News Reporter

In this year of two thousand twelve, we've reached a point in our modern society where waiting is considered a bad thing. Patience runs thin. We don't tolerate lines, nor are we accepting of slow downloads. We get irritated if we have to wait for what we perceive as being too long for food in a restaurant, the arrival of a delivery, or for that idiot driver up ahead to make up their mind about how fast they're going to drive. All of this makes being a webOS fan an excruciating exercise in patience. It's one thing to be waiting for a device to be released after its announced. You have a general idea of when it's going to come, even if it's something vague like "first half of 2011" or "late summer". You have a time frame. Right now, as we wait on whatever's happening with Open webOS to, well, happen, we have no time frame. At least with the open sourcing process for webOS we had a roadmap. Now that the roadmap was more-or-less fully executed upon at the end of September, we've ended up in a holding pattern here in the webOS community, waiting for something - anything - to come our way. Three months ago we broke the news about HP spinning off the webOS Global Business Unit as a sort-of-independent company to be called Gram. Two months ago they moved out of the old Palm campus into a newly renovated space. And today the company still hasn't been announced, let alone discussed what they're going to do. For three months now, employees have been stuck in this sort of limbo where they can say they work for Gram, wear Gram shirts, and carry around Gram bags, but can't talk about what Gram is going to do. So we wait for Gram to become official. And we wait for the webOS-powered LG TV (maybe - maybe - seeing a debut at CES this coming January) and for webOS Professional Edition and for the Android Compatibility Layer and for… anything. read more View the full article

Earlier this week, Nokia rebranded their pretty-darn-good Nokia Maps as 'Here' and launched their maps outside of Microsoft's Bing and Windows Phone platforms (and Nokia's own much-maligned Symbian platform). What made the rebrand/relaunch interesting was that Nokia will be launching apps for Here on iOS and Firefox OS in the near future, with Android support on the horizon. Here also debuted a new online webapp so you can check out and use the service in your browser, even on smartphones. Unless it's a webOS smartphone, that is. It's not that they're deliberately dismissing webOS, no, it's that the webOS browser just isn't up to snuff anymore. Thankfully, webOS itself can handle the service, so long as it's packaged as an app. That's exactly what lauded homebrew developer 72ka decided to do. If this sounds familiar, that's because 72ka is the force behind the all-too-awesome homebrew Google Maps app. He seems to have a thing for maps apps, and considering that we're otherwise stuck with a sub-par Bing Maps app on webOS, we're okay with him having a thing for maps apps. 72ka describes the Here maps app as a "simple webview container to allow user interactions", circumventing the webOS browser's inability to permit user interactions with the Here website. And just too tickle our awesome bone a little bit further, he's planning to offer the app for free through the webOS Nation Homebrew Gallery (installable via webOS Quick Install and Preware) and it's available under the Apache open source license. There are still some things to work out - 72ka says it's an alpha at this point - including support on webOS 1.x (currently the app won't load) and fixing an awkward half-loading problem on the TouchPad. But even then, this webview container of an app is a stopgap measure. When Nokia announced Here, they said they would be releasing an API for the maps next year, which 72ka hopes to use to build a native app for webOS. But until then, if the Bing apps map doesn't do it for your and you're just sick of Google, check out Here. View the full article

With webOS synergy you can have up to 16 different email accounts loaded up on your webOS device. Choosing which email account to send a message from is only a tap away, but did you know that you can control the name (if any) that shows up on other people's email program that is attached to your email address. In most cases when communicating with friends or business associates, you probably want your actual name displayed alongside your email address. But if you are replying to a mass email with people you don't know, entering an email-based contest or sending a note to a random business/website you are not familiar with, you may not want your real name disclosed to them. Unfortunately, this change requires more than just a tap to update, but it's still pretty easy to do and can be assigned per email account, similar to how you set a reply-to address. To change your email account's "From" name: Open the Email app Swipe down from the top-left to access the Application drop-down menu and select "Preferences & Accounts" Scroll down to the ACCOUNTS section and tap the account you want to update Scroll down to the FULL NAME section and name that you want people to see when you send them an email Swipe back (on phones) or tap Done (on the TouchPad) to return to the Preferences screen If necessary, repeat for any other email accounts you want to update Swipe back (on phones) or tap Done (on the TouchPad) again to return to the email app Note that if you are listed as a contact in the recipient's email program, their name for you may override any setting that you make here. Thanks to webOS Nation reader pro2 who posing this question in our comments on a previous tip View the full article

