Boy Genuis not so smart ?

Rumors aren't the purpose of my blog, and as you can see there's none here from me. No rumored launch dates, no rumors of the pricing, none of that where the Pre is concerned. But when a generally well respected blog posts a rumor that is SO far-fetched without even a 'not likely' disclaimer, I feel I have to speak up, so that folks waiting for the Palm Pre aren't scared away - which hopefully most are smart enough to realize the insane figures being posted over at the Boy Genius Report (BGR).

So let's take the post as it was stated:

"according to our ninja, Best Buy will be getting its hands on a limited inventory of Pre handsets for a trial launch on June 7th. Sprint will be direct-shipping the lot to arrive on the 6th and in total, about 4,500 units will be spread throughout Best Buy Mobile locations across the country. That might not seem like a lot, well, because it isn’t, but each and every Best Buy Mobile will be getting at least one Pre to hawk."

Wow. I'm not sure where to even begin on this one - let's start by saying that any release this big certainly isn't going to be done with anyone 'partnered' in, other than Sprint and Palm. Sprint has thousands of stores across the country that are perfectly capable of launching  a device - where we not only can tightly control the inventory pre-launch, but where we can also make money on the accessory sales in-store on launch day. To even think that we would miss out on that opportunity and turn it over to a 'partner' is simply crazy. Does this person know how huge accessory sales are for a Sprint retail store? Also - Each BB Mobile guaranteed to have at least 1 device? C'mon - I don't care how bad I wanted the Pre, I would not get out of bed for that, because you KNOW that an employee of BB would have it purchased before the doors opened. Flunk.

"Speaking of hawking, our ninja has some numbers to report as well. Pricing is supposedly still being discussed but the probable points are as follows: New customers with a 2-year contract, $199.99. Existing customer upgrades, $299.99. Outright, $999.99. Yes, seriously."

Seriously? I don't think so. Flunk, again. $999 price point?  Put Simply, no. Not in any combination will you find the $999 price point to be valid, contract or not. As to the upgrades for existing customers? Have you -ever- seen a single price point for an upgrade price? The answer is no, because the system is simply not set up like this. The existing customer price will be the standard $75 off for 10+ months into agreement, $150 off for 22+ months, and the full $150 off + any rebates for those that qualify and have have the same device for 24+ months, which is essentially new customer pricing. Premier & White Glove customers also qualify for essentially new customer pricing at the 12 month mark, just as with any other device. To hint that there would be a single price point for any customer that wanted to upgrade is simply incorrect, and anyone as familiar with Sprint as BGR should be, knows that the system just isn't set up to allow for that.



Here's how the Upgrade Eligibility works:

• Customers are eligible for $150.00 after 22 months, 23 calendar months instead of 24 months, 25 calendar months.


• Customer's eligibility date for the new program is based on Rebate Life on File.


• However, once a customer takes advantage of a rebate under the new program, the new eligibility date is based on the last rebate received.


• Customers rebate eligibility is not reset when they upgrade the phone unless they receive an equipment discount at the time of upgrade.

Other program qualifiers include:

• Requires a 1-year or 2-year contract.


• Account must be in good standing with no unpaid past due balance.


• The Monthly Recurring Charge (MRC) on the primary line must be $34.99 or higher without add-ons.


• Customers must keep the phone activated on the upgraded or activated line for at least 30 days in order to receive their Mail-In Rebate.


• If you receive a request to flip-flop the new phone to a different line within 30 days of activation or upgrade, advise the customer that this action will result in loss of their Mail-In Rebate. If the customer wishes to continue with the flip-flop after this impact has been explained, proceed with the transaction

• Upgrade fee of up to $18.00 in Care, Retail, Indirect and Telesales and $0.00 online.


• Employees are eligible for mail-in rebates.


• Customers are eligible to receive a mail-in rebate.


• Mail-in follows the same eligibility requirements as Instant.


• Intra-company upgrades are eligible for the New for You Program.

Customer's can receive the additional mail-in rebates overlays that exist outside the New for You Program.

• A customer who is eligible for the $150.00 instant rebate is eligible for any additional mail-in rebate overlays.

Bad BGR for spreading such rumors that are obviouly not true, despite how many 'hits' it brings to your site. I only know this because I had no less than 50 messages this evening asking if I'd seen the post on your site. Me! And while everyone knows I'm not giving away the pricing or the date, I think they do realize that I'm not gonig to allow such silly rumors to be told without a word to the wiser. There's no need to scare away potential Pre owners with such crazy scenarios, when in reality Sprint would like to see a Pre in as many hands as possible. I've got more to say on the subject, but I wanted to get this posted to may dispell any harm that your post may do.

All About the Discount - NVP, that is.

