One of the things I have noticed about WebOS is the number of undocumented features it contains.  Things like the three button combination for taking screen shots.  While these are not secrets, they are not widely publicized, and many users may not be aware of them.  So, as I come across some of these features, I plan to pass them along to you. 

I always appreciated the iTunes App Store Update feature, which shows you all of the programs loaded on your device which have been updated.  You can select whether to download all of the updates at once or just some of them individually.  I was disappointed when I started using the Palm Pre not to find a similar feature.  In fact, finding updates in the App Catalog felt a little like a scavenger hunt at times. 

Then I started playing around with the Updates feature, which is located on the third page of apps on the launcher screen.  This is the one that looks like  a nicely wrapped present.  I always thought this was only used to load firmware and OS updates.  so, I was quite surprised to find updates of some of my loaded apps showing up there as well.  Turns out, this feature is used not only for updating your firmware and OS, but also to provide any updates to your loaded apps.  From here, you can update all of your apps at once, or choose which ones to load.  Not, however, that this will only work with apps installed from the official App Catalog.  It will not show updates from homebrew apps.

Do you have a tip or trick you discovered in WebOS?  Let us know in the comments to this post, or by using the contact form at the top of the page.

The new Apple iPod Nano garnered considerable attention for its new video camera.

As a matter of fact, in addition to the video camera, Apple completely renewed the Nano, thanks to the addition of a pedometer and an FM radio, while still maintaining a compact form factor.

Matthew Miller at ZDNet has posted a review of the media player, complete with an interesting video showing us the different 16 recording modes of the Nano.

In particular, I liked the Cyborg and Kaleido modes, as well as the Film Grain Mode.

The article is really worth a look, with Matthew concluding as follows:

Like I said, I never planned to buy a new iPod prior to the announcements, but am very pleased with the iPod nano 5th generation and plan to spend a lot more time with it out running. I bought an arm band case to use with the nano so I can easily take it with me when I hit the road.

Via: ZDNet

Our friends over at Just Another iPhone Blog are reporting that Snapture, a camera replacement application for the iPhone that has previously only been available on jailbroken phones, is coming to the iTunes App Store today.  As Patrick points out in his article, this is indeed very interesting, as Apple tends to not like competition to it’s built in software.  I do sincerely wish the application’s developers success for the duration that Apple allows them to remain in the store.

One of my big complaints about WebOS when I reviewed the Palm Pre was the lack of any ability to set favorite contacts.  This means you must scroll or search through the entire contacts list just to make a phone call or send a text message.  This was a real problem, which I hoped would be solved by one of the early entries to the app Catalog.  Alas, no such luck.  Fortunately, I found exactly what I was looking for in the Homebrew Apps Catalog, with Quick Contacts.

Quick Contacts should look pretty familiar to anyone who has used other mobile operating systems.  These photo dialers have been around for a while, but are really pretty scarce on WebOS.  I will say though that Quick Contacts is one of the best I have used on any platform, and I gladly donated $5 to the developer (which gets you unlimited free updates).

The main screen of the app is divided into two regions.  The upper region, which occupies the majority of the screen is your photo dialer.  You get two pages of contacts, with nine photos on each page.  That means 18 contacts total, which worked just fine for me and my typical five contacts I call regularly.

The bottom region gives you access to all of the tools you need to keep in touch with everyone.  There is a button here leading to your contacts, SMS text messaging, email, and phone dialer.  Which gives you access to all of the people you might need to contact, but are not among your top 18 friends.

Adding a contact to the 18 photo slots is easy.  Just tap any empty slot to open your contacts list.  Scroll (or search) to the one you wish to add and tap it.  That’s it.  If there is a photo assigned to the contact, then it will be displayed in the Quick Contacts photo dialer.  If not, then Quick Contacts will simply display the name, with a generic silhouette.

What I really like about this one is the way it blends two different approaches together.  Many photo dialers allow you to either tap the photo and dial one of the numbers assigned to the contact automatically (which means creating multiple entries for contacts with more than one number); or call up a contact card requiring multiple taps before you start dialing.  Quick Contacts gives you both.

By default, when you tap on a newly added contact, you will be taken to the contact card.  From here, you can dial or SMS any of the programmed numbers, or send an email.  This is fantastic.  One of my big complaints about contact programs in the past has been the exclusion of a link to email.  So, I was thrilled to find this functionality here.  The only thing missing was the contact’s address.  Even though you cannot send a paper message from the Quick Contacts app, it would be nice if addresses were displayed, for easy reference when writing a letter or message.  To get the address, however, will require only one extra click.  Just tap the contact icon on the bottom of the contact card to call up the appropriate entry from your contact list.

Of course, this only addresses one of the approaches I mentioned.  We still have not covered one touch dialing.  To do this, all you need to do is set a preferred number in the contact card.  Once the preferred number is set, tapping the contact from the main screen will dial the preferred number automatically.  Tap and hold the photo on the main screen will then open the contact card.

I have to say I really tend to gravitate to apps which work with me, rather than requiring me to change how I work to match the app, or compromise my needs to the app’s abilities.  I do not want some developer half a world away deciding how I should use my device.  That is what was so great about Quick Contact.  Whether you SMS, dial, or email, Quick Contact will give you quick and easy access to your most commonly used contacts.  Likewise, whether you want to open a contact card and choose from a menu of numbers and email addresses; or simply tap and dial, this is the app for you.  Pretty much the only thing it could not do was dial using my Google Voice number.  That being said, Google Voice is a relatively new service, so I can forgive them for setting a few other priorities ahead of that.  That being said, the developer has told me Google Voice is on his radar, so hopefully there will be plenty more to come.

Quick contacts is currently available as a free homebrew app, however, it is expected to be in the App Catalog soon.

What I Liked:

• Instant access to most commonly used contacts
• 18 slots over two pages of photo contacts
• Easy to add contacts
• Easy to dial, email, or even send a text message
• One touch dialer

What Needs Improvement:

• Contact addresses are not displayed on contact cards
• Cannot dial using Google Voice

While this news has been out there for a few days, it’s worth noting that according to ComputerWorld, AT&T has scheduled September 25 as the date for MMS support to be enabled for iPhone 3G / 3GS users.  Version 3.0 of the iPhone OS, released earlier this summer, introduced support for MMS.  AT&T turned around and tabled the service for these users, causing customer frustration.  The theory is, at least mine, that AT&T is already having trouble bearing the weight that the iPhone user base has imposed on the network.  With MMS support promising to have even more data consumed as pictures of loved ones and puppies zip from iPhone to iPhone, AT&T feared (fears?) that the service would (will?) cause even more trouble for their networks.

iPhone users:  Is this great news?  Are you satisfied with AT&T’s service since they are finally providing support for what they couldn’t handle earlier?  How does this affect the other AT&T network users?  Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.