For those of you who’ve had MyTether’s Wifi tethering for awhile now, you probably noticed that your Palm Pre or Palm Pre Plus has been upgraded to WebOS 1.4.

Well, I have heard that some people are having trouble using their MyTether application and I did too.

Simply, download the latest install file (you have to be a donor) and install it.  I’ve confirmed both WiFi and USB works flawlessly after upgrading to MyTether version 2.1.0+.

*Note: There’s also a Mac install file now too for Mac users!  (And Ubuntu/Linux too!)

Don’t forget to put your MyTether in development mode first before installing!

If you have old versions of MyTether, the exe file will simply write over that so no need to uninstall anything!

Btw, I got a Nexus One when it came out, I just got USB and WiFi tethering working on that too, see my new Nexus One Hacks blog at NexusOneHacks.net for that if you have a Nexus One.

<?php
$iphone = strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'],”iPhone”);
$android = strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'],”Android”);
$palmpre = strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'],”webOS”);
$ipod = strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'],”iPod”);
if(!$iphone && !$android && !$palmpre && !$ipod) {
?>
Your code goes here that you want only executed when it’s not a smartphone.

<?php } ?>

This could be great if you want to load a different version of your website or even just to test your website on the Palm Pre.  That way, your regular readers from desktop computers and laptops won’t get affected while you test your version of website for the Palm Pre.

Developer of the WiFi tethering app for the regular Palm Pre, Raja, has just pinged me on the status of his My Tether app.

My Tether now officially supports Verizon’s Palm Pre Plus, meaning you don’t have to pay the extra $40/month Verizon is charging you.  On top of wifi tethering, you also get USB or bluetooth tethering with the My Tether app.

As a user of My Tether for the last 6 months ago since I got my regular Palm Pre, I would say this is a LOT better deal at a flat fee of $14.95 versus Verizon’s $40/month.

The new My Tether that works on Palm Pre Plus is available as beta here. (You will need to donate $14.95 to access it.) 

Additional features of the new My Tether beta includes network usage graphing, DHCP client list viewing, and also the best part is that you can actually “kick off” any devices that’s not supposed to be there.

On top of everything, there’s also WEP/WPA2 security options.

I don’t see how you can lose by going with the new My Tether.  Certainly, paying Verizon $40/month will mean you’d pay about about extra $400 per year.

I should have an updated video review of the new My Tether with all the latest features so watch out for that too.

(Thanks Raja for the tip!)

My Tether Homepage

Hey, Happy New Year everyone!

Sorry last year was sorta hectic but I will try to get more active with my Palm Pre hacks this year.

Btw, Engadget just released their new Palm Pre/Pixi app, check it out here.

Palm is offering $30 off any purchase $99 or more at the official Palm store during Black Friday! (valid till 12/01) – Click this link to redeem

This might be a great time to stack up on multiple touchstone chargers, one for your office and another for your car.

Here’s a ridiculously cool hack that shows you how to make a Touchstone Palm Pre Car Mount.  As for me, I will keep my Palm Pre Touchstone on my desk where its used more often but I might consider putting one in my car soon too for turn-by-voice GPS navigation.

I personally use a Duracell Inverter which does a great job of re-charging all of my gadgets including USB and AC.  If you don’t want to open up and hack your car’s dashboard, you might want to use the inverter instead too.

I have tried my Touchstone on my car using the AC power via my Duracell inverter and it works really well.  When I tried using the USB (which Touchstone manual says not to), it simply didn’t work but this hack should work since it’s driving power directly from 12V DC of the car battery.  (The author says it should work flawlessly if you use the Palm 12V to USB charger (which I have) so I would suggest to try it out and let me know in the comments!)

• Premium-grade durable rubber case for Sprint Palm Pre
• Custom fit case with openings to access all buttons
• Easy soft gel skin, help prevent scratches, chips and dirt
• It molds perfectly to device’s shape to highlight its beauty

Price: $3.05 on Amazon

This rubberized protector case is designed for your device. It is constructed with a high quality plastic that also has a rubberized layer for increased protection and grip. It comes with perfect cutouts that allows you to utilize all the functions of your device. The rubberized texture also provides great grip so that it does not easily slip out of your hand or other surfaces.

Price: $0.06 at Amazon

Beauty of open source, when you make something open source, you get all these hackers flocking to make free apps.  This video hack example proves how quickly the open source community can develop programs. (faster than Palm development team!)

The video right now does 320×240 pixel only and there’s no sound but I am finding that the video feature is a cool add-on until Palm developers make it part of their default apps.  And certainly, this video hack proves that video will be added on to the Pre in the near future.

Here’s step-by-step instructions for computer-dummies so you can enable this cool video feature.

1) Download video-cam-test.zip here.  (via PreCentral Forum)  Unzip it of course.

2) Download both WebOSDoctor(Sprint or Bell), download WebOSQuickInstall from PreCentral and put them in the same directory like this:

*NOTE: If you don’t have Java installed, you will need to install it, just goto Java.com to install.  If you can run WebOSQuickInstall.jar, you have Java installed so…

3) Click on WebOSQuickInstall.jar and it should automatically install any files needed. (for the first time)

4)  Then connect your Palm to your computer via a USB cable.

5) Then click on the “+” button on your WebOSQuickInstall program and select both ca.canucksoftware.videocam_0.1.1_all.ipk and com.canucksoftware.videorectest_1.0.0_all.ipk.

6) Now, click on “Install!” and it should install on your Palm Pre.

7) Reboot (Power OFF and ON) your Palm Pre.

You should see new app like this:  (Press IT!)

9) Hit the “ON” button on your Pre.

10) Hit “Start Rec” to start recording and “Stop Rec” to stop.

11) Now, this app doesn’t actually show you the video itself while its recording so you will simply have to shoot your Pre. (somewhere…)

12) To re-play your videos, you will need to transfer the MP4 files to your computer.

To do this, connect your Pre to your computer via USB cable and choose “USB Drive” option.

13) Browse your Palm on your computer and you should see MP4 files in the root directory such as “09_29_09_04_48_20.mp4″ which is basically timestamp for your videos.

14) Copy the MP4 videos over to your computer and either use SMPlayer to view the videos or upload to YouTube.

*NOTE – I found that the portable SMPlayer works the best, don’t use the install version, I haven’t got those to work.

Enjoy~

FULL VIDEO Step-by-Step directions on how to install the video hack on your Palm Pre for computer dummies:

Test videos I made:

My first video with Palm Pre in front of mirror:

My second using whiteboard:

My third while at Fishermen’s Wharf:

Palm Pre has been on the rise, selling over 800K Pres so far, watch out Apple.  (With Apple being anal about Google’s GoogleVoice, I don’t think Apple will last long by making enemies with other big guns and consumers.  Even TechCrunch’s author Michael Arrington “quits” iPhone while Jason Calacanis explains why Apple-quiting trend is happenin’.)

For those of you who are considering a new phone, seriously re-think the Pre, it’s a great choice for those of you who need fast network and hackability.