Category Archives: Editorial

For personal thoughts

iOS 8 and You

Now that iOS 8 and Mac OS XX are out of the bag, I bet you’re wondering, “Wow isn’t call and SMS sharing incredibly similar to webOS’ Text and Call sharing feature?” Well, you’re right! After the release of iOS 7 and it’s “Card” Multitasking, which was almost instantly associated with webOS, and is one of the more impressive changes to iOS, and most of us were probably thinking when we first saw it was, “Wow whats next? Ditching the app interface?”, but of course Apple surprised us, although some of us were not as pleased, that now you can now share SMS and calls from your iPhone straight to your Mac or iPad. Sadly, the media have forgotten the fact that webOS had this back in 2011, and lets not forget that webOS was going to flatten out, only the interface be more paper-like, first as well.

Now along with Continuity, the other webOS-Esque feature included in iOS 8 is Spotlight. Now with the updated version of spotlight, it becomes more than something that can look for apps on your overcrowded iPhone, as it can automatically show you things in maps, the App Store, Contacts, etc. Although unlike webOS, you do not have the ability to write and send Texts and Emails, but I believe Apple is off to a decent start when it comes to webOS features that we know and love. Finally, iOS 8’s unobtrusive messages are starting to get to a point where webOS was, only rather than just resizing the screen, they disappear, but they do give you the added benefit of pulling down on them to respond, which is mighty handy if your in the middle of something and don’t want to keep switching back and forth, and I’m not going to lie, but I have caught myself swiping up on a notification on my Pre3 to reply after installing iOS 8. If only they would do something about those  horrifying icons, introduced in iOS 7. Although, the story with iOS 7 is basically that it only has the “cards” feature which was taken from webOS’ core, although, I do admit that I would have greatly preferred if Apple had implemented other features from webOS right from the get go.

Overall, even though most webOS users seem to have a hatred for Apple, I think that if webOS doesn’t make it in the long run, iOS will become a decent replacement for it, as long as they revert UI, or give it more depth, but lets keep our eyes on the real goal, LG webOS smartphones, and more importantly, the webOS toaster.

I don’t care about webOS on TVs

I’ve really been struggling about how to cover LG webOS and their SmartTV news lately. pivotCE isn’t my personal blog so I want to make sure that what I cover aligns with what webOS fans are eager to read about. And while I want to write about webOS, I haven’t been able to bring myself to draft up the news about LG and their TVs.  It’s taken me this long to even sit down and put my thoughts together.

LG recently showcased their version of webOS running on TVs at AppsWorld in San Francisco. They hosted several talks on Enyo and app development for their new flagship SmartTV OS. All well and good, yeah? I mean, I love Enyo and am very appreciative of LG giving webOS a chance, so why have I been in such a funk?  Then it hit me…I don’t care about webOS on TVs.  

Continue reading I don’t care about webOS on TVs

To Doctor or Not To Doctor: A Call to Stop “Lazy Troubleshooting”

The forums on webOS Nation are hands-down the place for webOS community interaction. Battery jumps to 0%?  Stuck on the HP logo? All you have to do is ask for help.  That’s the best part of our community!  We support each other.

While the level of help you will receive on the forums varies with the subject matter, there are always those issues which seem to gather more “just doctor and be done with it” responses than actual troubleshooting steps. That’s a problem.  Too often, help was just a bit too late to get there before someone pulled the “doctor it” trigger.  Let me be frank…if that’s you, quit it. Seriously.  And read on…

Continue reading To Doctor or Not To Doctor: A Call to Stop “Lazy Troubleshooting”

PIC+OM+GPL = A Bad Day for webOS Fans

nohappyNot happy.  It’s been a bad day in webOS-land but it started out quite the opposite.  At 12:52 AM (EST) I received an email while I slept from Phoenix International Communications informing me that ACL for webOS v1.0 was just a click away…license code and all.

To say I was overjoyed, relieved, and excited when I found the email waiting for me this morning would be an understatement.

From April 28, 2013 to this very morning, the community has waited for it.  The community brought it to life with a $45,000 kickstarter project.  The community invested in it emotionally as well since some saw it as the last chance for webOS (it’s not, by the way).

Imagine my surprise when 15 hours and three minutes later at 3:55 PM (EST) I received a second email from PIC:   Continue reading PIC+OM+GPL = A Bad Day for webOS Fans

A webOS Christmas Wish List

Image: Creative Commons
Image: Creative Commons

As a parent, Christmas time means I get to hear my 8 year old oggling over every toy commercial she sees.  In fact, that’s usually the first indicator that I have to sit her down with a pencil and a piece of paper to get her to write a letter to Santa Claus.  Once the letter is done I can remind her that she already wrote to Santa to make the begging lull…a bit.

But this year I got to thinking…what would I ask Santa for?  I mean other than a unicorn and a rocket launcher, of course…here’re my top 3. Continue reading A webOS Christmas Wish List