Some one sent me a message asking about the NVP discount that we offer to employees of companies that have accounts with Sprint. More specifically, this person received conflicting answers from many different employees as to whether or not the discount would apply to his particular plan. I began replying, however very soon the short note back had become several sections long and it was apparent that this would be a great topic that a lot of people may have questions about, or are maybe not aware of what exactly is involved in the process and why it can take up to 60 days (1-2 cycles) to reflect on your bill. Oh, and of course - which plans the discount does not apply to.

Essentially (and in terms that don’t give away anything internally that shouldn’t be), here is how the NVP Discount program works & what the process is & some other info that may help to understand all about NVP Discounts:

What is NVP? It stands for Sprint’s National Value Program, and it allows business customers(& employees) to receive set discounts on their MRC (Monthly Recurring Charges) each month on their bill/invoice.

But I’m an individual, what gives with this Corporate Classiication? There are four primary account types that pertain to NVP Discounts: NOTE: Standard consumer/consumer accounts  MUST be converted Corp/IL type accounts as a part of the discount process. You’ll see why later.

1.  Corporate/Corporate Individual (i.e. someone who works for a company like General Motors or JC Penney’s whose company has a business agreement with Sprint, and has a Nextel device)

2.  Corporate/Corporate Individual (CDMA workaround) (someone who works for a company like General Motors or JC Penney’s whose company has a business agreement with Sprint, and has a Sprint device)

3.  Public Sector/Gov’t Individual (police officer, fireman, teacher, or someone in the public sector whose company has a business agreement with Sprint, and has a Nextel device)

4.  Public Sector/Gov’t Individual (CDMA workaround) (police officer, fireman or someone in the public sector whose company has a business agreement with Sprint, and has a Sprint device)

NVP is synonymous with ‘Company Discount’, ‘EVP’,  and ‘Employee Discount’ as different terms are used to describe the program in different areas, however they all reference the NVP Program/Discount.

Let’s start at the beginning. You have to get the discount added to your account. You can do this online (http://sprint.p.delivery.net/m/p/nxt/ais/wdyw.asp), via echat (http://www.sprint.com/chat) or via customer care (*2 from your handset). You can either tell the agent which company you work for and they can look up the NVP code for you, or you may already have the code from your employer/group.

It’s important to note that no matter what normal method you use to request your discount, it is not added real time. The agent will simply fill out a web-based form with all of your information, including the discount amount and code, and it is then submitted to a special back office team for processing. After the form is submitted the agent will read this to you(often paraphrased):

This is generally where the fun begins. In short, a special back office team receives the request in the form of a case/ticket and works them generally in the order received. Now, if you want to understand what goes on behind the scenes, here’s a good place to start:

To receive the discount, the customer’s account has to be attached to the sponsoring company’s ‘hierarchy’. This creates two common scenarios that customers are not often aware of:

• 
  
  Changes the billing cycle for the customer to match that of the sponsoring company. Everyone receiving the discount under a particular company will have the same bill cycle.


• 
  
  Can create partial-month charges (these will process one day after the customer’s current cycle).

Upon receipt, the discount form (now a ticket/case in the que) is assigned to be worked on the first day after the current billing cycle. This is what creates a lot of confusion, as if it’s toward the end of your cycle then your request will be processed in as little as a couple of days; or if you just started your billing cycle at the time of requesting the discount, it could be as long as almost a full month before your request is even processed. You won’t be able to speed this up, so as much as you don’t like it – it is what it is. You are told of this 30-60 day process when requesting the discount, and frankly no one you can speak with will have the ability to change it once the request has been submitted.

Once your current billing cycle ends, the very next day your request will be processed in the billing system. The account will be converted from an Individual/Individual account type to a Corporate/Individual account type. Your bill cycle will be matched to that of the sponsoring company. Since your billing cycle has just began on this day, that means if it happens to only be a day or two away, that you will receive a partial month bill for a few dollars for those few days on your ‘old’ billing cycle – this also means that if it’s almost a full month before the company’s billing cycle starts, that your partial month bill could be almost your full normal bill.

• NVP(IL) Discounts are bases on the volume of sprint account


• A valid email address is required to process the request. This will only be used to notify you on the status of the discount(confirmation or follow-up). A Corporate email address is preferred, as this speeds up the validation process. The customer will receive a confirmation email, but not immediately. It will detail the discount amount as well as any partial month charges.

Here are the restrictions places on the NVP Discount Program Eligibility:

• 
  
  The online form used to submit NVP Requests is only a portal which creates a ticket/case for a separate back office team to process. It’s important to remember this is NOT a real-time change.


• 
  
  The back office team will reject any case that does not meet eligibility, requirement regardless of any other statements made at the time of case submission.