So far, only Microsoft seems to be really interested in Windows RT. Seeming as they're the ones that are making the ARM-compatible version of Windows 8 you'd expect them to be interested, but their OEM partners? Microsoft's decision to go it alone and make their own hardware with the Surface RT tablet could be construed as indicative of the state of Windows RT, but we'll just let HP Executive Vice President and head of the massive Printing and Personal Computing division Todd Bradley say it in his own words: "It tends to be slow and a little kludgey as you use it. I just don't think it's competitive. It's expensive. Holistically, the press has made a bigger deal out of Surface than what the world has chosen to believe. If you want to go to any of the 30 Microsoft Stores in the United States to buy one, I think you should probably do that." Big words, coming from the man in charge of the then-Personal Systems Group when it launched the webOS-powered HP TouchPad more than a year ago, didn't sell it very well, and then saw it get cancelled just 49 days later. One could say that not only has Bradley soured on mobile-based operating systems (Windows RT can't run traditional Windows apps, while Windows 8 can - yeah, it's poor marketing) and maybe even ARM processors thanks to his experience with the TouchPad, but we'd say that's shortsighted. It's not in the cards right now that HP's going to produce a webOS tablet in the future, let alone the near future, but as the iPad line and a whole manner of Android-powered tablets have shown, devices with ARM chips at their core aren't a bad concept. In fact, they're a great concept. Considering how late Intel has been to the tablet-ready processors game, right now ARM's pretty much the only concept. So much so that we wouldn't be surprised if in a few years we're talking about ARM chips eating into Intel's stranglehold on the traditional PC computing market. For their part, HP's got a few Windows 8-running Intel x86-powered tablets on the way, and for Bradley's sake we hope they're not slow and kludgey - expensive wouldn't surprise us, though. And unlike Microsoft's Surface you'll probably be able to buy HP's tablets from the likes of Amazon and Best Buy, though we can't really say that's a better experience than Microsoft's dedicated retail stores. Oh, and Todd, if you want to show Microsoft what an ARM-powered tablet can do with a proper tablet operating system, don't forget what you spent a lot of money on a while back is still there, waiting for some hardware... View the full article

With webOS synergy you can have up to 16 different email accounts loaded up on your webOS device. If you are viewing an email message or browsing the listing of messages from within a folder of a specific account, when you go to create a new message or reply to an existing one the sending email account will be the one that is currently up on your device. Alternatively, if you create a new message through Just Type or tap on an email address elsewhere in the device, the email will be automatically set to be sent from you default email account. But what if that wasn't the email address you wanted to send them message from? Well, to send the email from a different account, all you need to do is tap the email address on the "FROM" row on the top of a new email message to change the sending address. There are two main reasons why you would want to use this functionality. First, as mentioned above, if you are using Just Type to being a message but don’t want to use your default email account, you can easily change it. Second, if you received an email message to one account, but wanted to reply using a different account, you don't need to jump through any hoops or find any workarounds to move the message between accounts. Just tap reply and then change the "FROM" address. This tip works on all webOS devices and versions, from the original Pre to the TouchPad. View the full article

Performing a search in webOS for a business is one of the easiest tasks, simply by performing a google search right from Just Type or by using a variety of apps that have Just Type integration. You can quickly get an address, phone number or even the hours of operation, but once you navigate off that search results page, the data is gone and would require you to perform another search in the future. While that isn’t a difficult task to repeat, some of those apps will give you option to save the result to your contact list so you can bring it up again in the future, even if you don't have a network connection. While there are quite a few apps that allow you to save a business search result as a contact, there are two that we find to work best: WhitePages and Jan Herman's (72ka) Google Maps homebrew app. WhitePages wins out in pure speed to bring up your search query, and also includes residential (people) searches as well as business searches. We have found that the Google Maps app takes a little extra time to load up before you can search, but you are rewarded with additional information in the contact record, such as hours of operation and website address. In both cases, the contact record will be added to your default synergy account To add a contact from White Pages, just perform a search, select on the result you want and then tap the button on the bottom of the screen. You will then have the option to add the phone number and address to an existing contact or create a new one. To add a contact from the Google Maps app, you also start by performing a search (from within the app, tap on the "Google Maps" section of the header bar to bring up a search box). Find the result on the map and tap the icon to bring up an additional pop-up, then select the "Info" option to view a detailed results page. Then all you need to do is tap the icon on the bottom right and choose the "Add to contacts" options in the resulting pop-up. Unlike in the WhitePages all, the only choice you have to is create a new record. WhitePages is available in the webOS App Catalog for free while Google Maps is available in the webOS Nation homebrew feed in Preware or webOS Quick Install. View the full article

