In case you haven’t been able to get your hand on one yet – as of today, Telesales is now processing orders for them, in addition to local retailers. Of course you can always visit a Sprint Store to get the full ReadyNow experience, and I’d recommend that option if this is your first PDA – but for seasoned pro’s, the gates are now open!.
Good Morning! Although your new Palm Pre has known about it for a few hours now (smart lil things, aren’t they!), you may not have noticed it yet – but as of this morning the first software update for the Palm Pre is available.
[NOTE: While some Pre's have received the notifications and/or update over the past few days, today is the *official* release date of the upgrade, which is why it's only now being posted here.]
Current Palm Pre’s are running Palm webOS v1.0.2 on the Sprint 1.4 configuration… this update will bring the webOS up to v1.0.3 and the Sprint Configuration to v1.5, Build number is now 124
You can verify your software version, build, and configuration by opening Device Info, scrolling down to Version and Configuration (for webOS version), and then tap on the Version section (for Configuration & Build)
Your Pre will automatically recognize that it is not up to date with the latest release and alert you to download and install it at some point today. You can also use the Updates application to initiate the download and update.
Are you liking the update? Any issues or cheers/complains? Sound off in the comments, or take it to the forums over at SprintGurus and their posse of top-notch Sprint users, which is one of my favorite Sprint User Communities to date!
Since there are quite a few in the wild already, and we’re just over a week away from launch, I figured it’d be as good a time as any to give a preview of what activation/first use will look like on the Pre, and field any questions that may come up in the process.
There’s been a new way of activating phones here at Sprint for a month or so now, and while you may occasionally run into a few agents who manually program phones out of habit, there’s simply no need for it anymore. Almost all the phones can now be programmed via Hands-Free or One Touch Activation, and the Palm Pre is no exception. The one exception to the Palm Pre is that it can’t be programmed manually, so Hands-Free activation is required.
Update: Coal has acquired & posted a full Palm Pre User Guide at SprintGurus here
On the Palm Pre, this is found in 3 places:
All the steps and screenshots included, after the jump…
Whoops – I was off by one on the launch date, sorry folks – sometimes even I get the slip, ya know :) It was never my intention for my blog to be all about the Palm Pre, just my sometimes mundane life at sprint. But, hey – what can I do lol. We’ve been working in our own departments and in others the past few weeks, gearing up on all fronts – hence my lack of posts. Like I said though – ISN isn’t about the Pre, it’s about Sprint – and though I have blogged mostly about the Pre lately, well… quite frankly that’s been the biggest thing going on, so it’s only appropriate, right?
Ok.. ok… so I did mention goodness, right? If the blog stats are any indication then you’ve ALL been craving some new info… yea, i see ya hitting refresh every hour or two to see if I’ve posted. Get a feed reader, already – lol :) So who am I to disappoint.. here’s some goodness I doubt you’ve been exposed to. Enjoy.
Oh.. and while you’re here, in case you’re new, check out some of my non-pre posts too, like: Overage Relief Minutes, where you can get 100 minutes for $5 (sure beats .40 cents a minute for overage, right?) oh yea..back to the palm pre, boys…. and you may already know this – quite frankly I’ve been so caught up in it all at work, I forget what’s been figured out, and what hasn’t.
How about some official accessories, price plans, and device info (including battery life)? Full size images after the jump!
After the jump: Palm Pre Service Plans, Featured Accessories, & More…
Due to all the fuss about having to swap to a new plan (for some) in order to activate a Pre, here’s a breakdown of the plans it can be activated on – both with the standard price AND the price with a NVP/Employer discount. As posted before, anyone can qualify for the credit union member NVP discount automatically, which is a 10% discount no questions asked – but you can of course qualify for much more, by having a different employer’s discount – Not that I advocate being dishonest about your employer for discount purposes, but a LOT of companies do business with Sprint/Nextel, so many people are very surprised to know they already qualify for 15%, 20%, 25%, or 27% already.
Here’s how the plan pricing looks, standard and with discounts. Yellow is the standard MRC (Monthly Recurring Charge) and then the NVP Discounts to the right, with 27% first, all the way to the 10% in the final column.
Palm Pre Data Plans
If i left anything out I’m sure someone will let me know, but this gives you a general quick-reference when looking at your options. enjoy!
There’s been a lot of hype about the Palm Pre, and as we get closer to June the questions about it get more frequent. Here’s some of the more popular questions that I’ve encountered and am able to answer.
The backup feature, does it cost anything more?
Nope, it’s all included for free as a part of the service provided by Palm included with your Pre.
What happens to my phone when it’s in USB Mode?
