The Official Palm Blog

Got opinions? Become a Real Reviewer (and get a new phone courtesy of Palm)

Are your Facebook updates all about your experience with your phone? Do you know what "FP" means? (And are your blog comments a bit more substantive than that?) If you can tweet your opinions about Palm phones in 140 characters or less, we want to hear from you. (Heck, now that all of Shakespeare's plays have been condensed for Twitter, it should be a piece of cake to tweet your nuanced thoughts about your favorite phone features.)

We're looking for a few "Real Reviewers" to share their opinions about Palm phones across the blogosphere, social networks and beyond. If you're selected as a Real Reviewer, we'll provide you with a current-model phone and data-plan service for six months. We'll expect you to regularly share your thoughts about your experiences with your phone on whatever blogs and social networks you frequent (but you're already doing that, right?). We might even invite you to guest blog about your experiences right here on Palm's blog or host a discussion board on our Facebook page.

What's the catch? There's really just one: be yourself. Whether you're a fanboy or a skeptic, we want to hear from you.

Ready to become a Real Reviewer? Apply here by answering a few questions about yourself. We're looking for a mix of Palm veterans and newcomers, from all walks of life. (There are a couple of restrictions, though: You must be a U.S. resident and at least 18 years old.)

If you're interested, apply now -- we'll notify selected Real Reviewers on May 8.

Jon Zilber

The waiting is the hardest part

You might have seen Molly McAleer on Funny or Die or on her own blip.tv series, The Molls Show. Between her videos, blog and Twitter chatter, she’s made much of her life an open book -- but we know a little secret about Molls: She’s got a secret crush! (Well, it’s not so secret any more.) Check out the latest episode of The Molls Show to discover the love of her life that’s keeping her waiting.

Jon Zilber

Pockets, and other worst-case scenarios

Apparently the folks following palm_inc on Twitter must all work in the Abuse Department (made infamous in that old Monty Python sketch). All we asked for were a few creative ideas for real-world tests to subject the Palm Pre to make sure it was ready for all the folks anxiously awaiting its arrival. Yes, we expected the blender and the toilet, but we didn’t expect the Spanish Inquisition-worthy suggestions about how to stress test the Pre. Such as:

@sil: put it in a small cloth bag with a bunch of keys and some coins, and then shake the bag for eight hours. That's my pocket.

@bcj_tweets: How about strapping it to your sweatiest arm and take it for a jog. http://tinyurl.com/cmalua

@VSmirk: greasy fingers (friend chicken, anyone?), with earlobes and shirt collars rubbing on display ...

@thynctank: a little running of the rhinoceri on the weekends, a little suborbital rocketry every Wednesday. Mostly just daydreaming, though.

@intolerable: 15+mile wilderness/bushwhack hikes in cold/snow/rain... i use my treo all the time on such trips and hope to use pre soon!

@dweiums: Hmmm. . . crash it while biking. That has worked 2 times for me. I now have insurance ;D

@AtomicAgeZombie: How about the "Drunken Fumble" test?

@ProfJonathan: Dropping from, say, belt height. Repeatedly. On all kinds of hard, unforgiving surfaces. In the rain. (See why I use a hard case?)

@jhoff80: I think the best torture test would be shipping one to me, and seeing if it can withstand the tortures of UPS or Fedex en route.

(If you’ve had experience accidentally stress-testing your phone, share the tale via a comment below or a tweet to palm_inc on Twitter.)

Jon Zilber

Mobile technology, Earth Day, and you

In recognition of Earth Day 2009, we asked Katrin Verclas, co-founder and editor of MobileActive.org to share a few observations about how mobile technology is helping environmental organizations have a greater impact:

If 2009 is the year of the mobile phone for social impact, then Earth Day should mark a special occasion in this regard. More and more organizations and people are discovering how mobile phones can be used for social impact, including how to use mobile tech for environmental protection, sensing, and to leverage just-in-time information to make our movements and actions more environmentally friendly.

An emerging field of research, for example, uses mobiles for "urban sensing," allowing phones to collect scientific data in new and innovative ways. By affixing a sensory device to a mobile phone, mobile sensing provides the opportunity to track dynamic information about environmental impacts and develop maps and understand patterns of human movement, traffic, and air pollution.

A leader in this field is the University of California Los Angeles CENS Lab. It has a number of projects that use mobile devices as mobile sensing devices. CycleSense is one example. Bikers carry a mobile phone equipped with GPS technology (or a GPS logger) during their commute. These tools automatically upload their routes to a secure website. Participants can log in to their private website to see their route combined with existing data, including air quality, time-sensitive traffic conditions, and aggregate traffic accidents along the route. Participants can obtain suggestions to improve their routes based on individual preferences (to reduce exposure to air pollution). Bikers can document hazards and impediments along their way by taking photos with a mobile phone or by sending a text message to CENS servers to generate maps and alternative transportation models.