Login to webOS Nation and leave a comment to this post to be entered to win a Wildcard webOS Prize Pack! Last week we rolled our new Mobile Nations Passport account system, which makes it easy for any member of webOS Nation to also participate across our other sites. With Passport, you have one account and to rule them all! In honor of the successful roll out of Passport and thanks to our awesome friends at Gogo, we're celebrating with an amazing cross site contest. Each of our sites is running a contest giving away an Ultimate Prize Pack for their platform. And thanks to Passport, you can easily enter for a shot at winning each prize pack on each site. read more View the full article

Mobile Nations Network Movember Funds Raised so far: $6,639 (USD) Welcome to our second Mobile Nations Movember update. We'll be bringing you these updates every Sunday throughout the month of Movember (formerly known as November) as we grow out our moustaches and raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer research and men's mental health issues. Our Mobile Nations effort has grown to 95 individuals from around the world taking part and together we have already raised over $6,000 for the cause. We want to end the month with over $10,000 raised, so while we are on track we still need your support! Donations can be made easily over the web. Simply jump over to our Mobile Nations Network page, click on the name of any of the individuals listed as part of the network, and hit the donate button. All funds donated to an individual will pass through to the network total. We're now 11 days into Movember, which means for most of us our moustaches have sprouted nicely, but are still a long way off from that luxurious full bloom look we seek. Some of us are having more success than others. For myself, my moustache is still looking pretty pathetic, so just yesterday followed Nick Offerman's How to Grow a Moustache Advice (and Derek Kessler's dare) and ate a raw onion to fuel my moustache growth. Watch the video at the link above to see how that all played out. Keep reading for more on Movember and to see some great moustache photos from the team! read more View the full article

Mobile Nations Podcast Feed Mobile Nations on iTunes Mobile Nations YouTube LG Nexus 4 review HTC One X+ review Should I upgrade? Galaxy Nexus versus the Nexus 4 BlackBerry 10 receives FIPS Security Certification before official release BlackBerry Beta Zone now available in 43 additional countries! 'We realised we can’t go on with a 15-year-old BlackBerry OS' - Thorsten Heins HP gives half a million bucks for platinum status with the Linux Foundation KeyiCam to use Open webOS for automated key duplication kiosks Galaxy Nexus Open webOS port goes hi-res iPad mini review and iPad 4 review The best voice recorder, weather, calculator, and stocks app alternatives for the iPad mini and iPad 4 iMore show 324: Reorganized with Ryan Block Nokia Lumia 920 Review HTC 8X Windows Phone from AT&T Unboxing What you need to know if you’re upgrading from Windows Phone 7 to 8 View the full article

Earlier today, my boss, Kevin "CrackBerry Kevin" Michaluk asked the world, "What's the best food to eat to make your moustache grow faster? Liver and Onions?" To which I, in my eternal snarkiness, flatly responded, "Raw onions, a dash of garlic." And, Kevin, being the nutcase that he is… ate a whole raw onion. In Kevin's defense, this was for a good cause, even if it was a horrible idea. I promised Kevin a $50 contribution to his Movember campaign, and because I'm a man of my word, a $50 contribution was made. All for facial hair and raising awareness of men's health issues. Just know, in this relationship, Derek wears the pants. The evil, evil pants. View the full article

