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The Palm Pre needs to maintain it’s superiority over the smaller cheaper Palm Pixi. Oddly the only way to do that is to release the WebOS 1.3.1 update for Pre owners before the Pixi entices a few folks with it’s flashy price tag. But it’s only a one day jump the Pre will have on the Pixi, so Pre owners should clear some time and download the newest update which includes security fixes. Here is a partial list of fixes, the real list is very long and should be READ.

  • Backup
  • Backup no longer saves online account passwords. If you perform a partial or full erase or buy a replacement phone, after signing in to your Palm profile, you are prompted to enter the password for each of your online accounts. If you choose to skip this step, to continuing synchronizing this account, you must open an app that syncs with the account (Calendar, Contacts, Email) > application menu > Preferences & Accounts > tap the account name > enter your username and password.
  • Calendar
  • Yahoo! now appears as a Calendar synchronization account. You can synchronize Yahoo! calendar events by opening Calendar > application menu > Preferences & Accounts > Add An Account > Yahoo!
  • Camera
  • After taking a picture, if you tap the picture thumbnail in the lower-left corner of the camera screen, the picture now opens in full-screen view, not Thumbnails view. Making the back gesture returns you to the camera.
  • Contacts
  • Yahoo! now appears as a Contacts synchronization account. You can download contacts from Yahoo! online to the phone by opening Contacts > application menu > Preferences & Accounts > Add An Account > Yahoo!
  • Messaging
  • Yahoo! IM is available as an instant messaging account.
  • You can select a unique ringtone for new message alerts: Open Messaging > application menu > Preferences & Accounts > Sound > Ringtone.
  • You can forward a text or multimedia message by tapping the message > Forward.
  • You can copy the text of a text or multimedia message by tapping the message > Copy Text.
  • If you receive a message from an email address, the sender’s name (if in Contacts) or email address (if not) shows up correctly on the new message notification and on the open message in Messaging.
  • If you copy a conversation using the Copy All menu item and then pastes the conversation text, the pasted text now appears correctly as plain text, without any HTML tags.
  • Messaging notifications now show the number of senders and the number of conversations.
  • If you enter a message and start it with a standalone letter-for example, “R” or “r” for “are”-when the auto-correct feature expands the letter to a word, the word is correctly capitalized (“Are”).
  • Phone
  • If the you are on a call, calendar notifications no longer partially cover the End Call icon.
  • Screen & Lock
  • A new Secure Unlock preference allows you to set the time interval the phone is idle before the phone locks, requiring you to enter the PIN/password to unlock the phone. This can be the same as or different from the interval after which the screen turns off. To set the preference: Open Screen & Lock > Lock After.
  • System
  • A new option is available for restarting the phone: press and hold power > Power > Restart. The prior restart method (Device Info > Reset Options > Restart) is still available.
  • YouTube
  • Widescreen videos now display in widescreen mode on the phone by default, instead of being cropped.
  • If you tap to play a YouTube video embedded on a web page, the YouTube application launches and the video plays in the app.