All calls are routed to voicemail when the Pre is in USB Mode. Slight downer, I know – but how often are you really gonna have the Pre in USB Mode? And even then, not more than a couple minutes @ a time.
What IM services will the Pre support for real-time status indicators?
Google Talk (GTalk) and AIM at launch. Do you really know anyone without a Gmail address?
In the Calendar, can I choose my own colors for the appointments?
Yes! it’s easily selectable, or can sync with your Outlook category colors with Exchange.
What about the web browser, can I disable cookies?
Yep, it’s an option in the Web Preferences.
How do I get the calendar to do the cool ‘compress’ when displaying?
Simple! it just has to be a block of time that’s 2 hours or more.
Can you have multiple IM conversations going at the same time?
Yes, the possibilities are limitless – talk to everyone, share the Pre love!
Office 2007 – Any issues?
Nope. Go ahead, tell your boss about it, and bring it to work. Welcome to life with the Pre – it just works!
Can I use Pictbridge (wirelessly sending pics to a printer)?
There’s not a profile for it yet. Hang in there, grasshopper.
With the new webOS, what about virus protection?
The core is not open, and isn’t subject to any viruses, in other words, you’re covered!
What about Calltones?
Would you expect any less? It’s a network feature, so they’re 100% supported, no problems.
Can I save music as a ring tone for my Pre?
Sure, customize it all you want.
Family locator – can I track my son with his Pre?
While it’s great you’d get a Pre for your son (umm, sure!, lol), you won’t be able to track lil Timmy with it just yet using Family Locator.
Can I take videos with my Palm Pre?
Not at launch, but hang in there as great things are on the way, and as the Palm Pre uses the webOS, updates are just a gesture away!
Can I send pictures as a text message?
Using MMS, of course. You can’t however crop pictures yet, so be aware of any size limitations the receiving person may have with their device or carrier, or adjust the camera settings.
That’s all for now! Don’t forget about the folks over at SprintGurus, where you can discuss not only these Palm Pre FAQs, but anything Sprint related. I do monitor and reply to the comments here on the blog as time permits, but there’s a great community of people there that are very knowledgeable, and if you’re looking to discuss Sprint or the Pre, it’s the place to be!
Rumors aren’t the purpose of my blog, and as you can see there’s none here from me. No rumored launch dates, no rumors of the pricing, none of that where the Pre is concerned. But when a generally well respected blog posts a rumor that is SO far-fetched without even a ‘not likely’ disclaimer, I feel I have to speak up, so that folks waiting for the Palm Pre aren’t scared away – which hopefully most are smart enough to realize the insane figures being posted over at the Boy Genius Report (BGR).
So let’s take the post as it was stated:
“according to our ninja, Best Buy will be getting its hands on a limited inventory of Pre handsets for a trial launch on June 7th. Sprint will be direct-shipping the lot to arrive on the 6th and in total, about 4,500 units will be spread throughout Best Buy Mobile locations across the country. That might not seem like a lot, well, because it isn’t, but each and every Best Buy Mobile will be getting at least one Pre to hawk.”
Wow. I’m not sure where to even begin on this one – let’s start by saying that any release this big certainly isn’t going to be done with anyone ‘partnered’ in, other than Sprint and Palm. Sprint has thousands of stores across the country that are perfectly capable of launching a device – where we not only can tightly control the inventory pre-launch, but where we can also make money on the accessory sales in-store on launch day. To even think that we would miss out on that opportunity and turn it over to a ‘partner’ is simply crazy. Does this person know how huge accessory sales are for a Sprint retail store? Also – Each BB Mobile guaranteed to have at least 1 device? C’mon – I don’t care how bad I wanted the Pre, I would not get out of bed for that, because you KNOW that an employee of BB would have it purchased before the doors opened. Flunk.
“Speaking of hawking, our ninja has some numbers to report as well. Pricing is supposedly still being discussed but the probable points are as follows: New customers with a 2-year contract, $199.99. Existing customer upgrades, $299.99. Outright, $999.99. Yes, seriously.”
Seriously? I don’t think so. Flunk, again. $999 price point? Put Simply, no. Not in any combination will you find the $999 price point to be valid, contract or not. As to the upgrades for existing customers? Have you -ever- seen a single price point for an upgrade price? The answer is no, because the system is simply not set up like this. The existing customer price will be the standard $75 off for 10+ months into agreement, $150 off for 22+ months, and the full $150 off + any rebates for those that qualify and have have the same device for 24+ months, which is essentially new customer pricing. Premier & White Glove customers also qualify for essentially new customer pricing at the 12 month mark, just as with any other device. To hint that there would be a single price point for any customer that wanted to upgrade is simply incorrect, and anyone as familiar with Sprint as BGR should be, knows that the system just isn’t set up to allow for that.