Back in August, TouchPad hacking mastermind James Sullins released a really early build of CyanogenMod10 for those of us daring enough to try something that is far from stable in the Android-on-your-TouchPad world. At the time this early ROM worked but was missing several key elements like sound and hardware acceleration. Despite missing some fairly important things for the typical daily driver, James' early build showed a bunch of promise and oozed the buttery smoothness that is a staple point of Android 4.1 (aka Jellybean). However, after the initial release James disappeared, leaving us all craving for some more Jelly Bean action. After several months we were starting to think the project was dead. Then, out of seemingly nowhere, a new build of CM10 hit the interwebs and to our surprise it's amazingly stable, despite being carrying an experimental pre-alpha build label. So what has changed? First and foremost, CM10 now has sound and hardware acceleration, so Netflix and YouTube lovers will be happy with their video framerates and, well, having audio. This build also has working microphone functionality, which has been a sore spot for CyangenMod 9 TouchPad users due to the proprietary drivers needed for our beloved tablets. During our testing we have found that mic functionality is a bit finnicky, especially when trying to use Google Now. It's still pre-alpha, so take that performance with a grain of salt. Outside of that, almost every app we tried from simple Twitter apps to graphically-intensive games all worked without a hitch. With all this goodness in tow you are probably wondering why this hasn't been released as an alpha or an official nightly. Well, that's because there are several kinks that still need to be ironed out. For example, many people from the various forums following this build have experienced several different battery and charging issues. During our testing of James' newest build from November 8 we experienced fantastic battery life in comparison to what we've experienced with CM9. That said, our TouchPad on this CM10 alpha wouldn't take a charge without turning on USB debugging in Android's developer options. Don't ask us why this managed to fix the issue, but it did. In addition to battery and charging issues, users may also experience the occasional force close of an app and no camera support (no surprise on that one, and not a great loss considering the quality of the TouchPad's lone front-facing camera). Outside of the above-listed issues we have found this build of CM10 to be pretty darn stable. So much so that we probably won't be moving back to CM9 anytime soon for our Android needs. But that's only because we've already got it installed - like all things experimental (see the Open webOS porting process onto the Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone), we aren't yet ready to suggest you dive in with CM10 as a daily driver operating system. But if you are the adventerous type, just hit up the source link below for more info. As soon as something more stable is released, be prepared for full walkthrough on how to get your TouchPad up to date with CM10. If you have yet to take the plunge and dual boot your TouchPad with webOS and Android 4.0, be sure to check our our great how-to on installing CyanogenMod9 on your device. View the full article

While we've been watching with glee the progress of WebOS Ports's port of Open webOS to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, there was a part of us that cringed when we installed the phone-sized version on our Galaxy Nexus. See, the phone has a delightful 1280×720 pixel 4.65-inch screen with a beautiful 316 pixels-per-inch resolution. The webOS phone user interface images dredged up and implemented by Josh Palmer, however, were made for the 320-pixel-wide screens of every webOS smartphone debuted since 2009, excepting the HP Pre3 (itself 480 pixels across). If you're amazing at math like we are, you've likely already figured that the UI images we're talking about here (the dock background, rounded corners, etc) are less than half the size than would be required for a screen of the Galaxy Nexus's caliber. Thankfully, we've got guys working with WebOS Ports like Seth "Appstache" Goodell and Duncan "Isandunk" who are willing to step up and rebuild the graphical interface items in the proper resolution. The clunky scaled-up resolution of the UI items in question here wasn't too evident in the video we posted last week of the progress made on the Galaxy Nexus port (in truth we really just wanted to check out the keyboard), the pixelation that comes from scaling up an image by 225% was too much for our fastidious eyes and persnickety interface tastes. So the full-resolution interface elements concocted by Goodell and Duncan are visual music to our sight-spheres. There's still a lot of work to be done to make the Galaxy Nexus port truly useful, but that they're sweating the small stuff so that it looks awesome when it is ready makes us happy campers. View the full article

Announcing the winners of the Mobile Nations 2012 Halloween Costume Contest! The judges worked long and hard going through the hundreds of submissions in this year's Mobile Nations Halloween Costume Contest, and they have finally narrowed it down and chosen 10 winners! There were so many incredible entries, from funny to scary with everything in between, and all of them were super creative, so this was a really hard contest to judge! We appreciate all the pictures that were submitted, and hope that you all had as much fun entering as we did getting to see everyone. You can watch a video of the entries above, and check them all out in a gallery at the link below. (If you don't see your picture in the photo gallery or video, it's likely because it didn't have a tablet or phone in the picture. Gotta follow those rules!) Winners are posted below, with description/back story if it was included in the email . If you were one of the chosen winners, watch your email later this week for details on what you've won! Congrats everyone, see you back here next Halloween! Check out the full gallery of entries read more View the full article