Here they are:

• Account requesting discount must be a valid IL/Subtype combination
  
  
  
  • IL/Third Party Employee is NOT a valid type for NVP
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • IL/Phone Connections (SERO) is not a valid type for NVP
  
  
  
  


• 
  
  CorpID provided must be a  valid _Z* extension (i.e. _ZZZ, _ZZM, ZZZ P2, etc…)


• 
  
  Account must be in good standing (no NPD or other suspended status)


• 
  
  Contact making request must be the listed BAN owner

Even though a BAN has been qualified for a discount, there are certain price plans and charges that the NVP Discount will NOT apply to:

• 
  
  Any Month-to-Month Plan


• 
  
  $99.99 Simply Everything Individual Plan


• 
  
  $89.99 Simply Everything Multi-Lines (2+)


• 
  
  $29.99 Basic 200 Plan


• 
  
  $39.99 Blackberry Unlimited attachable plan.


• 
  
  $50 Free and Clear Area-Wide 1000


• 
  
  $59.99 Unlimited Data Plan (Connection Cards)


• 
  
  $90 Unlimited Access Pack


• 
  
  $119 Unlimited Access Pack


• 
  
  $149.99 Unlimited Access Pack


• 
  
  TEP/ERP/ESRP Monthly Charge

Q. If I submit a web form and the customer's current bill cycle is today what will happen?

A. After the form submission the web form will be sent directly to the back office group for processing without any delay.

Q. What communication does the customer receive when we include their email address?

A. You can assure the customer that their email will NOT be used for any solicitation. Customer will receive a brief initial email (after you submit the form) thanking them for participating in the discount program and second and final email just before they get their invoice with any changes that were made to their account (i.e. account and/or bill cycle change, discount percentage).

Q. Do I give the customer the case number once I have submitted the web form?

A. No.  From the customer's point of view you have completed their request and they will get the discount on their next invoice.  The case number is for internal purposes only.

Q. If the customer is already on a hierarchy, can I still use the web form?

A. Yes.  The web form can be used for any consumer (wants to get a discount) or individual liable (wanting to change the company) customer.  It does not matter that they are already on a hierarchy.

Q.  Is this discount off the entire invoice?

A. No, the NVP discount is only applicable on the MRC for the plan.

If you have other questions regarding how the NVP/Employer discount works, comments are open! The process is fairly straightforward, and anyone can qualify for the Credit Union discount, which is a base 10% off with no verification, simply by saying you use a credit union!

Sprint Mobile Email Maintenance Tonight

Mobile Email Maintenance Alert

Just a quick note for all Sprint Mobile Email users - there will be a 1 hour maintenance window tonight from 11PM - 12AM (Central Time). Mobile Email may be unavailable for this short periods during this time. While most of you will never notice, it's good to be able to plan, just in case.

Palm Pre Release Date Quickie

Don't get all excited(yet). I just wanted to remind folks that are going bananas over the release date of the Palm Pre, and whether it's too close to 'this date' or 'that event' or all of the other similar things that are spreading around the world... take a look back at the history of Sprint device releases, and i'm sure you'll see a pattern, and it's certainly not by chance that it happens that way. The launch date for devices is generally on a Sunday for retail - but you must also remember that these devices are always available via direct ship channels (i.e. Telesales) on the Thursday before.

I am NOT saying the device will launch on a Sunday, but only if it was to be a standard Sunday launch process, then you could order the device at 6 o'clock Thursday morning, and have it in your hands by Friday afternoon. So keep that in mind when you're attempting to rule particular days in or out just because some event is either too close or too far away from whatever date you've picked.

What I CAN say is that all of our retail stores were assigned product ambassadors who will not only receive a Pre that they will get to keep, but in the email they received, it detailed how many weeks before launch certain things would happen (like being selected as an ambassador, phone shipped, begin demo'ing, etc...) .. so if you know anyone that got one of those emails, then you will come much closer to narrowing down the date :)

Palm Pre Quick Tests Error Code Matrix

For all the tech-savy fans, here's one for your bookmarks...

