Looks like Palm’s first Pixi update has an air of exclusivity to it. WebOS 1.3.2 is being released to the somewhat washed, non-slider masses, while Pre owners are so far left toying with 1.3.1. Not a huge loss, it seems, as no one is yet certain what this update does. Still, if you got a P ixi, look for the over-the-air warni ng lights to go on.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Even in a world full of racket, it seems that the squeaky wheel still gets the grease. In yet another blow to this whole “cloud” agenda, a vocal segment of Palm users began to notice that information transferred from their online Palm Profile was only a fraction of what it should ha ve been. Toda y, both Palm and Sprint have issue d a joint statement acknowledging the issue and promising to work much, much harder in order to avoid having something like this ruin your life once again. To quote:
“We are seeing a small n umber of customers who have experienced issues transferring their Palm Profile information to another Palm webOS device. Palm and Sprint are working closely together to support these customers to successfully transfer their information to the new device.” Between this mess and the T-Mobile fiasco, we’re pretty certain we’re being forced to stay on the manual bac kup bandwagon for the foreseeable future.

[Thanks, Mike]

Several Palm Pre customers have reported major problems with their handset’s online backup system, resulting in the loss of phone numbers, calendar events, memos and other data.

The issue stems from corrupted backups, according to Pre enthusiast blog PreCentral. The Pre backs up its data as a “Palm Profile” online, and it only stores the most recent backup. That means if the most recent backup becomes corrupt, Pre owners could not rev ert to an earlier, non-corrupt profile.

“We are seeing a small number of customers who have experienced issues transferring their Pal m Profile information to anoth er Palm webOS device,” a Palm spokesman said in a statement. “Palm and Sprint are working closely together to support these customers to successfully transfer their information to the new device.”

Though Palm says on ly a small number of customers were affected, the PreCentral blog said it had recei ved several tips throughout the day suggesting this was a widespread i ssue. Recently, T-Mobile Sidekick owners faced a similar problem. Microsoft, T-Mobile and Danger hosted the data of all of T-Mobile’s Sidekick users in the cloud, and recently the server crashed, losing everything. These incidents are rare, but they underscore the risk of trusting a third party to secure your data over the web.

Via DaringFireball

See Also:

6 Reasons Why the Palm Pre Is SpecialPalm PreApple Blocks Palm Pre iTunes Syncing Agai nNothing Unusual in Palm Pre Return Rates, Say Analysts

If you like your softw are homebrewed with just a hint of alpha then boy do we have an app for you. The WebOS homebrew community just released Precorder; an app that lets your Palm Pre record audio and 30fps 480×320 pixel video in H.264/AVC format — you can can even control the built-in LED for recording in low-light situations. Unfortunately, there’s no video preview pre sented while recording but hey, it’s alpha software bro… and it’s free. Check a video sample after the break.

We’ve just been alerted to an unsettling trend in Palm Pre l and, where strings of replacement devices are a bit too common for comfort: some users have been losing their Palm Profile backup, or a large majority of it, once they pair up their new device. The big issue is that since this problem is rather sporadic, Palm doesn’t seem to have a go od way to deal with it yet — the trend in the forums seems to be a complaint sent to Palm, followed up by word of an inability to restore data from Palm a few weeks later. Lucky for these hapless Pre replacers, a particularly repeat offender (working on his seventh Pre) has posted instructions for making sure this sort of data loss doesn’t happe n to you. His theory is that it has something to do with a refurbis hed device loaded with an old firmware trying to sync with the newer-firmware-styled backup y our dead device made with Palm’s servers, and messing stuff up in the process. He recommen ds walking out of the store before Sprint tries to trip you up, and upgrading and wiping the phone before reactivating it and syncing. Sound s foolproof enough, right? Let’s hope.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Have you had any problems with restoring a Palm Pre profile?

Haven’t had to replace my PreReplaced my Pre and synced up just fineYeah, I lost data to a Palm Profile “restore”I’m a genius and figured out a foolproof restore method alreadyI don’t have a PreVote

The Palm Pre is out of sync with Apple’s iTunes software yet again.

Apple’s latest version of iTunes (9.0.2) that rolled out Thursday evening breaks the Palm Pre’s ability to sync with iTunes software. The development should be no surprise to Palm Pre owners using iTunes, as it is the third time this year that Apple has disabled the Pre from syncing its multimedia with iTunes.

“Unfortunately, Palm has brought down the ire of Apple because of the way they have decided to make it very easy to sync the Pre to iTunes,” says Chris Hazelton, research director for mobile and wireless at analyst firm The 451 Group. “A better, if more difficult, way to go about the whole thing would be for Palm to build its own sync software though they may not have the time or assets to do it.”

Of course, the simplest solution for Palm Pre owners is to not download the iTunes software update and stick with the older version with functional syncing. Still, the implication of Apple’s move is this could create a bigger headache for Palm Pre customers later down the road — when Apple adds new features to future versions of iTunes and presumably continues “crippling” the Pre.

When Palm first introduced the Pre earlier this year, a key feature was the device’s ability to easily sync music with iTunes through the USB port. The feature was a clever trick on Palm’s part. Palm masked the Pre’s identity to iTunes.

“What Palm did was identify the Pre as a recognizable device for iTunes so iTunes treats it like an iPod, which also meant Palm didn’t have to write a separate application to do this,” Hazelton said.

It didn’t take long for Apple to take action against Palm. Barely a month after the Pre’s launch in June, Apple disabled the Pre’s sync feature through an iTunes update. Palm responded by offering a patch for its webOS operating system that would fix the problem. But another iTunes update in September broke Pre compatibility again.

Meanwhile, Apple complained to the USB Implementers Forum, an industry standards group about the Pre’s deception. The forum ruled largely against Palm and asked it to “clarify its intent.” It wasn’t enough to dissuade Palm.

Now with the release of yet another iTunes update, Palm is back to square one. Patching the sync feature again is one of Palm’s choices — one that the company can keep doing. But it also risks losing the confidence of consumers.

Pre user Jake Lazaroff says the Pre’s problems with iTunes sync has turned him away from using the feature completely on his phone. Instead, Lazaroff has opted to use doubleTwist media sync software for his music.

“Palm thinks this is a cat-and-mouse game they are playing with Apple but it is really Pre users who are affected,” he says. “I don’t use sync so [I] am not angry with Palm but I can see how someone might be a little frustrated with them.”

Finding a fix to the issue is easy. Palm could make its own media sync software, much like its competitors, Research In Motion and Nokia. Last year, RIM introduced BlackBerry Media Sync, software that allows iTunes users to sync their DRM-free music files with their BlackBerry media players. The software greatly simplifies how BlackBerry users interact with iTunes.

Palm needs to reassess its strategy and devote resources to creating a similar app for the Pre, Hazelton said. Or the company could partner, or acquire, DoubleTwist or other media sync software players, he suggests.

“There are alternatives and it’s time now for Palm to start exploring some of them,” Hazelton said.

Lazaroff says he doesn’t blame Apple for the problem with Palm Pre’s sync feature.

“No one is forcing Palm to use iTunes,” he says. “Apple has no obligation to make sure the Pre syncs to iTunes at all times.”

See Also:

6 Reasons Why the Palm Pre Is SpecialPalm Unveils Its Long-Awaited Smartphone, the PrePalm Eos: The Successor to Palm Pre?Nothing Unusual in Palm Pre Return Rates, Say AnalystsPalm Pre

Photo: toddmundt/Flickr