Here’s how the Upgrade Eligibility works:
Lots of folks have been looking for some clarification on the service plan options for the upcoming Palm Pre… who am I to disappoint? So here are the options that users will have to choose from (whether you’re a new or existing customer, the options are the same):
And for the most frequently asked question of the day…
What about my SERO plan? – You’ll have to switch to the EPRP program if you want the Palm Pre. I know you don’t want to hear that, but that’s the way it is, and I can’t see it changing considering the push behind it.
Oh – and WOW at all the places that picked up my Pre FAQ post… thanks to everyone that’s visited the blog from all the other places online, but in reality I’m just a person with a blog that occasionally likes to write about what’s going on. I’m much more active on our internal blog than I am on here, so that’s why you don’t see a lot of posts on here.. as I’ve usually already posted it once, and don’t have the time to do it all again for the public side, despite that most of you call can’t see that anyways, but i digress. Oh, and why does everyone immediately assume I’m a guy just because I’m a geek?
Despite the fact that all of us that know the actual release date of the device are bound by a NDA and our job titles, we all know that it’s going to be soon… so I figured it might be nice to answer a few FAQ before it arrives. Here’s some questions and facts and how-to’s that might answer some of the questions or curiosity about the Palm Pre!
What is it? It’s a new type of charger that does not require that the Pre be plugged in, or attached to any wires, it simply rests on the touchstone charger. The charger itself is, of course, required to be plugged into an outlet.
What happens if you receive a call while the phone is charging on the Touchstone?
IMPORTANT: The Touchstone charger is purchased separately, it DOES NOT come in the box with the device. Touchstone is the name of the line of products, not a name solely for the charging device. All Touchstone products will have the branding of ‘Touchstone (product)’.
OS stands for operating system. So, the reason this is called webOS is that the operating system is completely connected to the Web. Some of the older operating systems required a connection to the computer. In order to provide a great mobile experience, as well as perform the functions of the phone, Palm had to create a new operating system from scratch.
What are some of the customer benefits to this?
During initial setup, the webOS platform creates a Palm profile. This profile gives customers access to critical Palm services to:
Contacts is an example of an application that can use data from the Internet and from internal storage. In this example, Contacts can get data from a Facebook account. It retrieves this data through its Internet connection. Now, what happens if there is no data connection? Let’s say the customer is on an airplane and has all the radios turned off. Contacts will simply pull the data from on-phone storage so that you can still see your contacts.
There are three categories of service plans for this phone—individual, shared, and pooled plans. Some of these plans are existing and some of them are new. In short, the device will require either a Simply Everything/Everything Data Plan or a Business Essentials Data Plan. (UPDATED THE VERBIAGE, AS I HAD THE WORD ‘SIMPLY’ BEORE ‘EVERYTHING DATA PLAN’, SORRY BOUT THAT-SEE NEXT POST ABOUT PLAN OPTIONS IN DETAIL) Even if you are an existing customer, you must switch to one of the approved plans. Remember that the Pre phone requires a data plan to activate the phone, and this is a system function that is unable to be bypassed.
REMEMBER: The Pre phone will not have a Phone as Modem plan option.
First Use configures the phone for use, and walks you(the new owner!) through creating a Palm Profile, and introduces some basic gestures. Remember, the account must be active and the phone must be provisioned before the phone will begin the First Use experience. The customer must complete First Use and agree to the Palm Terms and Conditions. If the customer does not complete these steps, the phone will not work. If the customer does not want to complete the step0.0.0s, he/she can return it to the place of purchase.
Cards are an easy system for managing applications. Each application is a card. As you open more applications, more cards will open. Think of it this way. It’s a window or screen in an application that minimizes to appear as a card when the user presses the center button. You can have several applications open and running all at the same time and flip between them. Imagine them to be like you’re holding playing cards in your hand, where you can fan them out and scan between them. This is the concept of the card view.
When you launch an application, it will launch in full view. Say you’re in one application, and need to check another. For example you’re checking your e-mail, and need to check something in your calendar, this is where card view comes in handy. You can click on the center button to take your current application to card view. From there, you can launch the launcher view, or click on one of the applications in the Quick Launch bar.
To close a card, simply throw it up towards to the top of the screen. The card will float away and close. Don’t worry about saving anything before you throw it away; webOS saves for you. As you use the Pre phone, you’ll notice there is no save button. It automatically does that for you. For example, an email that you’re drafting will automatically be saved into the Drafts folder of that e-mail box.
The Palm Synergy feature is a key feature of the webOS platform that brings your information from all the places it resides into one logical view.