Palm Pre Quick Tests Error Code Matrix

Launcher > Device Info > More Info > Menu > Quick Tests

Area	Code	Reason	Action
Memory	1	memory allocation error	The phone has a hardware problem. Exchange the phone and note error code in account.
	2	memory test failed	The phone has a hardware problem. Exchange the phone and note error code in account.
	3	file read/write failed	1.     Perform a Restart 2.     Run Quick Tests to see if error occurs again 3.     If the error occurs again, advise the customer to run the Recovery Tool 4.     Run Quick Tests again to see if error occurs 5.     If it occurs again, exchange the phone and note error code in account
	100	operating system error	1.     Close Quick Tests application and re-open to run again 2.     If the error occurs again, perform a Restart 3.     Run Quick Tests again to see if error occurs 4.     If the error occurs again, advise the customer to run the Recovery Tool 5.     Run Quick Tests again to see if error occurs 6.     If it occurs again, the phone has an operating system issue. Exchange the phone and note error code in account.
Wi-Fi	1	no response from gateway	1.     Turn Wi-Fi off and back on and try to reconnect 2.     Perform a Restart 3.     If unable to connect, advise customer to try connecting to a different Wi-Fi network 4.     Advise customer to troubleshoot their Wi-Fi Home network (this error generally points to a home network issue)
	2	invalid IP address	1.     Turn Wi-Fi off and back on and try to reconnect 2.     Perform a Restart 3.     If unable to connect, advise customer to try connecting to a different Wi-Fi network 4.     Advise customer to troubleshoot their Wi-Fi Home network (this error generally points to a home network issue)
	3	invalid MAC address on phone	1.     Close Quick Tests application and re-open to run again 2.     If the error occurs again, exchange the phone and note error code in account
	25	valid MAC, not registered on a network	1.     Turn Wi-Fi off and back on and try to reconnect 2.     Perform a Restart 3.     If unable to connect, advise customer to try connecting to a different Wi-Fi network 4.     Advise customer to troubleshoot their Wi-Fi Home network (this error generally points to a home network issue)
	100	operating system error	1.     Close Quick Tests application and re-open to run again 2.     If the error occurs again, perform a Restart 3.     Run Quick Tests again to see if error occurs 4.     If the error occurs again, advise the customer to run the Recovery Tool 5.     Run Quick Tests again to see if error occurs 6.     If it occurs again, the phone has an operating system issue. Exchange the phone and note error code in account.
	1000	Wi-Fi is disabled (or off)	Ask customer to turn Wi-Fi on and run Quick Tests again
Bluetooth	1	invalid MAC address	The phone has a hardware problem. Exchange the phone and note error code in account.
	100	operating system error	1.     Close Quick Tests application and re-open to run again 2.     If the error occurs again, perform a Restart 3.     Run Quick Tests again to see if error occurs 4.     If the error occurs again, advise the customer to run the Recovery Tool 5.     Run Quick Tests again to see if error occurs 6.     If it occurs again, the phone has an operating system issue. Exchange the phone and note error code in account.
Modem	1	invalid IP address	1.     Turn Airplane mode on and then back off 2.     Run Quick Tests again to see if error occurs 3.     If the error occurs again, advise customer to perform a Partial Erase 4.     Run Quick Tests again to see if error occurs 5.     If the error occurs again, advise the customer to run the Recovery Tool 6.     Run Quick Tests again to see if error occurs 7.     If it occurs again, exchange the phone and note error code in account
	20	no data connection	1.     Check to see if customer is roaming. If they are, advise them they need to be in Sprint coverage for a data connection to work. 2.     Verify there are no known network issues. 3.     Turn Airplane mode on and then back off 4.     Run Quick Tests again to see if error occurs 5.     If the error occurs again, advise customer to perform a Partial Erase 6.     Run Quick Tests again to see if error occurs 7.     If the error occurs again, advise the customer to run the Recovery Tool 8.     Run Quick Tests again to see if error occurs 9.     If it occurs again, exchange the phone and note error code in account
	100	operating system error	1.     Close Quick Tests application and re-open to run again 2.     If the error occurs again, perform a Restart 3.     Run Quick Tests again to see if error occurs 4.     If the error occurs again, advise the customer to run the Recovery Tool 5.     Run Quick Tests again to see if error occurs 6.     If it occurs again, the phone has an operating system issue. Exchange the phone and note error code in account.
	1000	Non-provisioned phone	1.     Verify account has correct plan and is provisioned correctly 2.     Perform ##RTN 3.     Run Quick Tests again to see if error occurs 4.     If the error occurs again, advise the customer to run the Recovery Tool 5.     Run Quick Tests again to see if error 6.     If it occurs again, exchange the phone and note error code in account occurs

Ask I.S.N: How Do AT&T Plans Compare to Sprint Palm Pre Plans?

Ask Inside.Sprint.Now!

First, let me say that over the past couple of months I've had around 30 visitors a day to my blog - So you'll have to bear with me while I try to process this crazy influx of madness over what I thought was going to be some general FAQ about the Pre. Turns out over 8,600 of you visited here yesterday (!really? it was just some general info.. nothing earth shattering!) so I hope you'll understand when it takes me just a bit to respond to comments and the like. There was one comment that I started replying to, but the answer got to be too long to be an effective comment, and I was afraid it'd be overlooked, so I created a post just for it. I've called it 'Ask I.S.N(Inside.Sprint.Now) and if anyone wants to email me a question or two that might be something that's beneficial to a lot of folks, I might do one every day or two, that all depends on how much time I have. Here's the one comment I picked that I felt could use some clarification.. and I have not told the poster I was making it into a full post, so hopefully he won't mind!

