Articles
Settlement reached in Palm Profile data loss class action suit 1
Ah, this takes us back. If you've been around webOS long enough, you might remember the brouhaha of November 2009. Yes, two years back, back when you could get a Palm Pre or a Palm Pixi, on Sprint and only Sprint, the webOS world was rocked by the news that Palm Profile backups were becoming corrupted on the server and the data was rendered inaccessible - a problem for those that had elected to store years of accumulated Contacts, Calendars, Memos, and Tasks in their Palm Profile. Some users were able to get their data restored by Palm going back to their backups of the backups, but others were just plain lost, and the users understandbly upset.
Thus was born the class action lawsuit of Standiford v. Palm, Inc. and Sprint Spectrum, L.P.. The parties involved today announced that they have reached a settlement and will be going before the United States District Court for the Northern District of California for final approval on May 31 of this year (two-and-a-half years after the backup failure was uncovered).
Being that this is a class action suit, you, the webOS smartphone owner, could sign on as a plaintiff. The only criteria you need meet are having created a Palm Profile on a webOS smartphone between 1 June 2009 and 26 January 2012 and having experienced permanent or temporary loss of access to your data stored in your Palm Profile account.
If your claim submission is deemed valid, you could stand to receive a substantial settlement. How substantial? How does up to three Alexander Hamiltons sound? That's right, $30 could be yours. Except it's not a cash settlement, no, that would be too easy. If you suffered a permanent data loss due to a Palm Profile backup failure, you'll be able to choose from a $30 HP Online Store credit (not an App Catalog credit - this is for printer ink or a mouse pad) or a $30 Sprint bill credit. And if your data loss was temporary and you're still seething about it thirty months later, you could get $20 - again for the HP Online Store or your Sprint bill.
The settlement is still pending approval at a fairness hearing, but considering that iPhone users disgruntled over their iPhone 4 antennae performance were offered a bumper case or $15, we'd guess this one's heading for approval. In the end, you get $30 and your contacts are still gone, while the lawyers make out with a briefcase full of cash.
If you're interested in signing on to the class action suit, hit up the source link below. Full details in press release form can be found after the break.
HP signs onto app privacy disclosure agreement 4
It didn't take long for the big privacy brouhaha to turn out some results, eh? Today the State of California announced that they have brokered an agreement with Amazon, Apple, Google, HP, Microsoft, and Research In Motion regarding the disclosure of privacy policies in mobile apps. The agreement is meant to allow customers to check out an app's privacy policy before downloading an app, and if the app doesn't comply with the stated privacy policy, the developer could be prosecuted under California law.
How exactly HP and the others will implement this policy is unclear at this point. While Google currently prompts an app buyer to confirm their agreement to privacy policies for individual apps (this app can access your contacts, photos, etc), the only exception that the webOS App Catalog currently calls out is for location services. The way the agreement is worded, HP, Apple, and the other companies not currently as aggressive in privacy clearance as Google would be able to provide a link to an app's privacy policy "in a consistent location" within the apps' store listing.
While HP hasn't had to endure as much of a media firestorm as Apple has with unintentional location tracking and most recently overlooked contacts uploading, customers should remain always vigilant. The problem is that vigilance with regards to app privacy is that how an app works behind the scenes is not a clear and understandable thing to most users. While plenty of outrage was directed at Apple and developers over the failure to disclose contact uploading, the "why" for these apps uploading contacts wasn't fully explored, nor the security of that information once it's in the developer's hands.
Either way, we're glad to see that this issue has been addressed, even if by just the state of California (as usual they've done their best to preempt the federal government while Congress dillies around with lawyer-driven hearings on the matter).
