Microsoft announced special promotional pricing for Windows 7.  The promotion ends July 11, 2009.

• Windows Home Premium Upgrade from XP or Vista is $49.95

• Windows Professional Upgrade from XP or Vista is $99.95.

• Upgrade pricing good through July 11, 2009.

In-place upgrades from XP to Windows 7 are NOT supported, however, you can do a clean install of Windows 7.  Backup your XP data and format your drive, then perform the install.  You may be prompted for the XP disc during installation.  There are other ways to perform a clean install of Windows 7.  Bing and Google may help out.

Regular pricing for Windows 7 is:

• Windows 7 Home Premium, Full: $199
• Windows 7 Home Premium, Upgrade from XP or Vista: $119
• Windows 7 Professional, Full: $299
• Windows 7 Professional, Upgrade from XP or Vista: $199
• Windows 7 Ultimate, Full: $319
• Windows 7 Ultimate, Upgrade from XP or Vista: $399

If you buy a new computer with Vista pre-installed, depending on the manufacturer, you may get a free upgrade to the same version for Windows 7.  That is, if you buy a new computer with Vista 32 Home Premium, you may get a free upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit. 

If you purchase a copy of Vista, upgrade or full, after June 26, you can upgrade it to Windows 7 for $9.99.

You can purchase Windows 7 from Amazon, Best Buy, Microsoft’s Online Store or any number of retail outlets beginning October 28, 2009.

Note: clicking the links at the top of the page, as well as the Amazon link above, will take you to Amazon.  If you pre order from one of the links, a percentage of the sale comes back to me.

Over the last week or so, it was discovered that ‘homebrewed’ Palm Pre apps could be installed on the devices without having to hack them.  You simply emailed yourself a link to the install package and, viola! You had a shiny new application installed on your shiny new Pre.  Alas, the fun was not to last.  Today, Palm closed up that hole with a webOS update. 1.0.4 closes a number of undisclosed ‘security holes’, including said link install method. 

Also, over the past few days, an older version of the Pre SDK was found and made available.  The SDK, at least this version, seemed incomplete.  There was zero documentation and no ‘readme’ file to tell you how to install or what you needed in order to use the emulator and the API’s.  Fortunately, the Pre community is pretty smart and have figured most of this out on their own.  Go here for more on the SDK.

No discussion of the Pre-or any other smartphone-is complete without some comment on the iPhone.  So, read on for a couple of iPhone tidbits.

iPhone OS 3.0 has a nasty little bug:  It likes to not only rearrange your icons, but also re-assign them to other apps.  This story over on TUAW details the issue.  Resetting the device does not fix the problem.  The workaround was confusing and not without side effects. 

Apparently, the white iPhone 3GS is turning brown as it heats up.  A ‘small number’ of the devices are getting very hot and cause the white plastic to discolor.  Faulty batteries are said to be the blame.  Well, I suppose if that is all that it is, then you simply replace the batter…er, oh yeah, you can’t do that.  Huh.  Well, Apple will certainly fix the problem.  Maybe they will give another $30 credit in the Apple store. 

Auto racing coverage, sports coverage in general, has blossomed over the last ten years.  Indeed, advances in video and computer technology have enabled all kinds of innovation in all areas of sports television coverage.  Football coverage has had several major innovations, most notably, the yellow line.  Auto racing, however, has made several huge leaps to enable viewers keep better track of the action on the track.  Most of this increased coverage was spurred by the NASCAR television package deals that began in 2001.

In conjunction with the NASCAR web site as well as network television innovations, the coverage exploded.  FOX Television introduced the race bubble, which could follow the cars around the track and display the driver name, number and speed or position.  The technology involved in this alone was incredible, auto racing anyway.  It involved transponders, computer representations of each track, in car telemetry and other geeky fun stuff.  Since NASCAR had mandated the in-car telemetry, viewers were treated to all sorts of information such as speed, RPM, when the drivers were braking and how often, fuel, etc.  This information was not restricted to just television either.

NASCAR made available, for a fee, of course, the same information that the networks had.  You could visit the NASCAR site and follow your driver as they raced around the track.  You could see an at a glance view of the whole field, follow just a few drivers, see the dashboard, view a graphical representation of the track and the drivers position on the track.  Of course, there was a cost involved.  You could subscribe to a partial or complete season.