Another interesting pilot is Project Surya. In the next two years, Project Surya will replace traditional bio-fuel based cooking methods with inexpensive solar and other energy-efficient cookers in 6,000 homes in rural India. Scientists will place simple filter-based instruments in each household to record aggregate soot levels and document the cooker's ability to reduce indoor air pollution, one of the main environmental exposures particularly of women in developing countries. How do mobile phones fit in? They make it easy to collect high quality data from each cooker's filter in real-time. Participants capture and transmit images of the air filters to a centralized location for analysis to obtain soot readings and will prompt the users to replace the filters regularly to improve indoor air quality.

CENS also runs the PEIR Health Campaign that documents a person's exposure by using locations of polluting sources recorded by individuals in conjunction with models derived from data gathered and maintained by government agencies and other scientific organizations. PEIR, short for 'Personal Environmental Impact Report', uses GPS technology to determine the values indirectly. As you go about your routine -- jogging, commuting, running errands -- your mobile phone uses GPS and cell towers to record and upload your location every few seconds to your secure profile. Based on this location trace, the system infers your activity (walking, biking, driving, riding the bus) and logs it throughout the day. PEIR maps this combination of location, time, and activity to regional air quality and weather data to calculate your personal carbon footprint and your exposure to fine particles in the air.

Here are a few more examples from Katrin of how mobile technology is helping to improve the global environment:

• In the Laikipia District in Kenya, the University of Cambridge conducted a project using mobile phones to protect and manage Kenya's second largest elephant population and the ecosystem they inhabit.
• Blue Ocean's FishPhone and FishMS help consumers make informed choices about the seafood they purchase by providing a text message on whether the fish is legally and environmentally harvested.
• GoodGuide, a new start-up spun out of the University of California at Berkeley provides "green" consumer information via text message for shoppers who want to buy products in line with their values. The information provided is based on the product's UPC code.

Is your phone helping you live a greener life? Let us know how in the comments.

Jon Zilber

Dawn Dagucon: Pre animator

Me, You and Palm: Profiles of Palm People
	Role: I’m constantly looking for new ways to help you experience our products online – I do marketing content strategy for Palm.com.   At Palm since: October 2006, after stints as a freelance copywriter for Palm and Handspring.
I grew up in LA, so it’s no surprise I spent a number of years working in film and television production (even music, too). Right now, I’m working on a series of videos for Palm.com, so you can experience Palm Pre in action.   You deserve engaging content, not just a web page that’s a repository for tech specs. Palm.com should make our products come alive for you.   Palm is collaborative -- a dynamic place where creativity meets technology. We’re passionate about what we create and want it to show in everything we do.

  

It’s always a challenge to present ever-changing technology in ways that are helpful and engaging. Take Pre, for example. How do we show you all the cool things it can do? What’s the best way to capture the feel of the new form factor in 2-D, before you can actually hold it in your hands? How can you experience the new webOS online?

Our solution: Create content that helps you experience Pre instead of just reading about it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a writer by trade, so words are very important to me. But I’m also looking for ways to bring webOS alive online – to show you what Pre can do.

That’s why creative collaboration is the key to my job. I get to work with multiple teams across Palm -- product managers, engineers, designers -- to develop content direction for the marketing pages of Palm.com. Then I engage a team of really talented writers to bring our message to life. We take that message and work with design and production teams to bring this experience to you at Palm.com.

Join Dawn on a Facebook discussion board and ask her why she thinks web production is more fun than film production…even without the yummy craft service snack spread.

Want a free Pre?

We know. You're anxious to hear about the price and availability date for Pre. For now, how about we tell you how to nab a free one? Here are a few ways to win a Pre we've spotted on various Palm Pre community sites. (They can't help you get one sooner, but you can't beat the price!) And if you know of any other contests, let us know in the comments.

My Pre Feeling fortunate? Come up with a clever "fortune cookie"-style prediction using "Palm" and "Pre" -- the community will choose a winner. (Entries accepted until the launch date for Pre is announced.)

Palm webOS Join the Palm webOS forum and leave at least 50 "non-spammy" posts about Pre/webOS -- the winner will be chosen at random. (Entries accepted until the last calendar day before Pre launches.)

Everything Pre There are five ways to enter to win one of 10 Pre phones, ranging from "guess the date bingo" to taking a picture of your goodbye note to your old phone. (Entries accepted until whenever Pre is available to the general public.)

PreThinking Follow @PreThinking on Twitter and send a tweet. (Entries accepted until the day Pre launches.)

Good luck!

Zeenat S.
Edelman for Palm

Sprint's new Pre portal: news, videos, tweets...and doughnuts?

Prefer to get your Palm Pre news with spinning phones and tweetbirds? Then check out Sprint's new Pre portal at www.sprint.com/palmpre. You'll find headlines and links to the latest Pre videos, posts from lots of Pre-obsessed blogs (including this one) and even real-time tweets for up-to-the-minute thoughts on the phone you've been dreaming about.

(And if you're itching to know exactly just how many seconds are left until Doughnut Day, check out Sprint's Plug into Now site.)