Source: State of California; Via: The Next Web, iMore
HP Q1 2012 earnings down 38% from last year 13
The past year has been a tumultuous one for HP, and though things are starting to settle down in Palo Alto, the company's Q1 2012 earnings report doesn't bode well. HP brought in $30 billion of revenue (down 7% from the same quarter last year), from which they netted a profit of $1.5 billion (down a staggering 38%). The computer-producing Personal Systems Group (which also previously built webOS devices) saw a 15% decline in revenue, with desktops and notebooks dropping 18% and 18%. Imaging and Printing also isn't looking good, with a 15% drop for HP's typically reliable revenue and profit center.
It's brutal, but at least HP managed to bring in some profit and meet their own projections, and they're taking steps to do better going forward. Said CEO Meg Whitman, "We are taking the necessary steps to improve execution, increase effectiveness and capitalize on emerging opportunities to reassert HP's technology leadership." How webOS will factor into that strategy, well, even Whitman admits that will take years to play out.
Press release and full financial statement is after the break.
Source: HP
Make a Skype Video Call using the Phone & Video Calls app [webOS 3.0.5] 1
This tip is only for TouchPad's running webOS 3.0.5 and higher
With the latest webOS 3.0.5 update for the TouchPad, it is easy to determine which of your Skype contacts are available for a video call directly from the Phone & Video Calls app and then quickly initiate that call. Once within the Phone & Video Calls app, switch to the "Video" tab on the top of the page. If you are not already logged in to Skype, you will be prompted to "Sign In". Otherwise, you will see a list of all your contacts that are able to accept video calls and you just need to tap on one to call them.
If you want to log off of Skype once you are done with your video calls, you can not actually do that from within the Phone & Video Calls app. You actually need to update your account status from the Messaging app .
App Re-Review: SmartRunner 21
Every platform suffers from abandonware - apps that are released, do well, and then aren't updated to reflect changes in user expectations, device APIs, and back-end services. Platforms like webOS and BlackBerry suffer from a rather high rate of abandonware thanks to the turmoil that has enveloped each platform. Developers have to put food on the table, so if they're not making money making apps for a specific platform, we can't say we blame them for moving on to greener pastures.
But February is Fitness Month here on webOS Nation and the Mobile Nations network of sites, so we're taking a look at fitness apps new and old, good and bad. We already looked at JogStats, a rather basic and straight-forward run-tracker, and today we're going to put what should be a powerhouse app - SmartRunner - under the review microscope.
App Giveaway: 100 copies of Checkbook HD 296
I an increasingly digital world, there's one part of our financial lives that doesn't seem to have made the leap to ones and zeroes as effectively as online banking and credit cards: the check register. We're stuck, day-in, day-out, logging by hand on a little slip of paper the checks we cut, and that's just not right. Checkbook HD by GlitchTech Science aims to bring your checkbook and all the rest of your financial world into the digital age. With support for multiple accounts, transaction, expense, and transfer logging, and Google Spreadsheets backup, Checkbook HD turns your TouchPad into the most powerful check register you've ever seen. Normally Checkbook HD would cost you a trip to the App Catalog and $1.99 of your money, but no need to cut that check just yet - we've got 100 copies to give away!
Contest: We have 100 copies of Checkbook HD to give away. Just leave a comment on this post to enter. Contest ends next Sunday at midnight US Eastern Time, after which time we will select 100 random entrants to win. Please only leave one comment, multiple entries won’t count. Promo codes are only valid in countries serviced by the App Catalog, and users must be running webOS 3.0.2 or higher with the latest version of the App Catalog.
Time, Inc. officially calls it quits on TouchPad; Time, People, SI, and Fortune to go dark 48
If there's anybody close to as embarrassed as HP is by how things have gone with regards to the TouchPad, it's got to be the partners they dragged up on that stage at Think Beyond last year. One such partner was Time, Inc., with their then Chief Digital Officer Randall Rothenberg spending a good amount of time on stage talking about and demoing Time's new apps for the TouchPad.