ABC and ESPN, when they took over for NBC, introduced several innovations of their own.  The first gimmick-which did not survive, thankfully-was supposed to ‘show’ the draft.  Unfortunately, the process was flawed and never really fully baked.  One of the better things that ABC/ESPN did was hire Tim Brewer to explain the race car and problems the drivers would encounter thru out the broadcast.  Among Mr. Brewer’s arsenal of tools is a cool touchscreen based computer, complete with animations showing just about every facet of the car.  The two channels also had a fresh graphics package and clean presentation.

All of the broadcast partners made one very important leap over the coverage of previous years:  live scoring.  Until the very late 1990’s, scoring was always laps behind and only given every so many laps. Since then, however, viewers get live, updated scoring.  At worst, it might be a half a lap old.  At best, it is real time.

The high tech coverage is not limited to just NASCAR events.  The Indy Racing League has also enjoyed it’s own high tech coverage.  Unlike NASCAR, it’s online offerings are free.  I was able to enjoy the Richmond race both on television and on the web.  The IRL site had a video feed and you could select several drivers to follow.  Some of the drivers also had an on board camera which you can also see in the drivers info box.  Unlike NASCAR, IRL cars have always provided telemetry, which you can also see in on the web.  In many ways, I like the IRL web site better, not only because it is free, but because it seems to be far less intensive and does not rely on JAVA to work.

During TNT’s coverage, not only do they have an hour and a half of pre-race coverage, but they also offer free video on the NASCAR page.  Called RaceBuddy, the video is available as one screen that you can choose from five different streams or one video wall that shows four of the streams. You also get TNT audio and the bottom of the page is full of live data feeds.

Today’s auto race coverage is far above anything that came in the years prior to the NASCAR TV package.  Because of the innovations in the NASCAR coverage, other series have also benefitted from those same innovations.  The coverage has come so far from the days of filmed or tape delayed broadcasts and, what looked like, hand typed scoring cards held in front of the camera.  Quite a leap indeed.

• Windows 7 is now available for pre-order for $49 from Best Buy, Amazon and Microsoft’s online store.  The upgrade is $49 for the Home Premium, $99 for Business.  The low upgrade price is only good for the next two weeks, so place that order while you can.

• Speaking of Windows 7, the beta is about to expire.  The release candidate is still available for download, so if you are running the beta, you should probably install the release candidate or revert back to Vista.

• Microsoft may be distributing Windows 7 on thumb drives in a move to allow netbook users to move to the new operating system if those machines do not have optical drives.  Sounds like a smart move to me.

• Apple’s $29 upgrade price for ‘snow leopard’ is a bit on the misleading side.  According to a posting on ZDNET, the fine print for Apple’s service pack reads something like this:  if you bought an Intel powered Mac between January 2006 and September 2007, you will pay about $169.  If it was between October 2001 and January 2006, you cannot even use the service pack because is it only supported on Intel powered Macs.  Basically, only Macs purchased after October 1, 2007 and run Intel processors and have Leopard installed, are eligible for the $29 upgrade pricing.  Sneaky devils, those Apple marketing people.

• For a time, Google perceived the Michael Jackson inquiries as an attack on Google.  As rumors of Jackson’s death made the rounds, an error message saying ‘We’re sorry, but your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application.’ was returned instead of results to inquiries about the singer.  It took Google nearly 25 minutes to realize the traffic spike was real.

• The Zune HD is rumored to be launching in 16gb and 32gb models with a starting price of around $249.

• Sprint published a nice little ad taking aim at Apple and the iPhone.  It says ‘Your iPhone contract is up.  Perfect timing.’ and then goes on to espouse the goodness that is Palm Pre’s multitasking and of iPhones unitasking ability.  The photo in the ad shows a mostly eaten apple propping up a Palm Pre.  Classic.

This has been a sad week in the world of entertainment.  The loss of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson is tremendous-as is the loss of any one soul.  These three people, especially Jackson, were a part of my life as well.  Each of them played a different role in my more youthful days.

Ed McMahon, being the sidekick of Johnny Carson, had such a powerful and booming voice.  I can remember staying awake long enough to hear ‘Heeeeeeere’s Johnny!’ and then listening to Johnny’s monologue and opening banter with Ed.  I’d usually turn it off and go to sleep.  Often times, my Mom had no idea, or, at least, she never let on, that I did this.  His Publisher’s House contest was always unforgettable and his guest appearances on other programs I always managed to catch.  I tuned in the Tonight Show for Ed just as much as Johnny.

