My only question is why? Just to prove it can be done? True, you'd never be able to do that on an iPhone. Only the Pre has this kind of openness and versatility.
My portfolio site
Subscribe
Posts
All Comments
Links to my posts on other sites
FriendFeed Posts
FriendFeed Status Updates
GetGlue: Foursquare for TV, games, music, etc.
Showing posts with label Palm Pre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Palm Pre. Show all posts
4:15 AM
My latest article on PreCentral.net. I even made the graphic this time.
3:14 PM
Google Voice is the best thing to happen to phones since they went wireless. But Google itself, ever the overbearing parent, decided to break its little miracle for us savvy enough to own WebOS devices. Yet despite the tragic death of Gdial Pro, and the anguished cries of users on Precentral, there is still a way to use Google Voice (GV) with almost the convenience of an app.
The important thing to remember is that when somebody sends a text message to your GV number, you can simply reply to it like any other text message and it will come from your GV number. Of course when they call you, all you have to do is answer it. So this means that the only problem is initiating conversation. All Gdial Pro did was give you an on-device interface to initiate those conversations. You can accomplish the same thing with the GV web app.
Remember that epic battle between the tyrannical dictator of Apple and the rebel Google over the GV app on iPhone? Lord Jobs ultimately won that battle but Google created a web app instead that functions pretty much the same way the app would have. That web app works the same way on the Pre. All you have to do is load up the web browser, navigate to http://www.google.com/voice, then click the application menu in the top left, tap “Page” then “Add to Launcher.” Once you do that, it will pop up a box where you type in what you want to name it and tap the “Add to Launcher” button and voila, Google Voice app in your launcher. Use this to initiate conversations and you can use your GV number the same way you did before.
This is not as easy as typing a contact name in Universal Search and tapping the SMS button, but it functions precisely the same way as Gdial Pro did. Sure it doesn’t have all the features of Gdial Pro, nor the integration into other areas of WebOS, but it will get the job done and allow you to use your GV number as your primary number.
So no more crying kids, the candy may not be as sweet but the shop has not closed.
2:01 PM
One of the Pre’s greatest strengths is its ability to push polygons in Playstation 1 quality 3D games. These games are just as immersive and addicting on the small screen as they are on the, well various size screens. Only a few years ago cell phone games were simple diversions, hardly more engaging than Pong. The Pre and the Jesus Phone have changed the way we think of mobile games. Sometimes though, the most addicting, and valuable games are the simplistic ones with simple graphics like Poker Drops from Gobico Games. http://www.precentral.net/app-gallery/app-catalog/poker-drops
Poker Drops is something like Boggle with playing cards. You are given a grid of playing cards and you must make poker hands by drawing a line connecting adjacent cards in either vertical, horizontal, diagonal or zig zagging lines. Each time you make a hand, those cards disappear and new cards drop in from the top. You keep making hands as fast as you can until the time runs out, racking up as many points as you can. Obviously you get more points for bigger and better hands.
Poker Drops is surprisingly addicting. I couldn’t put it down for the first whole day I had it and every time I have a few moments of boredom, I load it up. Graphically it’s not stunning but it’s an attractive interface, and you can change the theme to one of several built in. You can also customize the rules to make your game easier or harder, quicker or longer. There are also many “Trophies” to unlock, similar to Achievements on Xbox Live. The Trophies range from near impossible feats of astonishing awesomeness, to epic fails so bad they’re noteworthy. The problem with it is that as far as I can tell, there's no way to share those achievements over Facebook and Twitter.
The game can be a bit laggy at times. Sometimes it takes a few seconds to animate your move and you end up thinking that it hasn’t registered so you try the move again. The problem with this is that sometimes it actually did not register your move and you spend precious seconds waiting to find out. Then other times you find out it did in fact register the move and you waste seconds trying to do it again.
The value of games like this are that you can play it in those short moments while you wait in line at the DMV, on your break at work, or while sitting on the throne. The games that make your eyes fall in love take a little longer to load up and generally are more lengthy gaming sessions. Especially considering I get a too many cards error and have to reboot my phone every time I try to play a 3D game, I really can’t jump in and back out of those games quickly when I’m stealing a few moments.
Poker Drops’ creator Dave Balmer also created Wobble Words, which is the same game with words instead of playing cards. He now works for Palm in their Mojo SDK development team. http://www.precentral.net/gobico-games-developer-joins-palms-sdk-team Get it for only $2.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)