We’ve been waiting for Palm (NSDQ: PALM) to release its webOS 1.2 update ever since rumors pointed at a September 24 launch date. That day came and passed with nary a peep from Palm. Today, Palm is making some noise with the release of webOS 1.2 and its support for premium, paid webOS apps. The arrival of paid apps in webOS 1.2 is a milestone for the app-lacking webOS App Catalog – the kind of milestone that will hopefully entice developers with revenue possibilities and kick webOS development into high gear.
But, there’s more. webOS 1.2 supports direct downloading from the web. The Amazon MP3 app now allows users to purchase and download music over-the-air to the phone, WiFi connection or no. Zooming into a webpage is now more intuitive and music playback can be controlled from the touchscreen when the device is locked.
Want to learn more? Hit up Palm’s changelog for webOS 1.2 here.
Early adopters of the Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre in Canada knew this was coming… You know when you’re one of the first to take on any new technology you’re going to pay through the nose for it. There’s no exception when it comes to the Palm Pre in Canada. Best Buy have already lowered the 3-year contract price to $149.99. Of course you’ll still need to sign up for the minimum $45/mth voice and data plan… But that kinda goes without saying.
I can already hear some saying ‘ok, but what about on Bell, surely they’ve lowered their price too?’. Nope, not yet. As of this morning the 3-year contract price was still set at $199.95. I suspect the drop will be coming soon, but exactly how soon, I’m not sure.
You may recall earlier the plans Bell had to launch the Samsung Reclaim. True to form, those plans have come to fruition and the Reclaim is now available on Bell! You can pick one up for $49.95 on a 3-year contract, $99.95 on a 2-year, $199.95 on a 1-year and $219.95 prepaid.
So why is the Reclaim so special? Well, to start it’s made from corn-based bio-plastic materials and is 80% recyclable. It’s packaged in recycled materials as well, and even the size of the package is smaller. The wall charger is Energy Star approved, which means it takes about 12 times less energy to charge. Impressive! If you’re earth conscious and earth friendly (who isn’t these days), this phone is kinda setting a standard.
The Samsung Reclaim is available at Bell in ‘Ocean Blue’ and ‘Earth Green’, and comes complete with a 3.5mm headset jack, 2MP camera with video, GPS, full HTML web browsing, microSD expansion up to 16GB, and a whole lot more.
As rumored a little while ago, we now have word that the eco-friendly Samsung Reclaim is arriving at Bell. The Canadian carrier is set to launch the Samsung Reclaim up north on September 17th. The device will be available in ‘Ocean Blue’ and ‘Earth Green’, and is made from corn-based bio-plastic materials, which make it easy to recycle when you’re done with it. Dummy phones have already started arriving at Bell locations, so there’s no doubt staffers have read the memos and are getting trained up on this one.
The Bell Samsung Reclaim will go for $49.95 on a 3-year term, $99.95 on a 2-year, $199.95 on a 1-year and $219.95 on the prepaid option.
Key features of the Reclaim include a 2.4″ display, 2MP camera with video, microSD expansion to 16GB, 3.5mm headset jack, GPS, a 1000 mAh battery and more.
Stay tuned for the official launch, comin’ real soon!
The GSMA has just updated their network status page with dates for Canadian carriers Bell and TELUS (NYSE: TU). Being Canada’s only serious competition to Rogers (NYSE: RCI), the addition of GSM support will open a lot of doors for these two providers, both in terms of devices and service quality. Here’s a preliminary list of devices we can expect, based on rumours floating around the forums.
We had heard before that the iPhone would be coming to TELUS in October, so that much lines up perfectly, but everything else is conjecture for now. It’s also worth noting that newcomer WIND is set to have its network ready in November; we’ve got a decent idea of what devices and plans they will be offering, but will they be ready to rock for the holiday season?
The wait is over! Bell has officially released Palm (NSDQ: PALM)’s savior, the Palm Pre, for all Canadians to enjoy… errr…. well, that is, if you happen to be in an area of Canada graced by Bell’s presence.
The low-down? The Pre will set you back $199.95 on a 3-year contract with Bell. A minimum $45 voice/data plan is required. If you’d rather buy the device outright, the Pre will run you $599.95 with a minimum 500MB data plan. No surprises here. Everything seems to be what we expected. So rare these days
To all of my fellow Canadians picking up their Pre today, I pass on all the best for this joyous day. To everyone else that wants a Pre but can’t get one because Bell has no presence in their area… I feel your pain… oh, I feel your pain.
Woo! Palm (NSDQ: PALM)’s webOS wonder will be available in Canada through Bell for $199.95 on a three-year contract as of tomorrow. The date has been long locked in, the ads are making the rounds, and retails units have even been cracked open a little early. Honestly, I’ve been eager to see the Palm Pre in the wild up north long before Sprint’s launch in June -let’s just hope stock holds up. Clearly Bell is pimping their exclusivity, but I wonder how long it’ll take before we see the Palm Pre on Telus (NYSE: TU)? For more info on Bell’s offer, hit up their product page. You may even be better off ordering online now and having them ship it directly to you, since retail stores will likely run out fairly quick.
Well, tomorrow’s the big day. The Palm Pre officially arrives in Canada on Bell. Honestly, I can’t wait… and for those that really, really, REALLY can’t wait, you may want to head over to Future Shop. That’s right, Canada’s favorite electronics retailer has already published the Palm Pre on their website as ‘available in-store’ for the outright price of $599.99. Groovy.
Oddly enough, when I punched in the Future Shop website and searched for the Pre, I actually got a page that listed the device for $999.99… with availability in-store. Me thinks this may be because I’m in an area not graced by a Bell presence, but who knows. When new products launch there’s always glitches and weird things going about online. This will shake itself out by tomorrow no doubt.
Future Shop has also listed the Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Touchstone on their site for a cool $79.99. At the moment the site lists the Touchstone as ‘Out of Stock: Will ship when available’… I have a feeling the Touchstone and the Pre will be readily available starting tomorrow.
For all the details for your greedy little Palm-Pre-needing eyes, your best bet would be to call or head on down to a local Future Shop location.
With the Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre launching on Bell in only… wow, 2 days time, it’s no surprise that we’re noticing a lot of Pre mentions in Canadian retail flyers and ads. TV spots are already running fast and furious, and although they remind some (and me) of a typical iPhone ad… At least Bell is busy doing their part promoting the heck out of this thing.
As you’ll notice above, FutureShop and Best Buy are also busy punching up the fact that they’ll have the Pre in-stock shortly. Of course, you’ll need to go in and sign-up for a 3-year plan with Bell to get the best price, but there’s nothing new there at all.
Should be veeeeeeeerrrry interesting to see how things go on Thursday. This will no doubt be the biggest ‘launch’ event in Canada since the launch of sliced bread… which debuted in Canada last year.
In the newest installment of the ‘Meet My Palm Pre‘ series/webisode/whatever you want to call it, the Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre is on a journey to hook up with some ladies. Now, if you were hunting down some ladies that would be more than willing to chat and talk on camera, where would you head?
‘Let’s go show this phone to some ladies… according to google (NSDQ: GOOG) maps, there should be a nail salon right…huh… here.’
Ah, yes, the nail salon.
The more I see these things the more the main dude in it is actually growing on me. I actually had a little chuckle when he was still busy selling the Pre while getting some sort of facial treatment. If anyone knows the name of the dude doing these spots, please let me know.
Of course, I’m still highly skeptical that these episodes are actually ‘real’, but hey, if nothing less they’re starting to get a touch funny. Stay tuned for episode 3.
Note: If you missed the previous episode, check it out here.
The GSMA has just updated their 