Like most teen age boys from 1976 to around 1980 or so, I had one of the iconic posters that Farrah made famous.  Other than being the wife of the Bionic Man, I had no clue who this beautiful woman was.  Of course, after Charlie’s Angels got popular, I knew.  But, the problem was, I never watched that show until its later run with Tanya Roberts (another very pretty lady.)  I only caught Farrah in repeats of the show and, I think, an occasional guest appearance on that show and others.  But it was that poster that that I will always remember.  It was everywhere.  For a time, it was just as popular as Pac Man.  Imagine that.

Michael Jackson.  That is all you really need to say.  I don’t care to relive the ‘wacko jacko’ days, you can read about that pretty much everywhere else.  No, I want to remember the better times from the mid 1970’s to the late 1980’s.  The Jackson Five was a favorite of my family, especially my Mother.  Mind you, she was country music fanatic.  To her, Marty Robins was a god.  Conway Twitty was THE man.  Loretta Lynn?  Why she was the Queen.  The Jackson Five?  Well, they were just a great group.  I remember we had to watch every television appearance they had.  I can remember, very vividly, staying up really late (well, for me, at the time, anyway) to watch ‘Soul Train’ on our local station.  I think it came on Sundays at 12:30 AM.  The Jacksons were coming on.  It was an event.  And when Michael went solo, oh man.  That Motown 25th Anniversary Special, on NBC, was HUGE.  We watched it, specifically, for Michael.  That his brothers would also be there was just icing on the cake.  When he did Billie Jean and the moonwalk, it was gold.  My sister went bananas. It was truly spectacular.  For then, anyway.  I find it amazing how one man and a dance could stir such emotion.  But, he did.  I suppose that was akin to Elvis or the Beatles appearing on Ed Sullivan’s show, which the Jackson’s also made an appearance in 1969.  

These three people were all a part of my youth and their loss, coupled with the recent passing of my Mother, make me feel like a part of me is gone as well.  Maybe it is a reminder that I am getting older.  Maybe it reminds me that our time on the planet is relatively short.  I am not sure what it is.  I will remember them all with fond memories:  the joy of a booming laugh, the beautiful woman in the poster and trying to dance to a best selling record.  Good times indeed.

The IRL is in Richmond this weekend.  It is always a blast to watch this series at Richmond International Raceway.  Any race at RIR is exciting, but watching Indy Cars race around that track is even more exciting.  These cars go much faster than the stock cars of NASCAR and those are pretty fast.  Its pretty cool watching such talents as Helio Castroneves, Danica Patrick and Scott Sharp race around this wonderful track.  I am a HUGE NASCAR fan, but the IRL is pretty darn exciting as well and does not get the attention it deserves.  While having Helio or Danica race in NASCAR would be pretty cool, it would be a real shame for the IRL to lose them.  If you are in the Richmond area this weekend, come on out to RIR and catch this cool race.  The SunTrust Indy Challenge is June 27 at RIR.

There are days where I feel more like Oscar the Grouch than, say, Elmo.  Most days, I’m probably more Archie Bunker like, without the bigotry.  At any rate, I’m Oscar today and there are a few thing I want to get off my chest.

First, online petitions.  What the hell good are these things?  How many of them have actually persuaded anyone or anything?  My guess is zero.  Just today, I saw an online petition for Palm because someone thought the Pre should do something differently.  I have, recently, seen an online petition to Apple because of AT&T.  You know what? If you don’t like AT&T then don’t get an iPhone or buy one and jailbreak the damned thing.  As for the Pre, buy a different phone. Online petitions are just dumb and only work to sooth the people who ‘sign’ them.

Second, Steve Jobs health.  The dude was sick.  He’s a cancer survivor.  He had a liver transplant.  He and Apple chose not to make his problems public, and that is their choice.  Apple and Jobs have good lawyers and I am sure that they have done everything they were supposed to do as far as disclosure.  He took a leave from the company, which was the right thing for him to do.  Apple survived.  Get over it people.

Third, people who buy something and then endlessly complain about it.  Just looking over the Pre forums, I see people who are just bitching up a storm because of some perceived flaw in the device.  Some people have returned the device five times!  I have seen similar stories for the iPhone, Blackberry and, especially, Windows Mobile phones.  The problem extends to just about anything, really.  Look, if the damn thing is that bad, then take it back, get a freaking refund and move on with your life.  Sadly, I realized I do just the same thing with something called Evernote.  I deride this turkey every chance I get.  I am sure it is just as annoying to others as these forum posts have been to me.  I hereby cease this product.  Evernote is actually a fine tool, even in its crippled version three product.  If you want a low cost decent organizer, Evernote is just fine.  That’s all I have to say about that.