Mike asks: (link to his comment)

What about a family plan where one spouse (me) wants a Palm Pre and a data plan and the other spouse (my wife) does not want to pay extra for a data plan? AT&T offers the ability to pay a flat $30/mth on our existing shared (non-data) plan for a data plan for one spouse which results in a combined monthly cost of $99 ($69 for shared plan + $30 for single line’s data plan). I don’t see anything like this in your post. Will Sprint have something like this for those of us wanting just one Palm Pre on a shared plan?

Mike, I'm glad you asked!

Based on your pricing, I'll assume you have the 700 Minute Shared Plan for $69.99/mo with AT&T which includes:

• 
  
  700 Anytime Minutes


• 
  
  Nights & Weekends 9PM-6AM

You stated you could add a data package to one line for $30, leaving the other as is, with only voice usage. That gives you minutes and data for $99.99 – Let’s compare apples to apples though – the AT&T plan is very barebones, and requires buy-ups in order to even compare to a Sprint plan for the Pre, here’s what you’ve have to add:

$16.99 for N/W at 7PM(REALLY?), $9.99/mo for Navigation(per/ln), $1.99/mo for standard voicemail features(per/ln), $30/mo for unlimited messaging(per/acct), $15/mo for Mobile TV Basic(per/ln) – and after all that you still only have data on 1 line! It’d be yet another $30 to add on to the second(assuming PDA too), right?

That’s $230.94/month for 700 minutes, N&W 7PM, Navigation, Enhanced Voicemail, Unlimited Text & Data, and Mobile TV Basic. Even if you left some of these features off (that are included with Sprint) you’d still not come close to the same value, in my opinion (albeit a bit skewed).

How’s that compare to Sprint? As you know we make it easy. It’s SO easy, in fact – Everything’s included! It’s just there! It just works! No worries about using some cool feature of your new phone b/c you might get a $62,000 bill next month cause you were watching more than your allotted 42 seconds of bloopersTV for the month(or whatever your vice may be) Here’s a few options:

(#1) – Everything Data Share 1500

• 
  
  1500 Min/Shared, Unlimited Data & Messaging (Text, Picture, & Video)


• 
  
  N&W 7P-7A, Complete Voicemail, GPS/Navigation, TV Premier, Mobile Email


• 
  
  $129.99 (includes both lines)(or less with employer/credit union discount)

For (#1) above, you’ve more than doubled your minutes, gave both phones access to everything they were built to do, and tons more features than with AT&T.

So, maybe you say the wife just does NOT use the internet, and has no need for it? Absolutely no messages either?  We could even do something like this:

(#2) – Everything Data 450(you) / Talk 450(her)

• 
  
  You on a Everything Data 450 Plan, including all the same features of the data plan above, only change is 450 minutes. $69.99


• 
  
  Her on a Talk 450 Plan, includes unlimited mobile to mobile, N&W 7P-7A, LD/No Roaming. $39.99

This (#2) would give you each a plan totaling 200 more minutes than you had before, gives your nights and weekends at 7PM, AND you get messaging with your data, and the total is still only $109.98 (before any discounts, which you can get 10% just for telling us you bank at a credit union).

So I guess my question to you, is how can you afford to stay with AT&T  knowing how much more you’d get here, for so much less? Even if you just did the 69.99/plan +$30 Data(1 line)+$30 Messaging(shared) - you're still paying more and getting less, and your night&weekend minutes would not start until 9PM(-6AM) !

In all seriousness, if I’m missing something in the math here, or there are just features that you absolutely don’t use (like TV) then let me know and we can take a look, but when you compare apples to apples, we beat AT&T in every way that I’ve worked it.

Palm Pre Monthly Service Plans

Lots of folks have been looking for some clarification on the service plan options for the upcoming Palm Pre… who am I to disappoint? So here are the options that users will have to choose from (whether you’re a new or existing customer, the options are the same):

Simply Everything – Individual or Family/Shared

• $99/1st for Individual & $89/2nd+ for family/shared

Everything Data – Individual Plans

• 450 Min - $69.99


• 900 Min - $89.99

Everything Data Family – Shared Plans

• 1500 Min - $129.99 (lines 1&2) / $19.99 each(lines 3-5)


• 3000 Min - $169.99 (lines 1&2) / $19.99 each(lines 3-5)

Business Essentials Msg & Data – Individual/Pooled

• 0 Min - $55.00 (1 line) / $55 per add-a-phone (40¢/min)


• 400 Min - $69.99 (1 line) / $55 per add-a-phone


• 1000 Min - $89.99 (1 line) / $55 per add-a-phone


• 1400 Min - $109.99 (1 line) / $55 per add-a-phone


• 2000 Min - $129.99 (1 line) / $55 per add-a-phone


• 3000 Min – $179.99 (1 line) / $55 per add-a-phone


• 4000 Min - $229.99 (1 line) / $55 per add-a-phone

And for the most frequently asked question of the day…

What about my SERO plan? – You’ll have to switch to the EPRP program if you want the Palm Pre. I know you don’t want to hear that, but that’s the way it is, and I can’t see it changing considering the push behind it.

