(Derek Kessler over at PreCentral.net has a pretty solid walkthrough of the update – plus video. I used some of his quotes below.)
Calendar
-Quicker Just Type event search and event creation
-Improved handling of meeting cancellations
My Two Cents: This is kinda self-explanatory – and it does make meetings a whole lot better. I rely on the TouchPad now to set up my Outlook meetings at the office. Calendar searches in Just Type aren’t just quicker; they seem a lot faster than before. The only thing I wish I could do here – see other people’s availability for meetings through the TouchPad.
Email
-Faster scrolling
-Improved message content and image display
-Improved management of multiple emails in Draft and Outbox views
“Email is significantly smoother. Seriously, it’s noticeably faster. There’s not much more to say about that, it’s just plain better.” – Derek Kessler
My Two Cents: I was pretty happy with email the first go-round. Then I saw the update and noticed the difference. There used to be an odd image / text display moment when opening an occasional email. That hasn’t happened again yet since I updated yesterday.
Music
-Reduced audio skipping when the device is running other applications
-Better display of album art
“The Music app has received a much needed facelift that brings it in line with the styling of webOS 3.0, and thank goodness for that. The layout is generally the same, and at least for this blogger, the app is finally detecting the music loaded onto the TouchPad.” – Derek Kessler
My Two Cents: You should try Web streaming music, Derek. I just saw someone in the office earlier today using GrooveShark and it looks / sounds awesome on the TouchPad.
Photos & Videos
-Added ability to set wallpapers
-Faster and more reliable handling of individual photos and albums
-Improved speed and accuracy of auto-corrections
“Text Assist has been updated to be faster and more accurate, as well as gaining main much-missed contractions.” – Derek Kessler
My Two Cents: As an admitted lazy typist, I realized I missed this more than just about anything else. I can’t be bothered to stop my flow just to quest for an apostrophe! Ahem. Anyhow, it works great in non-searchable fields and apps, but as Kessler noted, it won’t work in a browser’s search window like, say, if you’re entering a field in Google search or typing comments to a blog post.
Web
-Increased scrolling support compatibility within web pages
-Improved performance of remote HTML5 video playback
-Improved responsiveness of auto correction within the browser
My Two Cents: I can honestly say that I’ve already seen the biggest, most marked improvement right here. Previously, watching streamed flash video through the browser was possible, sure, but it was a cache-clearing dance to make sure it’d run trouble free. Now, thanks to the update, I was able to catch an episode of The Daily Show from Comedy Central’s page without breaking a sweat. I know that I’ve said this before, but check out Video Flood HD. It is very handy for finding video streams. Now that the update is here, I also find myself doubling back and looking for more ambitious Flash games to see how well they’ll run on the system now. (Stay tuned for an update or two on that!)
webOS System
-Fixed issues with oversensitive screen rotation (!!)
My Two Cents: This was a big one for me, no more herky-jerky screen rotation when I don’t want it!
Security
-This release addresses a number of security issues with HP webOS software.
…and not in the update, but…. Pivot Issue 2 is out
I know that it isn’t a huge deal, but the second issue is out for the App Store magazine. There was a story that I wanted to read in the July issue but didn’t get around to – hopefully, there will be a way to grab back issues of Pivot in the future! I can dream.
“Overall, it's a nice little update that should solve some of the problems that some users have had since the TouchPad launched just one month ago.” – Derrek Kessler
Also, I’m happy to see a clock app added (It was already there in Exhibition mode, but now it’s an obvious app). There’s also a basic calculator in tow. Still MIA: Tasks. But, if you’re jonesing for it, just download Taskr – it’s free!
Oh, yeah, and as a Pro Tip for all you homebrewers out there: Consult Preware / PreCentral.Net forums and update your tweaks to work on the new OS update.
Obviously, I’m a little “teh bias” as an HP company man, but I’d like to think it shows that we’re paying attention to what people are saying. So what are you thinking? Did we hit the mark? Is there more that you’d like to see happen (within reason, people….!)? Let us know!