Lastly, netbooks.  I’ve written about these before, and I will again.  And that really bugs me.  A ‘netbook’ is a low cost, stripped down, crippled laptop.  They are usually under three hundred dollars and have tiny screens and cramped keyboards.  People are going nuts over this crap.  I just don’t get it.  Yeah, you can get one that runs an antiquated version of Windows for under two hundred bucks.  These things are probably just fine for throwing in your bag and going to Starbucks for a cup of java and checking your mail or doing some quick web browsing.  You could probably even do some light text editing.  You won’t write your next novel on these things, those.  Funny thing is, though, most people who buy them don’t really understand what they bought other than it was a cheap laptop that runs Windows XP.  A survey that was recently released, revealed that most netbook buyers do not know what a netbook really is.  The real question here is why bother with these barely usable devices when, for about fifty dollars more, you can get a real laptop that runs Vista just fine?  There are many good laptops available between three hundred and four hundred dollars.  Why would you buy one of these tiny little computers, that might do what you need, just to save a few dollars?  I just don’t understand. 

OK, I’m done with the mini-rants for today.  I think I’ll go shoot some alien invaders now. 

One of the things I sometimes need to do is create catchy images with reflections, curvatures, borders, or other arty effects. I do this sometimes for this blog, mostly for work related items.  With the various image editors I have access to, I can usually whip up something, but I often spend quite a bit of time getting ‘just right.’  Well, there is a tool that makes this a breeze. 

The product is called 3D Image Commander and it works great.  The product allows you to place the image at almost any angle, various borders including curved, angled or none.  Reflection effects can be controlled and the curvature can be set.  You have a few options for saving the image as well.  You can save the whole thing, or crop just the image itself, with out a background.  You can also make the background transparent.

3D Image Commander is a nice little tool that has helped me out tremendously.  It was recently part of the Give Away of the Day promotion and is also available from the developer’s website for $39.95.  I think it is worth every penny.  There isn’t anything that this application does that cannot be done with other packages like Adobe, the difference is that this application was designed, specifically, for a small set of functions and, because of that, it does them very well.

3D Image Commander is available from Binerus.com.  It is compatible with Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 and OS X10.4 and up. 

For sometime now, I’ve heard various people talk about Pandora.  Pandora is an internet based ‘radio’ service.  You can personalize it so it only plays music that interests you.  I’ve heard podcasters like Leo Laporte and others talk about how they have replaced the radio with Pandora using an iPhone.  Well, having XM/Sirius for several years, I just could not for the life of me understand what the appeal for an internet based ‘radio’ station would be, especially in your car.

Fast forward to today.  I had downloaded the app for my Palm Pre.  Gave a quick whirl at home and dismissed it as ‘nice’, but why?  So, while in my car, I wanted to see how good the Pre’s audio out really was.  I quickly unplugged the audio cable from my satellite radio and plugged into the Pre (glad the Pre has a normal audio out jack) and started the Pandora app.

I was pleasantly surprised.  Audio quality was great and, surprisingly, most of the songs I heard were songs that I liked and I had only set up a Queen channel.  The ‘channel’ played Queen songs AND songs that were similar to they style of music that Queen played.  Very nice indeed.

I can see the appeal of something like Pandora, but I don’t think it will replace my Sirius or XM radios anytime soon.  I will use it from time to time to listen to specific things in my car, but, most likely, I would use it more at work or somewhere that I could not use the satellite radio.  One thing that Pandora cannot offer that satellite does are the specialized channels like NASCAR, IRL, Howard Stern and other such stations.  I’m a NASCAR/IRL fan and these are the big reasons I have satellite radio.  

The Pandora application for Pre is nicely done.  The interface is clean and simple with nice cover art.  The application is kind of slow to start, you get the Pandora splash screen almost right away, but it is slow to start playing.  I suspect it is buffering the stream first.  Once it starts, you can give a thumbs up or down to the currently playing song, you can pause the song or skip to the next song.  The skipping feature is nice, if it plays a song that you do not like.  Thumbs up or down seems to ‘teach’ the application more about your likes or dislikes.  Best of all, Pandora is free.