Easily access all of Mobile Nations, all with one account! You can now also register and login via Facebook, Twitter, Google and Microsoft! Your most-requested feature is finally here! Instead of having to maintain separate account logins and passwords for each and every one of our five communities -- Android Central, CrackBerry, iMore, Windows Phone Central and webOS Nation -- with Mobile Nations Passport you can now access all of your favorite sites with one easy login. Now, don't worry! Even though we've unified our account management, we know and love the unique identities of each of our sites as much as you do, and we're not changing that. The power to control which sites you want your account to be associated with is still all in your hands -- we're making it easy, not automatic and certainly not mandatory. We're also maintaining your individual post history and forum profile on a site by site basis, so you get the recognition you deserve for each and every platform. The video above will give you a quick, two-minute run-down of how Mobile Nations Passport works. Watch it, and then register or, for existing members, simply login to activate your Passport now! View the full article

When you're HP, you've got money to play around with. Sure, you're not making a much money as you used to, but there's still cash sitting around with which you can do things. You can spin the webOS Global Business Unit off into a new company that's still going to rely on you for [even more] money, and you can plunk down half a million dollars to become a Platinum member of the Linux Foundation. That cool $500,000 was enough to lift HP out of their previous Gold level membership, lofting the Palo Alto company to the ranks of Fujitsu, IBM, Intel, NEC, Oracle, Qualcomm, and Samsung. Making this investment also gives HP a seat on the Linux Foundation Board of Directors, giving them a direct voice in how they want to see Linux evolve in all sorts of manners, especially with respect to HP's own businesses. While Open webOS was not explicitly (or implicitly) mentioned in the press release announcing HP's ascension to Platinum membership within the Linux Foundation, we can't help but think that this could prove to be a good thing for our favorite mobile operating system. webOS has from its start been based on Linux, and the new Open webOS version makes use of the Linux Standard Kernel. While up to this point HP has taken and integrated Linux code into Open webOS, going forward they'll have the ability to influence how Linux evolves in ways that may be beneficial to Open webOS. Money buys influence, influence gets you what you want. read more View the full article

Mobile Nations Podcast Feed Mobile Nations on iTunes Mobile Nations YouTube The Nexus Phone family: Four generations of Android Who needs a Nexus 4 (and why)? Why you shouldn't worry about Android 4.2 updates What does it mean for RIM to be in carrier lab testing with BlackBerry 10? Here's another BlackBerry L-Series image to remind us it's not yet Q1 2013 WHAT IF BlackBerry Messenger had gone cross platform? Checking out the Galaxy Nexus Open webOS port virtual keyboard Enyo 2.1 app framework lands with improved theming and globalization support Galaxy S3 gets the cleanest Touchstone mod yet Tim Cook's Apple iPad mini unboxing and hardware hands-on and iPad 4 unboxing and hardware hands-on iPad buyers guide (Late 2012) and iPad mini vs. Nexus 7: Which should you get? Verizon finally shows off Windows Phone 8 with new tagline WSJ now reporting on a Microsoft branded Windows Phone Overview and review of Windows Phone 8 View the full article

Mobile Nations Network Movember Funds Raised so far: $3858 Ok folks, it's time for our first Mobile Nations Movember update. We'll be bringing you these updates every Sunday throughout the month of Movember (formerly known as November) as we grow out our moustaches and raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer research and men's health issues. We had 82 individuals from around the world respond to our Movember call to action from across our sites, which is amazing! November 1st saw the Mo Bros on the team shave clean to lay the foundation upon which to grow a manly moustache. The next step is to let that moustache grow and to raise money, and we're off to a great start. Members of the Mobile Nations Network have already raised nearly $4,000! Participants are updating their Mo Space pages with status updates and photos. We've collected some of our favorites which you can check out below, along with links to where you can donate to individuals on the team. We also have another video below that will tell you a bit more about the Movember story, in case you're wondering what this is all about. read more View the full article