Oh – and WOW at all the places that picked up my Pre FAQ post… thanks to everyone that’s visited the blog from all the other places online, but in reality I’m just a person with a blog that occasionally likes to write about what’s going on. I’m much more active on our internal blog than I am on here, so that’s why you don’t see a lot of posts on here.. as I’ve usually already posted it once, and don’t have the time to do it all again for the public side, despite that most of you call can’t see that anyways, but i digress. Oh, and why does everyone immediately assume I’m a guy just because I’m a geek?

Some Palm Pre Questions

Despite the fact that all of us that know the actual release date of the device are bound by a NDA and our job titles, we all know that it’s going to be soon… so I figured it might be nice to answer a few FAQ before it arrives. Here’s some questions and facts and how-to’s that might answer some of the questions or curiosity about the Palm Pre!

On the Palm Touchstone charging dock

What is it? It's a new type of charger that does not require that the Pre be plugged in, or attached to any wires, it simply rests on the touchstone charger. The charger itself is, of course, required to be plugged into an outlet.

What happens if you receive a call while the phone is charging on the Touchstone?

• You can pick up the Pre and it will automatically answer!


• You can leave it on the Touchstone and it will automatically answer in speakerphone mode if you choose.

IMPORTANT: The Touchstone charger is purchased separately, it DOES NOT come in the box with the device. Touchstone is the name of the line of products, not a name solely for the charging device. All Touchstone products will have the branding of 'Touchstone (product)'.

Why is it called webOS?

OS stands for operating system. So, the reason this is called webOS is that the operating system is completely connected to the Web. Some of the older operating systems required a connection to the computer. In order to provide a great mobile experience, as well as perform the functions of the phone, Palm had to create a new operating system from scratch.

What are some of the customer benefits to this?

• No need to have a cord available.


• No need to have a computer available.


• Can update data almost anytime and anywhere.

During initial setup, the webOS platform creates a Palm profile. This profile gives customers access to critical Palm services to:

• Update device software.


• Download new applications from the App Catalog.


• Restore calendar and contacts data and applications downloaded from the App Catalog.


• Erase calendars, contacts, and other data through a remote wipe.

Will webOS work if it is not connected?

Contacts is an example of an application that can use data from the Internet and from internal storage. In this example, Contacts can get data from a Facebook account. It retrieves this data through its Internet connection. Now, what happens if there is no data connection? Let’s say the customer is on an airplane and has all the radios turned off. Contacts will simply pull the data from on-phone storage so that you can still see your contacts.

Do I have to get a new plan?

There are three categories of service plans for this phone—individual, shared, and pooled plans. Some of these plans are existing and some of them are new. In short, the device will require either a Simply Everything/Everything Data Plan or a Business Essentials Data Plan. (UPDATED THE VERBIAGE, AS I HAD THE WORD 'SIMPLY' BEORE 'EVERYTHING DATA PLAN', SORRY BOUT THAT-SEE NEXT POST ABOUT PLAN OPTIONS IN DETAIL) Even if you are an existing customer, you must switch to one of the approved plans. Remember that the Pre phone requires a data plan to activate the phone, and this is a system function that is unable to be bypassed.

REMEMBER: The Pre phone will not have a Phone as Modem plan option.

Unboxing and First Use:

First Use configures the phone for use, and walks you(the new owner!) through creating a Palm Profile, and introduces some basic gestures. Remember, the account must be active and the phone must be provisioned before the phone will begin the First Use experience. The customer must complete First Use and agree to the Palm Terms and Conditions. If the customer does not complete these steps, the phone will not work. If the customer does not want to complete the step0.0.0s, he/she can return it to the place of purchase.

Gestures

• The back gesture is a light, quick flick from right to left in the area below the screen.


• The delete gesture is a light, quick flick from the left to the right or from the right to the left over a message or notification.

Using 'Cards':

Cards are an easy system for managing applications. Each application is a card. As you open more applications, more cards will open. Think of it this way. It’s a window or screen in an application that minimizes to appear as a card when the user presses the center button. You can have several applications open and running all at the same time and flip between them. Imagine them to be like you’re holding playing cards in your hand, where you can fan them out and scan between them. This is the concept of the card view.