Oh, other nice thing…if you get a call, your song pauses.  When the call is complete, the music starts up again.

After a day of fun with the family, we decided to get a bite to eat at a Richmond area staple:  River City Diner.  One of the specialties at RCD is the Rochester Garbage Plate.  I got a Garbage Plate today.  My doctor would have coronary.  This thing had potato salad, cole slaw, fried potatoes, baked beans, chili, two hot dogs and cheddar cheese melted on top.  It contains enough calories and carbs to last the week.  Talk about a cholesterol disaster.  Anyway, I thought I would share this treat.  Check out the photo below.

• The Palm Pre App Catalog may have only 30 apps at this point, but that has not stopped people from downloading those apps.  817 thousand downloads, in fact, as of June 20th.  That’s pretty impressive considering there is only thirty applications available. 
• The Amazon Kindle DX shipped this week.  Reviews have been mixed, but mostly negative.  Many dwelled on the keyboard and the lack of navigation buttons on the side.  Engadget dinged it for many reasons, including the keyboard and buttons, and also complained that the orientation sensor was too sensitive. I have doubts about some of these reviews, but the overall theme seems to be: keyboard, price, previous and next buttons and heft. These are in addition to the usual gripes about the screen refresh and lack of color.  I suspect that if any of these people actually used the devices for more than the cursory looks they give them, they would realize the potential for the devices and just how useful they are. 
• Windows XP.  Microsoft has, AGAIN, changed its stance on this dinosaur of an operating system.  They are going to allow DOWNGRADES from Windows 7 to Windows XP.  Seriously?  It is time to put this mess in the ground.  It was sort of understandable with Vista:  Vista’s compatibility issues, when it first was released, sort of forced the issue.  However, since most of the issues are gone and with Windows 7 virtual XP mode, there is no reason to continue supporting this thing.  XP’s days are over. Let it go.
• Steve Jobs had a liver transplant two months ago.  The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Mr. Jobs had a liver transplant and is on track to return to Apple this month.  He went on medical leave back in January and has experienced issues related to his pancreatic cancer.
• Jammie Thomas was fined 1.9 million dollars for making available 24 mp3 files.  She was fined 80,000 dollars for each of the 24 files.  While she was guilty-and admitted as much-the restitution is way too much.  There is no way she would have caused the media moguls to lose $80,000 per song.  No way.  This number was pulled out of a hat and cannot be indicative of an actual loss.  Thomas does have a potential out, though:  declare bankruptcy.  Apparently, a decision by Circuit Court in San Francisco could allow her to walk away, owing nothing.  There’s a good article, on C|Net about this here.
• Twitter continues to be the voice of discontent in Iran.  Last Sunday, when none of the US broadcast or cable news outlets were giving little or no coverage, Twitter became the most important news outlets on the planet.  Flickr was used to pass on images and Twitter relayed the events in Tehran and elsewhere in the Islamic Republic.  So important was Twitter, that the administration asked Twitter to postpone some scheduled downtime so that news could come out of the nation. When the news outlets did begin to provide coverage, the ‘asked’ to cease and, in some cases, their equipment was confiscated. 

There was some Pre excitement today, in addition to iPhone 3G S.  Incredible, I know.  Palm released update 1.0.3 to webOS.  The update addressed performance and stability issues.  Among the items updated are:

• Calendar-updates sync within a few minutes and the interval between syncs has been set to every 15 minutes
• Contacts-same type of changes as Calendar
• Email-Non SSL Exchange ActiveSync mail servers are now supported
• Camera speed has been enhanced

Head over to the Palm KB for more and also check out the story over at Pre Central.

Palm also stated that the webOS SDK would not be available until the end of summer.  They plan to release the SDK in stages:

• Beginning immediately, we’ll accelerate the growth of the early access program, expanding as quickly as resources allow. Over the next few weeks, the program will grow from hundreds to thousands of developers.
• Simultaneously, we’ll begin publishing more content outside the early access program, and we’ll launch new confidentiality rules that will allow early Mojo developers to communicate more freely with the rest of the world.
• As soon as we can, we’ll open the SDK to all legitimate requests.

