My daily check for Palm Pre updates turned up the expected webOS firmware this morning. Version 1.3.1, which is already loaded on the Palm Pixi that arrives in stores tomorrow, weighs in at 126 MB. Many of the new features were already known thanks to some folks with the developer build, but a full rundown of the firmware functionality follows. Some of the more important ones I see:

• Support for Yahoo! in Synergy, Calendar, IM and Mail
• Ability to forward text messages
• Palm Backup now includes browser cookies
• Google Contact sync only includes records in My Contacts, not all contacts
• Music app now has a playback slider for faster in-song navigation
• New Secure Unlock feature
• Tapping a YouTube video in the browser automatically opens a YouTube card

My installation is still in progress, so if I see anything else worth mentioning, I’ll add an update.

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I am working in a Panera Bread today and I feel like one of those shady street counterfeit product hawkers. I have the original iPhone, Droid and a Palm Pre on the table in front of me, attracting a lot of attention. I have been comparing the three phones and I thought it made sense to shoot a simple “grab and shoot” picture using all three phones for comparison.

I am no professional photographer, and while I’m sure I could have tweaked the settings on each of the phone cameras, I wanted to simulate the way most people use their camera phone. You see something interesting, grab the phone and snap a pic. That’s all I did here, so each of the photos reflects the default settings for each camera. The photos were taken one after the other, and the camera was the same distance from the subject in each.  Here are the three photos taken and some that show the sizes of the three phones:

It is Thursday and that means it’s time for another Palm Press. Palm Press is our weekly look at the world of Palm. Palm is poised to launch the Pixi and reviews are appearing all over the web with looks at the newest member of the webOS family. The Pixi has a candy-bar form and most reviewers agree it is a good phone with a nice keyboard, although a little slow in the performance department. The screen is a bit smaller than that on the Pre, and with only a $50 with Sprint separating the two phones, you might want to think long and hard about picking up the Pixi.

Palm has done a good job updating webOS, although a company can never do that fast enough to keep owners satisfied. We’ve only been sitting at version 1.2.x for a short while but a sharp-eyed observer noticed something about the Pixi that indicates version 1.3.1 will be out in time for the Nov. 15 launch. A video of the Pixi posted on YouTube shows the status screen and it clearly notes that the version of webOS on the Pixi is 1.3.1. It also indicates the “configuration” is Sprint 2.0, whatever that means. If the Pixi is launching with a new version of webOS, it only makes sense that Pre owners might find an update in the next few days.

We’ve known that Flash 10.1 will be coming to webOS, but we know for sure it will be in the first half of next year. Pre users who click on a flash video link get an official message from Adobe that the “Adobe Flash Player 10.1 is coming to Palm WebOS in the first half of 2010.” Flash 10.1 is the anticipated update that will enable viewing videos in the web browser.

The Palm Pixi doesn’t officially hit retail shelves until Sunday, but the requisite early reviews are just now hitting the web. The cheaper, smaller cousin to the Pre is getting scrutinized every which way ’til Sunday (literally) and I’ve read all of the reviews. I recommend hitting them all if you’re interested in the Pixi, or if you want a preview of what webOS 1.3.1 will bring to the Pre.

PreCentral doesn’t think that Pre owners have any reason to switch to the Pixi, although that’s not surprising. Pixi has no Wi-Fi, a smaller display and a slower processor. The lagginess of webOS may have something to do with the chosen CPU, in fact. Also not too hot in the review was output from the 2 megapixel camera. On the plus side, the device lasts longer on a charge, has a thin and small form factor and offers a solid keyboard, something that not every Pre owner can say.

Engadget also loved the Pixi’s keyboard, but wasn’t too keen on performance in general. Their video demo shows a lack of response by the phone as it tries to load a web page over EVDO. Engadget also struggles to see who will buy the Pixi when the Pre is now only $50 more expensive. I’m in agreement although I anticipate folks that want a thinner device will overlook or not see the differences between the two devices as a wide gap. Had the Pixi come out three or four months ago, it might have been a different story.

PC Mag’s Sascha Segan sees some of the Pixi’s perceived gaps as a plus — in the hands of the right person.”The Pixi raises the bar the same way the Centro and Pearl did when they first came out, saying that you don’t need to be a “smartphone buyer” to use a little bit of smarts in your phone.” Based on his view, is the Pixi appealing to a current smartphone user? Probably not. But there’s a large number of consumers that are on the fence between featurephone and smartphone. Could Pixi get them to fall on the smartphone side?

Of interesting note in all of the reviews — that Facebook app that’s hitting webOS with the updated firmware? It’s not the Facebook you (or I) was looking for. The application seems focused around the status timeline of your friends and not so much into the other useful features of Facebook. That’s personally disappointing because as an early partner, Facebook has had insights to webOS before the Pre was even announced. This doesn’t bode well for one of the biggest gripes I have with the Pre and it fits in with the reason that my Palm Pre may only have a few months left.