Karen C.
Edelman for Palm

The globetrotting Treo Pro

Palm’s newest Windows Mobile device -- the Treo Pro -- has been spreading all across North and South America over the last few months. Besides showing up on the Sprint and Alltel networks in the U.S. in March, Treo Pro has been popping up in other countries since January:

• Comcel (Colombia)
• Claro (Brazil)
• Vivo (Brazil)
• TELUS (Canada)
• Bell Mobility (Canada)

Treo Pro is now available in more than 20 countries worldwide: Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, UK, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, and the U.S..(Not to be outdone in Canada, Centro also appeared on the Bell Mobility network in February.)

(Oh -- and apparently somewhere in all the jet-setting, the Treo Pro made a stop along the way in tinseltown.)

Paul A.

What's on your mind?

OK, we know that getting the 411 on when the Palm Pre will be available is on the top of lots of your minds. (And we'll have that news for you just as soon as we can.) Tweeter JonVictorino says he "dreamt last night of owning a Palm Pre. How nerdy is that?" Trust us, compared to some of our dreams (or were they nightmares?) lately, your nerd-quotient seems within socially acceptable levels. Other readers keep it a bit more real. David Strack left a note on the Palm blog stating, "If the Pre isn't announced tonight, I'm going to go out and buy 6 iPhones, just to spite you! Just kidding...but seriously." Theseus Augustus Fixer's comment on our Facebook page might put a little grin on your face, "Pre is aptly named -- everything is pre-Pre." (Cheeky!) :)

Another favorite topic, carrier options for Pre. Engadget reader Libb says, "Give Sprint a chance -- easily the best 3G network in the nation, and the cheapest data plans around..." (For the record, Palm loves all of our carriers.) Brandon Wells also adds his two cents on our Facebook discussion board called "Why Sprint?" While Brandon swears he is not a Sprint fan boy, his 10+ paragraph comment makes me wonder! (If you want to check it out, scroll down to 11:45 a.m. on March 29.) Here is a snippet from Brandon's ode to Sprint, "You can't talk about the CURRENT quality of a company as if you're their customer when you are not. You can speculate, and 'Jump on Board' the negative hype talk, but all you're really doing is gossiping! The largest problem Sprint is facing is 'Customer Perception.' There have been bumpy roads in the past, and some not so good decisions, but, we all make mistakes. If we were to be constantly judged by the things we did in the past, none of the improvements or lessons would matter. So before you talk about the OLD Sprint or experiences you've had 9 years ago, perhaps you should focus on what is happening now, and you may actually be able to see the improvement and make valid, educated opinions."

Following Palm's announcements on Wednesday, JayCanuck showed his love on the Palm blog, "Personally, (I) am completely floored by the PalmOS emulator announcement, as are many of my friends. There are so many old, out-of-development applications that I use on a daily basis that this emulator is perfect." Scotland echoed a similar sentiment, "The news about support for legacy PalmOS apps is very welcome to long-time faithful Palm users and developers. WebOS looks amazing, but, on day 1, webOS apps can't possibly fill all the niches filled by thousands of existing PalmOS apps."

Quick shout-out to Theseus Augustus Fixer, JonVictorino, David Strack, Libb, Brandon Wells, JayCanuck and Scotland. Thanks for reading, and as always, if you are thinking about it, we want to hear about it, so chime in on the conversation.

Zeenat S.
Edelman for Palm

Catching up on the Pre and webOS news

Palm had a lot to share this week, with a presence at both the Web 2.0 Expo and CTIA Wireless trade show in Las Vegas: new apps for the Pre, an early access program for webOS developers, an emulator for Palm OS apps and more. Here are a few videos, photos and articles from around the web to give you their take on the news. (And check out this video that we put together that highlights the power of webOS in under two minutes.)

Videos

Web 2.0 Expo Official Video
Michael Abbott, Palm, Inc.

Gizmodo
Palm Pre Apps Hands On: Seriously Good-Looking Programs

Engadget
Palm Pre Classic emulator demoed on video

ZDNet
Web 2.0 Expo: Palm announces WebOS platform, Mojo messaging service

PhoneDog.com
Palm Pre New Apps: Pandora, Fandango, Sprint TV, Nascar

Photos

CNET
Palm Pre at CTIA 2009--photos

MyPre
My hands on with the Palm pre

PreCentral
Web 2.0 Expo: Palm Reaches Out to Developers -- Extends Invite to Apply for Early Access Program

Articles

Forbes.com
Palm Expands Developer Program

Engadget
Palm announces webOS SDK availability, Palm OS emulation for Pre, new cloud services

Gizmodo
New Palm Pre Promo Vid Shows Fandango, Pandora Apps; Multitasking Galore

CNET
Palm opening WebOS SDK up to developers

Wired
Palm Releasing Mojo SDK to Select Developers

TechCrunch
Palm Opens Early Access Program For Pre SDK

SFGate.com
Palm makes its play for developer support

Alex H.
Edelman for Palm