Palm also addressed the non-SDK research that has been going on since the discovery of the webOS ‘restore package’ from last week:

We’ve also begun getting questions about Palm’s stance toward the webOS development “experiments” that have emerged outside the early access program over the last week. We’re focused on building a robust and easy-to-use Mojo SDK, and an ecosystem that benefits developers, end users, carriers and Palm alike. As on any popular platform, we recognize that some developers will experiment in ways that cross official boundaries, but we believe that our formal offerings – and community efforts built around those offerings – will provide the best experience for the vast majority of webOS developers and users.

C|Net Asia did a ‘speed test’ comparing the iPhone 3G S to the Pre.  The results were quite interesting.  No doubt, the iPhone 3G S is fast, but the Pre is faster.  Head on over to check out the video.

Finally, there has been some talk about using the Palm Centro batteries in the Pre.  This is, apparently, not a good thing to do.  While the battery will power the Pre, Palm says there is some on-battery power management that is not compatible with the Pre and could result in hardware problems for the Pre.  Sounds fishy to me, but, then again, I am not an engineer.

iPhone 3G S was unleashed by Apple today.  Throngs of people, um, lots of people lined up and purchased the phone today.  No doubt, throngs more had already done the smart thing and purchased a Palm Pre.  Well, OK, those throngs likely pre-ordered the iPhone 3G S and avoided the wait.  iPhone is, without a doubt, a very popular device and the 3G S is a nice update to the device.  The video recording and limited on device video editing software is really, really useful.  I’m not sure about the compass, though.  Admittedly, Apple does not do too much without a lot of thought, so I am sure that something really cool is coming that will take advantage of the compass. 

As with anything Apple, there are the loyal, faithful and, dare I say, fans who tend to get a bit excited over anything from the fruit company.  One of them, Mr. Alex Lindsay, is really, really excited about the video recording of the iPhone.  So much so, he proclaims it a ‘game changer’.  What, with the ability to upload to YouTube and all.  Because, you know, NOTHING else will do that.  Sarcasm aside, Mr. Lindsay put together a nice little episode of his Mac Break to demonstrate the amazingness of the iPhone.  Go here to view this gem.

Last week, many Apple fans were scoffing at the debut of the Palm Pre, mocking the lack of crowds at stores on release day.  Granted, there was nowhere near the excitement that iPhone and iPhone 3G had generated, but the Pre held its own.  It was also available at far many retail establishments than the iPhone is/was and, as a result, the long lines were disbursed among those many outlets.  However, today’s launch of iPhone 3G S, if held to the same standards, was a ‘dud’ as well.  And this seems to have worried some of the Mac faithful, who were asking ‘why weren’t you in line this morning?’  The lack of that same level of enthusiasm caused some of the better Apple fan sites (and Engadget) to post ANYTHING they could find, including reports from stores IN VIDEO, no less.  Head over to TUAW and just peruse the multitude of nothingness.  Kind of sad, actually.  But, I have to admire the enthusiasm that these sites show.  It’s really cute.

To be fair, each release of the iPhone just makes the device better and better.  In fact, if iPhone were available on Sprint, I might have already bought one last year.  I certainly would have, this year, for $99US.  Palm, Microsoft, LG, Samsung and all of the others (including the robot too) really have to stay on target and move ahead if they do not want to become a has been or worse.  Microsoft was already close to being nothing, Palm was on the cusp of being a footnote.  Both are making progress, but Apple seems to, continually,  be out front.  Draconian rules or not, iPhone is a nice device and is the technological mark the others have to surpass.

The iPhone 3GS release is just hours away now.  The new phone has managed to drum up some excitement, but nothing nearly like the last two iPhone releases.  However, there are a few fools eager people already in line waiting to get a phone that just about everyone is saying is an evolutionary upgrade, and one that will be plentiful.  Funny thing is, not everyone who is in line is actually WANTING the phone.  At least one person, Matt Dodd, is just there for a friend and actually want a Palm Pre.  Go here to read about him.

And, you can go here to see/read about the eager beavers, braving the weather, the elements, the wilder beasts, to get the latest, greatest iPhone from Cupertino.  Enjoy!

One of the things I have been missing since I got my Pre was the Microsoft Live Search for Mobile application.  Live Search was a nice application that combined something like Google Maps with Microsoft’s Live Search.  You could type your search query or speak it and Live Search would return either an exact match or a list of similar matches that you could select from.  You could get directions, see a map with the location and/or call the location’s phone number.  The application did other things like return local gas prices and other pertinent data about your location.  However, the application did not use GPS and, on the Motorola Q anyway, it was difficult to navigate.  Those minor annoyances aside, it is a very nice and very useful application. 