While HP was able to deliver on their roadmap for Open webOS, spitting out the first version of the open source successor to webOS on schedule at the end of September, Enyo's been lagging behind a bit. The roadmap called for the application framework to hit version 2.1 in April, and it just so happened to land at the end of October instead (if you're doing the math, yes, October is as far from April as one can get before getting closer to the next April). Enyo's seen a number of updates since the first Enyo 2.0 beta was released back in January, but hitting that x.1 mark took a while. Of course, they did have to content with rebuilding the core of the development team; that's enough to delay any project for a few months, so we'll cut them some slack. Enyo 2.1 is here now, and it includes a number of features we're sure cross-platform app developers will find interesting. There's LESS-based theming support, which enables developers to customize the already-released Onyx user interface widgets in a dynamic and variable manner. The global localization library from the TouchPad - g11n - has now been open-sourced with Enyo 2.1, making it easier to format dates, times, and numbers for the locale in which your Enyo 2.0-based app is being used. Additionally, the Enyo team has moved Chrome for Android and iOS 6 to their "Tier 1" support level, which translates to these platforms getting the highest priority when it comes to fixing bugs, correcting for changes in the platform, and other testing bits. They'll be adding Internet Explorer 10 to Enyo 2.1 support (including Windows 8 touch events) as well as the Amazon Kindle Fire HD Android-based platform. Lastly, Enyo 2.1 includes the release of a handful of new user interface widgets to make it easier to build your apps. Onyx now includes a new range slider and localizable date and time picker widgets. The layout library has also received a new ImageView widget that supports multitouch zooming and panning. The Enyo Sampler has been updated with these new widgets, so you can try them out and know how they look and behave before adding them to your app. View the full article

Having successfully completed the build process for the Open webOS alpha on the Galaxy Nexus, I knew that the next time it came around I'd have a better idea of what to do. Mostly because I'd already failed a dozen times before. This time around, armed with a modicum of knowledge, I was able to complete the build process for the latest version of WebOS Ports' alpha without running into any bumps. The reason for running the latest version of the build was to check out the latest modifications made. While behind-the-scenes bits have been improved, what we were most interested in checking out the user interface improvements and the the virtual keyboard discovered and implemented by Josh Palmer (known around the webOS sphere as ShiftyAxel). Palmer's modifications have brought back some of the classic bits of the webOS smartphone user interface, including rounded corners and the bottom-aligned notifications bar. He's also tweaked it so app icons appear at a size more appropriate for the Galaxy Nexus's screen (it's worth restating that the Open webOS released to open source was designed for TouchPad-size screens). But the new virtual keyboard was what we really wanted to check out, especially after tooling around with the practically fun-sized keyboard shrunken down from the TouchPad. The made-for-smartphones keyboard is notably taller than the shrunken TouchPad keyboard. It's also been rearranged, losing the top row of numbers to a more traditional spot hidden behind a '123' key with other special characters. The layout has a lot in common with other smartphone virtual keyboards on the market, including the iOS and Android keyboards. A lot of the old TouchPad functionality is there, including pressing and holding on keys to bring up alternate versions of that character. read more View the full article

If you're taking part in Movember this November, be sure to join our Mobile Nations Network at Movember.com! Full details below... November is almost here which means one thing... soon you'll be seeing loads of self-confident men walking around in glorious moustaches. That's right, November is MOVEMBER and this year we're going to join together across our MO-bile Nations communities to grow out our facial hair and raise funds and awareness of men's health issues. If you're not familiar with Movember, jump on over to Movember.com and learn about it. Once up to speed, make the decision to REGISTER as either a Mo Bro or Mo Sista (that's right, ladies can participate too, no moustache required). Don't overthink it it. Commit to it. Join in as your fellow members, writers and moderators of Android Central, CrackBerry, iMore, Windows Phone Central and webOS Nation put their smartphone differences aside to come together next month for Movember. For those who make the brilliant decision to participate in Movember, be sure to join the Mobile Nations Network we've setup on the Movember website. You can join the network as an individual or as part of another Movember team. Through the Network page we'll be able to track everybody who's participating and see how much we can raise together as a community. Come the end of Movember, we'll be awarding lots of prizes to those who participate. Best Moustache. Most Money Raised. Best Moustache Photo. You name it. Expect lots of awesome prizes and recgonition for those who join in. November 1st is just around the corner. The good news is it doesn't take much effort to prepare for Movember. All you need to do is shave your face clean when you go to bed tomorrow night after eating your Halloween treats. If you're still on the fence, hit up the links below for more information. And if you're ready to join us on our Movember challenge -- YOU ROCK -- and should keep reading for more important details. Learn More About Movember at Movember.com Check out the MO-bile Nations Network Page on Movember.com read more View the full article

