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WebOS 1.4.1 Update Released for Europe, Canada… 1.4.1.1 for Sprint!

By: , 3/31/2010 5:01 pm | 4 comments

Sprint update

We do our best not to repeat other news sites too much, but for something like this, we want to make sure everybody catches wind of it: webOS version 1.4.1 has been released in Europe and now 1.4.1.1 has reached our shores for Sprint.  There’s a rumor that Verizon users once again may have to wait a little longer for this update, but let’s hope that’s just an April Fool’s joke and nothing more.  This small update mostly consists of bug fixes brought on with 1.4 … check out Palm’s detailed feature list after the break!

Wait… why 1.4.1 and 1.4.1.1? What’s the difference?

    Yeeeeah… thought you’d notice that. Basically, there’s a “mini-fragmentation” in webOS now. It’s nowhere near as bad as Android (where you have versions 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, and 2.1 floating around out there), but there are some differences. Mostly? Memory management. Some webOS apps run in the background, even if you don’t see a card for them. This is a two-edged sword, because although they can be an essential part of how an app works (especially GPS apps), they also take up system resources… this leads to the annoying “too many cards” message. So, with 1.4, Palm said “okay, if an app is off the screen for over 15 seconds, the program will DIE!” … and the program would close. Problem is, this “borked” the way many apps (especially GPS apps) worked. So in 1.4.1.1, that time limit has been extended to 60 seconds. … 1.4.1, for some reason, still uses 15 seconds.

Okay, so are we clear on that? … Let’s move on! :)

Here’s the feature list for 1.4.1  (EUROPE) and 1.4.1.1 (USA):

New applications

  • NONE

App Catalog

  • You can now purchase and download apps that are for sale, in addition to downloading free apps. (1.4.1)

Bluetooth

  • This release fixes an issue so that the phone now correctly connects with supported BMW car kits.

Camera

  • This release corrects a lag in the shutter sound when you take a picture.
  • This release fixes an issue so that newly taken photos and videos do not overwrite existing ones.

Contacts

  • If you crop a picture before adding it to a contact, the picture appears cropped correctly in the contact entry.
  • If you previously assigned either the Z or the B key as a speed dial, you can now continue to create speed dials.

Doc View

  • If you open a file and perform the back gesture, the app now returns to the file list screen.
  • Pinching in/out to zoom out/in now works correctly.

Messaging

  • If you try to attach a video to an outgoing multimedia message, the list of available videos now displays only videos you recorded.

PDF View

  • If you open a file and perform the back gesture, the app now returns to the file list screen.
  • Pinching in/out to zoom out/in now works correctly.

System

  • This release fixes an intermittent issue so that the volume slider no longer appears onscreen incorrectly.
  • This release fixes an intermittent issue so that after the screen more reliably turns on after a single press of the power button.

Touchstone charging dock

  • When the phone is on a Touchstone charging dock, the screen now consistently turns off correctly (displaying the lock icon and the time) after the shut-off interval.

Videos

  • If you record a video, upload the video to YouTube, and send a link to the video via email, the email recipient can click the link and view the video. Previously, clicking the link displayed an error message.
  • This release fixes an issue so that when you upload a video to YouTube, the file always includes both video and audio.

Web

  • The forward gesture now works correctly in the browser

For our European webOS brethren, we’re excited that the update may finally give them access the PAID App Catalog. They’ve been more than patient and we at webOSroundup salute them!

As our friends over at Precentral.net report, overclockers (skip this if you don’t know what that means) are strongly recommended to remove their overclocking patches NOW, even if you don’t have the update yet… your phone may do the update when you’re not looking for it!  Same goes for themes.

If any of you have received this update, fill us in on it by leaving a comment below!

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About Dan Ramirez

Dan is a senior editor at webOSroundup. He is a physician in South Texas with an unbridled passion for webOS. He is very active on Twitter (@vara411) and enjoys engaging the webOS community.
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  • Mott

    I just downloaded it. It corrects all the bugs that were nagging me: forward gesture now works again, photos are not being erased anymore, and pinch and zoom for the pdf viewer is back.

  • _artem_

    got it on o2 germany. Update size was 12mb… Updates – Apps updates available bug not fixed! Got this bug since 1.3.5.2 :( the issue is that there are no app updates in the appcat but message appears in Updates. (((((

  • SBixby

    I let 1.4.1.1 update last night (4/1/2010) and all went well, up until I tried to run a couple of my PDK-based apps – Monopoly and X-Plane, for two.

    Both of them will show an initial splash, then hang. if I flick it to the desktop, the application obviously runs something; the minimized screen updates to a later state. If I re-focus the app, it retains the last state but it's still frozen.

  • SBixby

    I let 1.4.1.1 update last night (4/1/2010) and all went well, up until I tried to run a couple of my PDK-based apps – Monopoly and X-Plane, for two.

    Both of them will show an initial splash, then hang. if I flick it to the desktop, the application obviously runs something; the minimized screen updates to a later state. If I re-focus the app, it retains the last state but it's still frozen.