Palm releases update for 2G updating... as an app 14

It’s something we’ve mentioned before on PreCentral, and it’s something that Palm has promised to address. That something is webOS’s inability to download OS updates over anything other than what it thought to be a “high-speed” connection, i.e. Wi-Fi or 3G. For those who live in areas with poor or nonexistent 3G coverage, Wi-Fi is usually still an option. If you happen to have a Pixi, you’re up a creek without an updated paddle.

While webOS 1.3.5 brought the ability to download future webOS updates over slower 2G cellular wireless, users stuck on older versions of webOS were, well, stuck. Palm is changing that now, and offering the solution in a surprising package: an app. Available now in the Palm App Catalog is a new app: Palm 2G Update.

Built to work with webOS 1.3.1 or webOS 1.3.2, Palm 2G Update is a unique solution to a problem that has frustrated many Pixi owners cursed by poor network coverage (and the handful of Pre owners in similar situations with no Wi-Fi access). The app is itself an update to webOS and installs as such. After downloading, all the user has to do is open the app, tap Start, wait for the phone to launch, and then the Install Now button for the update. Once the update is finished they’ll be able to download future webOS updates (like webOS 1.4) with ease of the slow variety so long as they have a connection to their carrier’s data network.

Palm 2G Update is available now in the App Catalog as a free download. There are two separate versions, one for the Pre and one for the Pixi.