Previous efforts to modify Android devices to take advantage of the ever popular Touchstone charger have required at the very least a degree of patience and some non-standard supplies to make wireless charging happen. When Samsung introduced the Galaxy S III back in May, it was supposed to come with wireless charging, though they managed to not show off the wireless charger at the typically odd introduction event. Yet, here we are six months later without the wireless charger publicly available (that's the kind of launch schedule we expect from Palm). Feeling left out of the three-year-old wireless charging party, Hong Kong-based eBay seller hkrc has taken matters into their own hands, and is now selling modified Galaxy S III back covers with the Touchstone inductive charging coil and appropriate contacts for the Android-based smartphone. The wireless charging backs are going for $28 a pop on eBay, a fair price for something that had to be manually assembled. As of this writing there's just one of the faux-metal dark blue covers available, as well as twenty four-white covers and twenty-six white covers paired with a Palm-brand charger, cable, and Touchstone charging puck for $55. It's not quite as elegant as the Nexus 4 and its awkwardly-named Wireless Charging Orb, but if you're like us an have Touchstone chargers all over the place and happen to be rocking a Galaxy S III (not so much like us) this could be a useful purchase for you. That said, the Galaxy S III is still largely running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (Sprint was the first US carrier to roll out Android 4.1 Jelly Bean for the S III, and they did that just last week), while the Nexus 4 will launch with Android 4.2 and its Exhibition-like Daydream mode for the charging dock. When Android 4.2 and its Daydream feature might make it to the Galaxy S III is a big unknown. Or you can just be all boss stick with your aging Pre3 like us. At least until the Galaxy Nexus is running Open webOS at full power. View the full article

Boooo!!! Scared yet? No? Good. We're looking to help you make it a HAPPY HALLOWEEN this year by celebrating with savings across our Mobile Nations stores. Until Thursday, November 1st at Midnight PST, you can save 15% on ALL webOS accessories at the webOS Nation Store using coupon code treat2012 at checkout. And if you have non-webOS devices in the house - don't worry, we won't judge you to your face - you can use the same coupon code at our ShopCrackBerry.com, ShopAndroid, iMore, and Windows Phone stores. Don't forget, we have free shipping on US and Canada orders over $50, and great low cost international shipping options available as well. Don't be scared out of these savings... click the link below to get started! Take me to the webOS Nation Store now! View the full article

The worst kept secret out of Google's Mountain View campus was not about to be ruined by a hurricane. So with their New York City unveiling cancelled on account of Sandy threatening to inundate the metropolis with lots of water and a bunch of rain creating generally unsafe conditions for weary tech bloggers, they instead announced the new Nexus 4 smartphone built by LG through a press release. Our friends over at The Verge were able to go hands on with the Nexus 4 (along with the new Nexus 10 tablet), and there weren't many surprises after the phone had spent so much time getting leaked. But there was one surprise, one that made us go all "Come on!" here at webOS Nation. That's the inclusion of inductive charging in the Nexus 4, by way of a magnetically securing angled desktop dock: the "Wireless Charging Orb". We agree, that name is nowhere near as cool as Palm's old Touchstone. Adding insult to injury, the charger was demoed by none other than former Palm design chief Matias Duarte. Sure, inductive charging is nothing new. Electric toothbrushes have had inductive charging for years. The Palm Pre may have been the first smartphone to offer inductive charging, but it certainly wasn't the last. Today numerous manufacturers offer it, with a growing consensus settling around the Qi wireless standard. But to this point, none of these inductive charging solutions had offered the awesome simplicity and elegance of Touchstone. Hell, Nokia decided they needed an inductive charging pillow. Yeah, a pillow. The Wireless Charging Orb (gosh that's a Googley name) does more than just charge - throwing a Nexus 4 onto the charger activates a new "Daydream" mode on the Android 4.2 smartphone as it charges, where it can display things like photos, news, and other at-a-glance info. Sound familiar, webOS fans? Yep, it's Exhibition. Though in all fairness, with Android 4.2 and Google Now backing it up, Daydream is likely to be leaps and bounds better than what Exhibition on even the TouchPad could accomplish. Touchstone has proven to be a popular feature for webOS fans, with many even going so far as to modify their new non-webOS devices to charge off the old inductive pucks. Seeing as the Nexus 4 is a Nexus device, it's bound to be easily hackable and surely will be a target for Open webOS porting (though we suspect the WebOS Ports team will continue to focus on the older Galaxy Nexus). Could we finally have the inductively-charging modern webOS smartphone we've been waiting for in the Nexus 4? View the full article