint to get an Airave in order to boost the cell reception in my apartment. Sprint licensed Samsung's femtocell technology ("femto" being a prefix that is smaller than "micro", indicating a small area of coverage for personal use) which effectively creates a small cellular node in a residence or office. It supports up to 3 phones and Sprint also has plans available for unlimited long-distance calling and such, as the device is basically a PCS-to-VOIP converter. I have finally had enough of not being able to have reliable reception at home and having to go outside just to take calls which still may end up being dropped. Now that I'm doing the consulting thing, I need to have the confidence that my calls will not be dropped in the middle of conversations. As of this writing my Pre is now sitting at a full 5 bars of reception since installation of the device. It looks like it doesn't assist with my EVDO reception, though, so I may still end up switching on the wi-fi while at home in order to interact with the online world via the Pre.

This device is a bittersweet option for resolution, however. Sprint's charging $99 for this little beauty plus a $5/month service charge, most likely to recoup their original cost for the device. I've been doing some research over the last week and the cheapest I've found cell signal boosters for - even on eBay - has been $154 dollars, with most coming in well above the $250 mark. I can't figure out why they're so expensive. As it turns out, I'm basically just amortizing the cost through Sprint that I would pay up front by buying a booster somewhere else. As my man Sammy Hagar once sang, "They gotcha comin' in, they gotcha goin' out, same amount, in 'n out."

I'm reading that some people are getting the devices and/or the service for free via the Sprint Retentions department (the people responsible for keeping existing customers). My problem is that I'm totally boned in that respect because my contract got reset when I bought the Pre in order to get the paltry $75 discount that they were offering. So I can call Retentions, but I'm not sure what good it will do because they know that I can't go anywhere for the next two years and I don't think I have any bargaining chips. All I can do is say that I'm irritated with the service and say that I'm going to bad-mouth Sprint and Palm all day long, and maybe contact the BBB, but I doubt that will sway a big, soulless company like Sprint. They've got my money and they're going to keep getting it for the next two years because I'm not going to spend even more money to get out of the contract.

Thus, I'm really hoping that this Airave thing will give me enough cellular use out of the Pre so that I can not think about getting screwed over. And, hopefully, Palm will get off their buttcheeks and release a software update that will actually effectively manage the cellular antenna so that I can cancel the Airave service and not have to use it anymore.

This is the price of early adoption, technolust, and my indentured servitude to same.

I've had my Pre for nearly two weeks now, and so I figured that it was time to give another review of the overall experience now that some of the immediate, out-of-the-box sexy factor has worn off. Don't worry, I'm not all blase' about it yet, I've just had some time to use it and allow it to take over the role that was previously held down by the Centro.

Overall, I really like the device as a whole. The app store is coming along, and hopefully soon there will be a lot more useful applications to put on the phone that don't necessarily require internet access (for those dead zones like interior bathrooms in office buildings where no cell signal can survive). I love the gesturing and the touch screen, and the apps are pretty well laid out and thought out in how they interact. The flippable web browser is everything I've dreamed it could be. I'm totally in love with Tweed, and looking forward to giving Spaz a try in a bit.

I've pretty much come to grips with all the idiosyncrasies of the thing except for one - the dismal,abysmal, and just downright terrible cellular reception of my phone. It seems like the antenna is just woefully underpowered and unable to maintain a solid signal in any location other than a completely unobstructed outside setting. I've been complaining that this new apartment is terrible for Sprint reception ever since I moved in, but now I literally have to go outside on my porch to take calls and even then there's no guarantee that they won't be dropped. I'm finding the reception to be as equally terrible inside office buildings (I got one bar inside the client site this week) and restaurants (my reception yo-yo'd up and down the spectrum while in Pluckers). I'm finding the phone alerting me of voice mails for calls that never came in, text messages that show up hours or days late, and an overall inability to maintain connection to any online services without wifi being enabled.

It is really, really frustrating to have a device which performs the way I want it to in just about every other way fail at performing the single most important and basic function for which it was designed. I want a communications device and this one seems pretty incapable of doing that reliably unless I'm able to use a wifi connection (and that means that I pretty much have to keep the phone plugged in while it's on because the wifi connection can drain the Pre battery in less than a day). The Pre is just like the little girl with a curl from the old nursery rhyme:

"There was a little girl,
With a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good,
She was very, very good;
But when she was bad,
She was horrid."

There was a WebOS update released this weekend (Palm WebOS 1.0.3) that had some minor fixes in it but none of which seemed to be related to the reception or antenna quality. Note to Palm: Please, please, please fix this soon. I want to love this phone completely. I want to give myself over to it and commit to the long and happy relationship that I know we're both dying to have. But I can't do that if we can't communicate, and so I need your help. Please fix the reception problems! Help me help you by being able to give the Pre all the warm fuzzy reviews that I possibly can...and mean them!

I'm not alone here. Gizmodo posed the "how good is your Palm Pre signal?" question a few days ago and out of 4100 responses to the survey at the bottom, 41% of them (1666) at the time of this writing list their signal as poor. If you look at the picture of the Pre in the article, my reception bar looks like that on a good day at home.

There's a new contest over at the Palm Pre Blog for another chance to win a Palm Pre. It involves following "preblog" on Twitter and then posting an @reply for a chance to win a feebie on the day that the Pre is released.

I want this phone pretty much more than life itself right now, and I know that there are others of you out there anxiously awaiting it as well, so take every chance you can. If you do sign up for Twitter, feel free to follow me there....I'm Wyntermute.

Good luck!

Wanna get a free Palm Pre and 6 months of service? Try your hand at taking a Palm survey on why you think you should be a Pre beta tester.

Good luck, but be forewarned - I applied an hour ago and my application is good. *crosses fingers*