When you launch an application, it will launch in full view. Say you’re in one application, and need to check another. For example you’re checking your e-mail, and need to check something in your calendar, this is where card view comes in handy. You can click on the center button to take your current application to card view. From there, you can launch the launcher view, or click on one of the applications in the Quick Launch bar.

To close a card, simply throw it up towards to the top of the screen. The card will float away and close. Don’t worry about saving anything before you throw it away; webOS saves for you. As you use the Pre phone, you’ll notice there is no save button. It automatically does that for you. For example, an email that you’re drafting will automatically be saved into the Drafts folder of that e-mail box.

Synergy

The Palm Synergy feature is a key feature of the webOS platform that brings your information from all the places it resides into one logical view.

With the Synergy feature, when there are matches of contacts, it automatically connects the information in a linked view. Once again, this link only exists on your Pre phone, using the Synergy feature. If you go to Facebook or your Exchange ActiveSync contacts separately on your computer, you will not see this linked reference.

Synergy & Email

The Email application on Pre is very robust. It supports the EAS (Exchange ActiveSync), POP3 (Post Office Protocol), and IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) protocols for sending and receiving e-mail. The webOS platform can have up to eight e-mail accounts, either EAS, POP3, or IMAP, running at the same time.

How to make Sent Items to show up in Favorites?

• A yellow star next to the field of choice means that the field will be viewed in the Favorites view. So, for the sent items on their Gmail account, you would open the drop-down menu for the Gmail account, find the Sent folder and click on the star to change it to yellow. Now check your Favorites folder. You’ll see that it’s there now.

How to add an email account:

• From the main Email account screen, click on the e-mail menu in the top-left corner. Click on Preferences & Accounts, and click Add an Account.

Where would go to adjust settings on your e-mail accounts?

• From the same location in Preferences & Accounts, click on your Gmail account under the Accounts section. From here, you can change the account name, the type of notifications you’d like to receive, or not, and add a signature. Once you’re done, use the back gesture to return to the previous screen. Remember, there is no save button, but once you enter information and move on, it’s automatically saved.

Synergy & Contacts

The Contacts application allows you to manage contacts from different sources. You can sync your contacts from Exchange ActiveSync, Google, and Facebook. You can also store contacts on the phone only. You’ll notice that the application doesn’t distinguish between accounts. Thanks to the Synergy feature, all your contacts are displayed in a single list.

How did you know where to find out whether Google is one of your contact accounts?

• While in the Contacts home page, click on the Contacts menu in the upper-left corner and choose Preferences & Accounts. From here, you’ll see all accounts that are associated with this contact card.

How do you determine that a contact is linked through the Synergy feature?

• To the right of the contact is a picture. Layered pictures indicate a linked contact. If a contact is linked, that means that the webOS platform found two or more pieces of information that were the same in a contact from two or more accounts.

How do you change the order contacts are displayed in?

• From the same view in Preferences & Accounts, you can choose to change the sort order.

Synergy & Calendar

The Calendar application allows you to manage appointments on your Pre phone. Calendar can sync with Exchange ActiveSync, Google Calendar, and Facebook. You can also store Calendar appointments on the phone only.

The default view will show all appointments from all accounts. Each account gets assigned its own color when it’s added. Each appointment will match the color of the account it came from. Benefits include:

• Appointments from different calendars all show in one place.


• Free time is condensed but can be expanded to add a new appointment.


• Customers can be more productive with all of the calendar information on one view.


• Avoid double-booking.

How do you know if time is available when in a filtered view?

• Time occupied by appointments in other calendars is a striped grey. Plain grey timeslots are available.

How do you change the color of the account?

• You can change the assigned color by going to Menu > Preferences & Accounts > Account Name.

How do you stop synchronizing a calendar with an online account?

• You can stop synchronizing a calendar with an online account by going to Menu > Preferences & Accounts > select an account from those listed > Remove Account.

Messaging

Messaging is truly unique on the webOS platform. The Messaging application provides a single interface to manage instant messages and SMS/MMS messages.

Synergy enhances the messaging experience by displaying all messages together in chronological order. This lets you switch back and forth between IM and SMS/MMS without losing the context of the coversation. In the buddy view, you see a list of all your contacts that have an IM account and their status. In the conversation view, you see all the messages you’ve sent and received from a specific contact with a label indicating whether that message was sent via IM or SMS/MMS.

• Can continue an IM chat on the phone through SMS.


• Don’t have to search in different places for information from a chat or IM.

Universal Search

Universal Search finds applications and contacts. Information is filtered as you type more letters. The first letter entered brings up phone applications. The second letter will layer in local contacts on the phone (and files if you have any). If any applications also have the second letter they will remain in the search options. Once you go past anything contained on the phone, the Pre phone abandons the local search and gives you the Web options.

How can you use Universal Search to save time?

• Search for contacts rather than scrolling through a contact list.


