GeekSugar

The Palm Pre Now $80 and Palm Pixi Now $25 From Amazon

GeekSugar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:48:29 -0800

Palm's Pixi, just landed in stores across the country, and it's already dropped to $25 on Amazon. That's right, if you sign up for a new two-year contract plan from Sprint, you can save quite a bit of money off the original price tag. I know most of you weren't over excited about the Pixi, but for $25, I can't help but recognize this impressive deal.

And not only that, but you can also head on over to Amazon and get the Palm Pre for $80 - again, with a new service plan from Sprint.

Both phones include a free activation deal that is good until Nov. 23.

Sprint Debuts Cheeky New Desperate Housewives Ads

GeekSugar — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:05:22 -0700

Companies and TV networks are getting quite clever when it comes to creating commercials that blend well with the show it's airing with. We already know that people aren't watching commercials during popular shows, so it makes sense that companies are using some smart tactics to get people to watch - and not fast forward through - its commercials. Sprint is doing just that by teaming up with Desperate Housewives to launch seven commercials that were actually written and directed by Desperate Housewives employees. Here's the first one, which I actually saw because I was fooled to thinking it was apart of the show! Gotta love the racy text message and Palm Pre cameo.

Daily Tech: All the Pros and Cons of the PSPgo

GeekSugar — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:02:25 -0700

Check out a full hands-on review of the PSPgo, which hits shelves on Oct. 1 - Gizmodo
Here's how you can get the most out of your phone's camera - Lifehacker
If you're a Palm Pre owner, don't expect to be syncing your iTunes library with your phone anytime soon - The New York Times
Halo 3: Oribital Drop Shock Trooper gets taken for a test drive - Green Pixels
Brits will now have the choice of getting an iPhone with O2 or Orange, which will start selling the iPhone later this year - MobileCrunch
It's giveaway and game time on GeekSugar! Be sure to log in and play our Best Video Game Ever bracket! - GeekSugar

Daily Tech: Casio's Latest Cam Costs $180 and Records in 720p

GeekSugar — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:05:28 -0700

Casio has just unveiled some new inexpensive point-and-shoot Exilim cameras, which come packed with features - Gizmodo
If you buy a credenza for your TV with frosted glass doors, a remote should still work when the doors are closed - Unplggd
Here's 10 pretty sweet free social apps for the Mac - Mashable
A new Canadian commercial for the Palm Pre is pretty cute - CrunchGear
The US Federal Trade Commission is cracking down on prerecorded telemarketing solicitation phone calls - Popgadget
Here are 10 useful tech tactics to utilize when traveling - Lifehacker
In Utah, if you get caught texting behind the wheel, you could face up to 15 years in prison - The New York Times

Daily Tech: New Facebook App Coming Later Today?

GeekSugar — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:15:05 -0700

The new Facebook app has been submitted to the iTunes app store and might be available later today - Gizmodo
Hunky heartthrob Antonio Sabato Jr. is all about his iPhone, Facebook, and surprisingly, AOL - Switched
Here are five of the best websites and tools for apartment searching - Lifehacker
This graphic new video is being used to educate teens about the dangers of texting while driving - BBC News
The Palm Pre girl, Tamara Hope, isn't nearly as ghostly looking in person - Palm Pre
This neat graph represents what Twitter would look like if it had 100 members - Mashable

Palm Pre Soap: Love It or Leave It?

GeekSugar — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 03:52:01 -0700

How do you know your gadget has made it? When there is a soap made into its shape.

From the hands of Etsy sellers, we've gotten BlackBerry Soap and Internet hit Digital Soaps, with console controller soaps getting the sudsy treatment. Welcome the Palm Pre into the fold with this Palm Pre Soap ($8).

It's a pretty cute gag gift for fans of the new phone, but are you still smiling with this gadget-soap trend, or has it jumped the shark?

Pick Up a Palm Pre From Amazon For $200

GeekSugar — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 10:50:29 -0700

If you're not too happy about the whole Apple/Google Voice debacle and you want to make the switch to another smartphone, the Palm Pre is now available from Amazon for $199.99.

With this price tag, you're required to sign up for a two-year agreement, which is the same price and requirements as the Sprint website, except with Sprint, the Pre is $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate - so essentially, Amazon is the hassle-free purchasing option.

What Do You Think of the Tamara Hope Palm Pre Ads?

