Palm Pre

I am very much enjoying using the Palm Pre. Unfortunately it looks like the days of the Palm are numbered. Little or nothing has been heard of potential onoing developments for webOS devices since the takeover by HP.

If anyone has heard of anything from HP in terms of a roadmap for webOS and future smartphones from Palm/HP I would be very much interested in hearing about it....along with every other Palm Pre owner!

Remember the Milk App for the Palm Pre

I was able to install this app from the Palm USA link.

This application is currently in beta but it is a welcome addition to my own beta GTD system.

Unfortunately there seems to be an issue with Google/RTM and the Palm Calendar app.

I have the Palm Pre Calendar app sync'd with with my Google account calendar. This works fine.

For Google calendar I have added the RTM Daily and sidebar gadgets. Again, these all look fine when I view my Google calendar with my browser on the laptop/desktop.

Now, when I look at my Palm Pre calendar I can see that there is an RTM task icon at the start of each day. However, none of the entries from the RTM task list (which shows up fine on Google calendar ) has made it onto the Palm Pre calendar i.e. it is always empty.

I have posted about this on PreCentral and RTM forums. If and when I get this issue resolved I will post an update.

Issue with O2's 3G network and the Palm Pre

I have experienced a new(ish) problem with my Palm Pre. It only seems to occur when the Pre has registered with O2's 3G network. The reception for the 3G network in Belfast is flaky to say the least and the problems I am seeing manifest themselves as follows:-

1) Inability to send SMS'. I get the following error message (which is a GSM timeout code I believe).

'Message failed to:XXXXXXXXXXX Could not send your message due to network error. Try again. (code:31)'

2) Inability to receive calls - all incoming calls are diverted straight to voicemail.

3) Inability to make calls - nothing but 'dead air' is heard on the Pre.

The issue is currently being actively discussed on two forums. It has been mentioned on the Palm Pre forum (by yours truly) but no other posters have replied.

PreCentral Forum

O2 Forum

Palm Forum

Calls to Palm Pre Going Straight to Voicemail/Unable to send SMS

This is a problem I experienced early on in my use of the Palm. Here is a posting on the (spit) O2 forum that I just sent in to explain what was happening.


I think I may have identified the issue.

I suspect the voicemail/SMS issue is happening because the phone is trying to synchronise with your e-mail accounts as set up on your phone.

There is a section in the Palm Pre user guide (for O2) called "Use another application while on a call" (see page 52).

It basically implies that if you are using a GPRS network (the G icon appears in the top right hand corner of your phone) then there are certain types of applications that cannot be used when you are on a call/attempting to make a call or someone is trying to call you. One of the apps mentioned is e-mail! To be able to make/take calls AND use e-mail you need to be on a Wi-Fi network or on a 3G network.

I tested this this morning. I manually synch'd with my e-mail accounts. At the same time I placed a call to my phone. And guess what - straight to voicemail.

I haven't had as much problems with this issue since I reduced my synch time from 15 minutes to 6 hours. If you are mobile and need constant updates from your e-mail account you may continue to have problems unless you are on 3G and/or have a Wi-Fi connection.

Palm Pre - webOS 1.3.1 upgrade

My Palm Pre successfully updated using my Wifi network at home on Monday night.

All seemed to go smoothly although it seemed to take an age for the update to complete - 30 minutes
perhaps.

Anyway, here are the release notes here for v1.3.1 of webOS released for (spit) O2.

http://kb.palm.com/wps/portal/kb/na/pre/p100eww/o2/solutions/article/71380_en.html#131

Battery Life on the Palm Pre

I have read some reports that the Palm Pre battery life is quite poor. Indeed one report stated that the user had gone to bed with the phone fully charged but had woken up to find it dead.

Out of interest I noted the following:-
1) Battery charge at 87% at 10.30 pm.
2) Battery charge at 66% at 6.30 am.

Now, I can't explain why people are experiencing bad battery performance in every case but I would suggest the following.

1) If you don't need Wi-Fi or Bluetooth on during the night the turn them both off.
2) Unless you deem it absolutely necessary, there is no need to synchronise with your configured mail accounts every 15 minutes during the night. I have set mine to 6 hours for the night-time period.

Palm Pre is in the country

According to the UPS tracking system, my Palm Pre is in Northern Ireland but has yet to leave the depot.

Will I receive it today? Who knows...

Palm Pre User Guide

It came as a bit of a surprise to me that the Palm Pre only came with a quick start guide. If (like me), you like your user manuals to be large, chunky and full of technical detail then you might want to consider downloading something with a bit more meat on it's bones.

http://www.o2.co.uk/deviceinfo/device-pdfs/palmpreeng.pdf

Ok, so its an O2 link and it goes against my beliefs to use anything from O2 but really, the user guide is remarkably similar to several versions out there on the Web.

O2 Customer Care and the Palm Pre Cracked Screen debacle

I decided my first blog should be a rant. O2 have started to sell the Palm Pre smart phone. This highly publicized device has been on the market for about a month now. I bought mine on Saturday the 31st of October. By Friday the 6th of November, 6.30 pm, a number of cracks had developed on the screen as a result of RESTING IN MY FRONT POCKET! The phone has now been rendered useless as the touch screen will no longer work.














The course of events that then took place are as follows:

1) Straight on to Google. It turns out that this is a well known issue with a small number of the Palm Pre devices in the US - where it has been available with Sprint for a number of months.

http://forums.palm.com/palm/board/message?board.id=weboshardware&thread.id=145&view=by_date_ascending&page=29

The Daily Telegraph had also ran an article about the same issue in July.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/mobile-phones/5731369/Palm-Pre-users-in-US-reporting-handset-problems.html

2) I then contacted O2 Customer Service on 202. I was immediately told this was obviously a case of user abuse and that O2 would not exchange the phone.

3) I then contacted the O2 Store on Castle Lane in Belfast (I think that's the street). I was told by some herbert who sat under a sign crying 'GURU' that this was not a known issue. I then handed him the print out from Google. He said 'but these are just forums'.

Exactly my good man - user reviews posted on a respected forum.

I wonder if he would ignore the same cases that are being documented in O2 OWN forum now.

http://forum.o2.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=30038&highlight=

I was again told in a rude manner that the phone would not be exchanged.

So O2 now have me tied in to a 2 year deal for a broken phone.


4) I turned to Palm in desperation. They were more helpful and at least not immediately dismissive of me as a customer than O2 were. Currently pictures of the phone are with Palm who are investigating. Given their professional attitude so far I have high hopes of having the Palm Pre replaced.

I will keep the blog updated as I received updates.

But I will sign off by saying that dealing with O2 was, without doubt, the worst customer care experience I have ever had in my life as a consumer.



Update: A few minutes after this post I got a call from Palm.....

Palm have agreed to replace the unit. Well done Palm - customer service as it should be. Professional and thorough - unlike O2 who were simply shocking.

I hope everyone who is in the same boat gets a satisfactory conclusion.

I have also purchase the following to help prevent the same thing happening again.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B002KQ5EF8/ref=ox_ya_os_product

I think I might devote this blog to both Palm and Palm Pre.....

Update: Out of badness I rang another O2 shop and posed as a potential Palm Pre customer.
I said I had read online about the cracked screen problem. The guy at the other end said he had not heard of the issue but if it happened to me then they would take the phone away for investigation and probably replace it as it sounded like an inherent fault. Interesting. Was this just a line to get me in through the door or was this his genuine position. It certainly was not at the O2 store I originally attended.....

A strong letter of complaint will be winging its way towards O2 very shortl y.