Shortly after launch, apps for Time Magazine, People, Sports Illustrated, and Fortune all landed in the App Catalog, bringing the full magazines and a suite of interactive content plus online subscription options to TouchPad owners. Fast forward seven months and things have changed, with Time giving warning that they're pulling the plug on all four of their TouchPad apps. That means that the Time Magazine, People, Sports Illustrated, and Fortune apps are all due to go dark. The end-of-days date for these apps? March 10, less than three weeks from today.
Time plans to refund users for issues they won't be able to download, and we see no indication that Time's magazines won't be available through other channels (such as Zinio). For now the apps all work, but that won't be the case for long. We're guessing Time hasn't had the same uptake with their subscription service as other free news providers have had on the TouchPad. But that's okay, you'll still be able to use the Time app on iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and Bada. Wait, Bada? Really?
Source: Time for TouchPad; Via: webOS Nation Forums
Fit a Mojo app to the entire Pre3 screen 14
Due to the resolution differences between the Pre3 and all other Pre phones, you may often see a black or flickering bar on the bottom of the Pre3's screen that appears where the notification dashboard would be, even if there are no dashboard icons shown. If you are a Pre3 owner and user of an app such as the twitter app Carbon for webOS or the homebrew Internalz Pro, you have probably noticed this before. While we are hoping for updates to some apps to fix this issue, some developers may no longer be supporting their apps and we may never see a fix. However, you can try to make the update yourself using the text editor within the homebrew file manager app Internalz Pro to see if the directoins below will fix the app (your milage may vary, as this is not guaranteed to work with all apps). Also note that the fix below only affects Mojo and hybrid apps, so this fix will not work on PDK apps (like Angry Birds).
- Determine the App ID of the application you need to update. The easiest way to do this is to load up Prehware, search for the app, and find the App ID on the app's description page
- Open up Internalz Pro and navigate to /media/cryptofs/apps/usr/palm/applications/[APP ID]
- Find the index.html file, tap on it, and select "Open" to open up the text editor.
- Towards the top of the file, find the first "html" tag
-
Directly after that, insert a new line and put this text in there:
- Swipe down from the top-left to reveal the Application dropdown menu and select "Save File".
- Close the file
The next time you open that app, the black or flickering bar on the bottom should be gone. Note that if the app does receive an update in the future, but this fix was not included, you may need to add this back in.
The webOS Wish List: Lock Screen Exhibition 11
Exhibition is really one of the under-appreciated features of webOS, despite the power of glanceable information it brings to bear. The big limitation is that it's confined to the Touchstone charger, which it need not be. Particularly with smartphones we've taken to them as glanceable information devices - What time is it? Do I need to look at that email?
But it could be so much more, and with the framework for Exhibition already in place, making it so much more wouldn't be that much of a leap. The time has come for Exhibition to make it to the lock screen, both in the form of built-in customizable modules and from third party apps. It can even tie off the same settings from Exhibition on Touchstone, so you get the same view when charging and when glancing.
Apart from an Agenda view, clock, and photos, what else could lock screen Exhibition bring to bear? Oh, just the most recent posts on Twitter or Facebook, glancing over stock feeds, a few of the latest news headlines, expanded weather forecasts, and upcoming calendar appointments, just to name a few. And with Exhibition already an option available to developers, we can imagine plenty more taking place on the lock screen.
Have your own thoughts on this webOS Wish List entry? Of course you do - the comments are below. Surely you have your own ideas as to what ought be on the webOS wish list, and so we've created a forum thread just for what has proven to be an awesome discussion.
Save 15% today with the webOS Nation Store President's Day Sale!
In celebration of President's Day you can save 15% on all your TouchPad and webOS smartphone accessories at store.webOSnation.com. To get your 15% discount, be sure to use the coupon code pres12 during checkout.
This offer is not valid with any other coupon and expires tonight Midnight PST Monday 2/20/2012. Don't forget about our Fast Free Shipping on US orders of $50.00 and higher! So go ahead, grab that extra charger, a screen protector, and a slip case - George and Abraham would want you to have them.
Enjoy the Presidential Savings! Start your Shopping Now!