• Search for applications or Web sites.


• Search for possible answers on one of three Web sites if not found on the phone.

What about the data on my old Palm?

webOS is designed to not be connected to a computer for data synchronization – the Synergy feature takes care of that. However, the first time customers use the Pre phone, they may have data on their computer that they would like to import. That’s where the Data Transfer Assistant comes in. Let’s learn more about how customers migrate data to the Pre phone as they get set up using the phone.

It is important not to think of the DTA as synchronization software. It only moves data onto the phone. It does not move data from the phone to the computer.

On the phone, customers have the choice of integrating their data with an account using the Synergy feature, such as Gmail or Facebook, or leaving it on the phone for backup using the Backup service.

Backup Options

The Backup service automatically backs up preferences and account settings. It does not back up individual files or items. For example, if you have 15 e-mails in your inbox, the e-mails are not backed up.

Backup does back up the account information used to access that inbox. It also backs up any preferences you store inside the application. For example, if you change the alert settings for a Calendar account, those settings will be backed up.

Third-party applications added to the phone are backed up. These items are backed up automatically each day. Customers can also initiate a manual backup.

When is a backup restored?

• Automatically restores data after an Erase or Device Exchange by signing in to the Palm profile.

How do customers delete their backup?

• If auto-backup is disabled, the current backup is immediately deleted from service.

What information is stored in a backup?

• Contacts stored directly on the phone (not those synchronized through the Synergy feature).


• Calendars.


• Account settings.


• Downloaded applications.

Camera, Photos & Video

How do you adjust the flash settings?

• The camera is automatically set up to recognize if a flash is needed. To change the settings, and turn off the Auto setting located on the screen.

What type of file is the picture saved as?

• Photos save as .jpgs

How do you fast-forward or rewind through a video?

• Tap the circle on the player bar and move forward orbackward, releasing where you want the video to resume play.

Can you watch a video in portrait mode?

• No. Videos must be viewed in landscape mode.

What video formats are supported?

• The Videos application supports MPEG-4, H.263, H.264. DRM-protected video files are not supported.

Amazon MP3's

How do I get credit for a download?

• All transactions are handled by Amazon. You can also access your download history from your account on amazon.com after logging in.

Where is downloaded Amazon music stored on the phone?

• MP3s are stored on the mass storage partition.

Will downloaded songs be backed up automatically?

• No, you must access and back up files via the USB Disk mode.

Web Browser

Does Flash work in the Web application?

• No, as we learned earlier, the Web browser supports JavaScript, Secure Socket Layer (SSL), and cookies, but does not support plug-ins (Flash, Shockwave, VBScript, WML script, and so on) or Java applets.

How do you delete bookmarks?

• Open the Application menu and tap Bookmarks. Swipe the bookmark off the side of the screen and tap Delete.

Can you select/highlight text on a Web page?

• No.

What other options are under the Applications menu?

• You can clear cache, clear cookies, clear history, toggle on/off, block popups, accept cookies, and run JavaScript.

How can I know if Google Maps is using Cell or Wi-Fi ID or GPS?

• If the map shows an outer circle either Cell ID or Wi-Fi ID is being used to determine the phone’s location. If the map shows a dot by itself, it means either Standard GPS or Assisted GPS is being used to determine the phone’s location.

Sprint Applications

The Pre phone does NOT support Sprint Music, Sprint PictureMail, or Sprint Digital Lounge.

Resets

Resets are much different on the Pre phone than other smartphone or PDA phones you are familiar with. Even the language is different—out are terms like soft and hard reset; they’re replaced with terms like Restart, Partial Erase, and Full Erase.

Saving Battery

• Turn-off the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios when not in use.


• Charge frequently and often! Batteries perform better when charged frequently.


• Make sure a data-intensive app isn't running in the background (e.g., Music).


• Log out of IM apps if they’re not in use.


• Adjust the screen brightness.


• Check your signal strength - fringe coverage between 3G and 1xRTT will use more power.


• Reduce the frequency of syncing on e-mail accounts.


• Waking the screen often will use more power (e.g. opening and closing the slider).

And finally….using your Pre for a long time? Seem sluggish? Here’s the fix:

So… there you have it! I’ve used the Pre a few times now, and I’m very impressed – despite the lack of the touchstone charger in the box. If you take that out of the equation, the only actual device complaint is the inability to select/hilight text on a webpage – ALTHOUGH you can send a screencap/image of any page you’re viewing, so that’s *almost* the next best thing, and it has worked really well when I’ve tried it so far. So how about it.. .ready for the Palm Pre ?

Feel free to comment below, or take it to the forum over at SprintGurus as they have some of the in-the-know and knowledgeable folks around, here's the link to the topic: http://sprintgurus.com/forum/showthread.php?t=315

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