GeekSugar — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:33:25 -0700

The Pre, Palm's latest smartphone, is a pretty cool phone, with its attractive exterior and sleek OS, but its ads are another story. Where the first commercial featuring actress Tamara Hope was pretty epic, with a serene Buddhist scene, the most recent ads are a bit mind-boggling. In one, Hope talks of going with the flow, and more bizarrely, she admits that the Pre can do something cooler than let her read her email: it reads her mind.

I'm a little weirded out. But maybe I'm just used to my cell phone ads incorporating some catchy pop song and knee-jerk editing and I need to slow down and appreciate Hope's Zen-like attitude about her phone. What do you think of the ads?

Daily Tech: Apple and Palm Kiss and Make Up

GeekSugar — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:05:15 -0700

The new Palm Pre WebOS 1.1 update is said to work with iTunes - Wired
Jeff Bezos has released a public apology for the recent removal of books from thousands of Kindles - Gizmodo
Kenyan students have created a device that will charge cell phones while riding a bike - BBC UK
This double-sided USB drive comes in a variety of colors and can be used for dual purposes - Engadget
10 tech superstars under the age of 20 - Switched
Log in for a chance to win a new Amazon Kindle - geeksugar

Putting the Palm Pre to the geeksugar Test

GeekSugar — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 01:44:03 -0700

It's about time, right?! For the geeksugar Palm Pre review, that is. Better late than never in my opinion, so without further adieu, let's get the Pre party started.

I've had the past week to use and abuse this device and if you were anti-Palm before, it's safe to say they've come a long way since the Centro. The Pre is flashy, sexy, and perfectly fit in the palm of my hand. With its nice glossy black exterior, it tends to be fingerprint-prone, but if you switch the back plate with the plain black touchstone compatible back, you should be good to go.

The flip out QWERTY keyboard comes in handy for typing emails and texting (the Pre has copy and paste!), but keys are somewhat small so I tended to use my fingernails for precision. When the keyboard is flipped out, you'll find a nice mirror on the back of the Pre - a mirror that's big enough for quick food in the teeth checks or makeup touch-ups. The Pre's 3.2-megapixel built-in camera takes crystal clear pics, and with the big bright flash, you can take night shots no problem. Also, with Palm's stellar image processing, you can take photos continuously (like a regular camera) since there isn't a shutter lag.

To check out more photos of the Palm Pre, to see what else I thought and to watch a video of it in action read more.

View 14 Photos ›

The screen on the Pre is comparable to the T-Mobile G1's, the iPhone's and the BlackBerry Bold's screen. Color is vibrant and video viewing is impeccable. As you'll see in my video after the jump, scrolling through applications with webOS is similar to the iPhone, but the touchscreen sensitivity isn't always 100 percent accurate. Sometimes it would take me two or three tries before I could launch an app, but it wasn't something that happened every time. What I absolutely loved was the ability to use a slow swipe for the cool Quick Launcher and you can scroll up to discard windows when you were finished with them. No fiddling with small x boxes to close something, just swipe up and it's gone (again, something you'll see me using a lot in the video!). Left swiping acts as your "back" button and web pages, tools, and apps are easily draggable and droppable. Features like texting, placing calls, emailing, etc., were similar to the iPhone. Overall, applications were fairly intuitive, if not easier to use than those on the iPhone. Now for my gripes.

The Cons:

I happened to drop the Palm Pre outside (on cement) and my heart stopped when it was unresponsive. Fortunately, a quick touch of the power button and it was back in action. But, this occurred again (I'm a klutz!) and the same thing happened. Whenever I drop my BlackBerry or iPhone, although a little banged up, they never shut off (or need to be restarted). Also, I noticed that the track for the keyboard was a little off when I tried to flip it out. The phone still works, but on a durability level, I don't know how long it would sustain a few too many falls.
The new iPhone 3G S has video functionality, the Pre sadly does not.
Apple just announced that they might put their foot down on Palm Media Sync, which transfers pics, videos, and tunes to your Pre from iTunes. This would be a major thumbs down for Pre owners.
One Pre accessory I was really excited about using was the touchstone charging device. Except when I got my hands on it, I was saddened to see that it wasn't wireless. And the Pre needed to be placed on it in a very precise manner to actually pick up a charge. Not as sexy as I originally thought, that is for sure.

I'm just skimming the surface on this one, but overall this smartphone deserves four stars for design, sleek interface, ease of use, and camera quality. Hopefully a software upgrade will fix some of my issues with the phone.