Today, I discovered an application in the Pre App Catalog called Where.  Now, I had seen this application mentioned in the forums on various sites, but I had not looked into the application.  Well, today, an update was issued for the application.  Curious, I read about it and then downloaded.  This application is everything Live Search was and a bit more.  It does lack the voice control, but it takes advantage of the GPS and other Pre features.

When you first start the application, it determines your location and, from that point forward, it will return information based solely on your location.  You can, of course, change it manually. 

Some of its features include directions, Google maps, local traffic information, local news and weather, Starbucks locations and more.  Phone dialing is integrated into the application so if you find that restaurant you just have to go to, you can tap the name and its information is displayed.  Tap the phone number and the dialer pops up.  Likewise, you can also add it to your contacts. 

The ‘WHERE Wall’ looks like a Twitter like service.  I looked at it, but did not participate.  I barely use Twitter, I don’t need another service.

Yelp and the Yellow Pages are also integrated into the application.  The Movies feature is especially useful.  Once you find the movie and theater you want, you can place a reminder on your calendar, add the theater to your contacts, get directions, etc.  This feature would be even better if you could watch movie trailers too.  One nice little touch, though, is if you tap the movie poster, it will expand to fill the screen.  Tap it again and it shrinks back to normal.

WHERE is a worthy replacement for Live Search.  It does lack a few features, but, overall it is a tremendous little application.

So, I have been using Safari 4 as my main browser for about a week now.  Aside from its goofy link management, I have been pretty pleased and somewhat impressed with the browser.  I think for home use, it is better than the other browsers I have been using: Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3.  Internet Explorer 8 I had pretty much written off anyway.  This turkey is probably the biggest pile of poo to ever come out of Microsoft.  What a let down.

Safari’s visual link management-if that is what you want to call it-is clever, but I find it just gets in my way.  I don’t like the way it brought in my IE bookmarks:  It did not appear to sort them and actually broke up my folder structure.  The folders work using twisties, but when you open a twisty that is near the bottom of the list, it takes you to the top so you have to scroll back to where you were.  And I still have not figured out an easy way to restore its structure.  Add to that the redraw time for the visual part-the ‘coverflow’-and it can get a bit frustrating. 

One other BIG annoyance:  I am so used to RIGHT CLICKING to add a bookmark that I forget I have to use the silly button up next to the address bar.  UGH!  Every other browser allows you to right click and select add bookmark from the pop up menu.  Not Safari.  I guess it is Apple’s aversion to the right click.  I don’t know, but it gets annoying.  Retraining, I suppose, is the key.

Overall, however, Safari works well and page rendering really is noticeably faster.  It never really mattered to me how long a page took to load, as long as it was just seconds and not minutes or not at all.  However, seeing how quickly they load, I think I could get spoiled.

I have not yet decided to make Safari the default browser, but I am leaning that way and I never thought I would prefer an Apple developed piece of Windows software, but this just might be that one application.

For two years now, AT&T has been offering a pay as you go data plan for the iPhone.  Called GoPhone, the plan is a pre-paid plan that requires no contract.  Apparently, they are going to punish their customers who use this plan by giving them sub-par data services.  If you have already been using the plan, you can continue to use it, but will receive inferior service.  AT&T wants you to sign a multi-year contract to use your iPhone.

According to an article on TUAW, AT&T is contradicting itself.  Erica Sadun, the author of the story, says that she is working with AT&T to try and unravel the situation.  As it stand right now, they are pretty much confirming that anyone using the pre-paid plan will get inferior data service.

The tactics that Ms. Sadun describes is just awful.  How in the world can a company expect to keep its customers, loyal customers, by strong arming them like this?  Sounds like they are trying to move new hardware as well.  Why would you agree to an expensive two year contract, with no price break when you can get a break on new hardware and a cheaper plan?

You have to read this to believe it.

From the Zune Team:

The Zune service will be down for scheduled maintenance on Tuesday, June 16, starting at 12:01a.m. PDT (2009-06-16 0701 UTC) for up to 24 hours. During the downtime, Zune Social, the forums on Zune.net, and all of Zune Marketplace will be offline.

We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause you.

Please check back soon. We look forward to sharing our picks, plays, and recommendations with you in the Zune Social and in Zune Marketplace shortly!