Say what you will about Palm Pre owners, they are by and large an innovative lot. An enterprising (and electrically savvy) Pre owner has extended the homebrew scene from apps to the physical and built a car mount for his Pre using the Touchstone charger.

The enterprising individual has detailed the process and explained the whys and wherefores of the components chosen for the project. The Pre sits on the Touchstone charger by magnetic connection, and according to the hobbyist, the phone sits firmly on the mount. If you decide to tackle such a project yourself, bear in mind that tinkering with the car’s electrical system can be dangerous, and you could have horrific consequences if proper care is not exercised. Pretty cool, though.

This weekend, I entered my sixth month of Palm Pre ownership. Back in June, both James and I purchased a Pre and walked away with good impressions. It’s been a solid and fun ride so far, but I’m regretfully putting my Palm Pre on notice. I’m going to give the webOS platform another few months to mature. If it doesn’t happen, I suspect I’ll either eat the early termination fee or I’ll add a different phone entirely to my Sprint account. I like the device very much, but I’m routinely carrying two phones because the platform isn’t where it needs to be for me. Many Pre owners are thrilled with their Pre and I’m not suggesting they shouldn’t be. I’m looking specifically at my needs — and they’re not yet met with the Pre. Why is that?

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It is Thursday and that means it’s time for another Palm Press. Palm Press is our weekly look at the world of Palm. The hardware used in the Pre is as advanced as that of almost any phone on the market, but at times the interface can feel a bit laggy. This is no doubt impacted by how nice and graphical the webOS interface is designed. If it looks pretty, it usually takes a bigger hit on the system. That may soon be a thing of the past according to Palm. Palm stated recently that an update for webOS coming “in the immediate future” would address UI latency issues. Sounds like a great phone is about to get even better.

Pre owners who are looking for tips and tricks available on the phone may want to check the Palm Pre Made Simple. The authors aim to show Pre owners how to maximize the benefits that the capable phone offers. The book is a complete guide to the Pre for both Windows and Mac users.

Sprint disappointed quite a few customers with its recent statement that tethering would not be an option for customers any time soon (if ever). While it has been possible to tether the Pre to laptops to share the 3G connection, Sprint reiterated that those doing so are violating the contract for service. Sprint customers are reporting that the carrier is now blocking tethering.

For those keeping score in the mobile software wars, it’s roughly 100,000 to 10,000 to 300. That’s the number of available apps for iPhone, Android, and webOS devices, respectively. Although the number of apps for Palm is relatively much smaller, it is growing at a decent clip now. But I really thought it would move along a little quicker. After all, the bulk of the application coding — aside from the SDK that provides functionality to access the hardware and such — is HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Palm’s big push was that it’s easy to code webOS apps, so the thought was that developers would jump on it. Unfortunately, lower sales than that of its competitors isn’t giving devs the incentives they need. Oh well, there’s still some good apps in there and more on the way.

I’m now trying to decide if I need a dedicated RSS reader for my Pre, because I saw Scoop for $0.99. The screen shots looks decent and the app works directly with Google Reader, which I use. Scoop supports the “starring” feature of Google Reader, which is handy for saving interesting reads. Article sharing works too, so I have to figure out if I want a client for RSS or if the mobile Google Reader site is good enough. I’m not thrilled with how the Google’s mobile RSS works in landscape, so Scoop is probably worth the buck. I spent more than that on my cup of WaWa coffee this morning, so I’ll probably spring for Scoop.

It is Thursday and that means it’s time for another Palm Press. Palm Press is our weekly look at the world of Palm. Poor Palm. It seems that Android is the only topic in the tech world these days, leaving Palm and webOS in the dirt. One rumor about Palm that has cropped up has AT&T getting the Pre, even before Verizon. This rumor came from someone who claims that a Palm rep gave a demo of the Pre on their network. There’s little doubt that AT&T would like to get hot phones like the Pre on their roster, given that every week a rumor crops up that the iPhone will be going elsewhere one day.

Sprint doled out its latest financial information this week and the pictures wasn’t exactly rosy. The carrier still saw a big drop in contract subscribers, and is trying to offset that with prepaid customers. GigaOM is asking if Sprint didn’t back the wrong horse in the Pre, as sales numbers have obviously not brought Sprint back into the black.

Palm and Sprint are also getting ready for the launch of the Pixi, the next webOS entrant. The Pixi is a candy-bar handset that is thinner and cheaper than the Pre. Gear Diary has taken a look at the Pre and Pixi, and have published a good comparison of the two phones. It sheds light on exactly how the two phones differ, and makes it easier to determine which will fit a given need better.

Today’s homebrew app is a system utility for the Palm Pre that brings a number of oft-used system functions together in one place. Quick System Tasks can be run in two modes, a card mode and a dashboard mode. In card mode (pictured bottom, left), it provides convenient toggle switches for Data, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and Airplane modes. In dashboard mode (bottom, right), the same functionality sits at the bottom of the screen for one tap operation. It is simple and free – how much better can you get?