With the Synergy feature, when there are matches of contacts, it automatically connects the information in a linked view. Once again, this link only exists on your Pre phone, using the Synergy feature. If you go to Facebook or your Exchange ActiveSync contacts separately on your computer, you will not see this linked reference.
The Email application on Pre is very robust. It supports the EAS (Exchange ActiveSync), POP3 (Post Office Protocol), and IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) protocols for sending and receiving e-mail. The webOS platform can have up to eight e-mail accounts, either EAS, POP3, or IMAP, running at the same time.
How to make Sent Items to show up in Favorites?
How to add an email account:
Where would go to adjust settings on your e-mail accounts?
The Contacts application allows you to manage contacts from different sources. You can sync your contacts from Exchange ActiveSync, Google, and Facebook. You can also store contacts on the phone only. You’ll notice that the application doesn’t distinguish between accounts. Thanks to the Synergy feature, all your contacts are displayed in a single list.
How did you know where to find out whether Google is one of your contact accounts?
How do you determine that a contact is linked through the Synergy feature?
How do you change the order contacts are displayed in?
The Calendar application allows you to manage appointments on your Pre phone. Calendar can sync with Exchange ActiveSync, Google Calendar, and Facebook. You can also store Calendar appointments on the phone only.
The default view will show all appointments from all accounts. Each account gets assigned its own color when it’s added. Each appointment will match the color of the account it came from. Benefits include:
How do you know if time is available when in a filtered view?
How do you change the color of the account?
How do you stop synchronizing a calendar with an online account?
Messaging is truly unique on the webOS platform. The Messaging application provides a single interface to manage instant messages and SMS/MMS messages.
Synergy enhances the messaging experience by displaying all messages together in chronological order. This lets you switch back and forth between IM and SMS/MMS without losing the context of the coversation. In the buddy view, you see a list of all your contacts that have an IM account and their status. In the conversation view, you see all the messages you’ve sent and received from a specific contact with a label indicating whether that message was sent via IM or SMS/MMS.
Universal Search finds applications and contacts. Information is filtered as you type more letters. The first letter entered brings up phone applications. The second letter will layer in local contacts on the phone (and files if you have any). If any applications also have the second letter they will remain in the search options. Once you go past anything contained on the phone, the Pre phone abandons the local search and gives you the Web options.
How can you use Universal Search to save time?
webOS is designed to not be connected to a computer for data synchronization – the Synergy feature takes care of that. However, the first time customers use the Pre phone, they may have data on their computer that they would like to import. That’s where the Data Transfer Assistant comes in. Let’s learn more about how customers migrate data to the Pre phone as they get set up using the phone.
It is important not to think of the DTA as synchronization software. It only moves data onto the phone. It does not move data from the phone to the computer.
On the phone, customers have the choice of integrating their data with an account using the Synergy feature, such as Gmail or Facebook, or leaving it on the phone for backup using the Backup service.
The Backup service automatically backs up preferences and account settings. It does not back up individual files or items. For example, if you have 15 e-mails in your inbox, the e-mails are not backed up.
Backup does back up the account information used to access that inbox. It also backs up any preferences you store inside the application. For example, if you change the alert settings for a Calendar account, those settings will be backed up.
Third-party applications added to the phone are backed up. These items are backed up automatically each day. Customers can also initiate a manual backup.
When is a backup restored?
How do customers delete their backup?
What information is stored in a backup?
How do you adjust the flash settings?
What type of file is the picture saved as?
How do you fast-forward or rewind through a video?
Can you watch a video in portrait mode?
What video formats are supported?
How do I get credit for a download?
Where is downloaded Amazon music stored on the phone?
Will downloaded songs be backed up automatically?
Does Flash work in the Web application?
How do you delete bookmarks?
Can you select/highlight text on a Web page?
What other options are under the Applications menu?
How can I know if Google Maps is using Cell or Wi-Fi ID or GPS?
The Pre phone does NOT support Sprint Music, Sprint PictureMail, or Sprint Digital Lounge.
Resets are much different on the Pre phone than other smartphone or PDA phones you are familiar with. Even the language is different—out are terms like soft and hard reset; they’re replaced with terms like Restart, Partial Erase, and Full Erase.
So… there you have it! I’ve used the Pre a few times now, and I’m very impressed – despite the lack of the touchstone charger in the box. If you take that out of the equation, the only actual device complaint is the inability to select/hilight text on a webpage – ALTHOUGH you can send a screencap/image of any page you’re viewing, so that’s *almost* the next best thing, and it has worked really well when I’ve tried it so far. So how about it.. .ready for the Palm Pre ?
Feel free to comment below, or take it to the forum over at SprintGurus as they have some of the in-the-know and knowledgeable folks around, here’s the link to the topic: http://sprintgurus.com/forum/showthread.php?t=315
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