Sincerely,

Your Friends at Zune

Zune Privacy, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052

• Microsoft may release Windows 7 without a browser in the EU.  This week, Microsoft proposed releasing a version of Windows 7 without Internet Explorer 8 installed.  It would not be hidden, as in previous ‘removals’, it would be completely gone.  Instead, there would be a companion disc with the software that the end user would need to install.  Huh.  So, it the user chooses NOT to do so, then how would you get Opera on the computer?  Devious, those Microsoft people!  The EU judge says that they never intended for Microsoft to NOT ship IE with the OS.  I guess they are bright enough to realize you need at least one browser so you can get the others.

• Apple shows off Snow Leopard and takes a few snipes at Windows 7 along the way.  During the keynote at the WWDC this week, an Apple spokesman, while extolling the many virtues of Snow Leopard, said that Windows 7 was just Vista BECAUSE IT WAS BUILT ON THAT SAME OPERATING SYSTEM.  He made it sound like it was a bad thing.  But, then he turns right around and explains why Snow Leopard makes Leopard even better BECAUSE IT WAS BUILT ON THAT SAME OPERATING SYSTEM.  Hmm…I guess they just HAD to diss Windows 7 and that was the best they could do.  Whatever.  It just seemed desperate.

• iPhone 3G S was also announced at WWDC. The ‘new’ iPhone will have voice  control, a compass (wow) and will feature a faster processor than the current models.  It will be available in 16gb or 32gb flavors.  It will support OpenGL ES 2.0 which will make the graphics even better.  FYI-this support also could mean a fracturing of the App Store, specifically in the games arena.   The 3G S will also allow for video recording and limited editing features right on the phone as well as a 3mp still camera.  The new iPhone looks good, spec wise, anyway.

• iPhone tethering, another new feature announced at WWDC for iPhone, AT&T says the feature is coming as is MMS support.  There was an audible groan when AT&T’s logo was missing during the presentation.  AT&T is just not yet ready for them, apparently.  Now, I’m sure they knew those features were coming.  How could they not be ready? Oh, and tethering is likely to be an expensive add on as well. 

• Palm’s new phone finally released.  I’ve written quite a bit about that, so I’m not saying any more here. 

• Six Flags theme park chain files for bankruptcy protection.  Again.  Saturday, the amusement park operator filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an effort to cleanse itself of 1.8 billion dollars of debt. The filing should not impact the operation of the chain’s 20 park properties.  You can read more here.

• Bing, Microsoft’s re-branding of Live Search, has overtaken Yahoo! for the #2 spot in search.  The question is, though, can it sustain that AND gain market share-and mindshare-from Google?  I’m not hopeful that it will.  The new search does look nice and works well, but I am concerned that it does not, apparently, index Microsoft’s own properties as nice as Google does.

• The digital television FINALLY has happened.  The FCC says the transition was ‘smooth.’  They took about 300, 000 calls of which 30 percent were about how to use the converter boxes while another 20 percent were about reception issues.  So, that leaves 50 percent of the calls in the ignorant category.  I still question why no one would have known about the change.  Here in Richmond, VA,  our NBC affiliate made a mess of things by SWITCHING its digital frequency BACK to its analog channel.  So, EVERYONE who did, in fact, have a converter suddenly LOST the station.  I don’t recall them mentioning the fact that they were moving until AFTER the change.  They may have, just prior to doing so…which was at FOUR IN THE MORNING!

• Shuttle launch scrubbed due to leak.  Saturday’s shuttle launch was postponed until July due to a potentially dangerous hydrogen leak.  NASA halted the count down just after midnight.  The astronauts had not yet suited up to board the spacecraft.

• Finally, I’d like to give an overdue shout out to the Hanover Hawks for making it to the state high school baseball championship.  Though they lost, they showed what hard work and good ethics can do for a team.

Palm Pre and iPhone have a few things in common, like the screen size and the use of webkit to power the web browser.  Another thing they have in common are ‘web apps’.  In the early days of the iPhone, before Apple made the SDK available, the only way you could get an application on the device was via the web browser.  Thousands of iPhone web apps were developed.  Most of them can be used on the Pre as well.  Not all of them, but the majority will work just fine.  I have found a few that I think would be of use to any Pre user and they are listed below.

• hahlo - Twitter client  (I know there are a couple in App Catalog, this one just looks nicer)

• OneTrip – shopping list

• Food Network

• Digg's mobile site, iPhone enhanced

• Blackjack

• iWebKit - not an application, but a framework to build them

• Apple's iPhone web app portal