Comments on: Precorder Brings Easy Video Recording To Pre

Updated: (A second, much-better-filmed vid has now been added after the break.) It's here! Easy video recording is now in alpha testing on the Palm Pre, via the new Precorder app. Made possible by weeks (and weeks and weeks) of painstaking work by "zsoc" of WebOS Internals (with big assistance from Rod Whitby, Roy of Pre101, and the ever-amazing Jason Robitaille), Precorder operates by way of a custom gstreamer executable, a Java service (gstservice), and a simple Mojo front-end. It records 30 FPS 480x320 H.264-encoded videos, and they are playable both on the device and on desktop PCs. And it should be in Preware very soon. In the meantime, you can download the somewhat unstable alpha version from the WebOS Internals wiki page here.

But enough of all that. You want to see the results, right? They're after the break, where I've posted my first test vid, along with a screenshot of the front-end. Forgive the lopsided view - I was flipping the Pre around to try and work out which aspect it was recording in. (For the record, it's "volume keys down".) And no, there's no preview window... yet.

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Oh Dear...

hkklife @ 11/23/2009 11:50:40 PM # Q
Palm Addicts had their cats and now PIC has...dogs & little sisters.

Maybe it IS time for me to switch platforms!

(Just kidding, Tim!) Good work getting the semi-scoop on this one and for posting a sample video of some sort. I still maintain that it's an absolute crime that the Pre cannot capture video out of the box but a 5+ year old Treo 650 can.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?

RE: Oh Dear...
Tim Carroll @ 11/24/2009 12:23:11 AM # Q
It is a bit, isn't it. Oh well. What Palm don't provide, the hackers will. In that way it feels a lot like the PalmOS days. ;)
RE: Oh Dear...
palmdoc88 @ 11/24/2009 1:17:56 AM # M Q
It does Tim, and it's exciting!
RE: Oh Dear...
SeldomVisitor @ 11/24/2009 3:28:28 AM # Q
I personally think Palm =can= provide video recording out of the box (unless they canned their video recording experts). I also think they left it out on purpose due to its impact on some aspect of the Pre.

No, I have no evidence to that effect other than thinking about what video recording needs and what realtime event handling needs, etc etc etc.

But I for SURE think Palm has the ability to do this type of software.

So, Mr. Carroll, wring out your Pre while video recording - take a phone call, a text message, an email, have an automatically-pushed Facebook update occur, rotate your Pre, have 4 other applications active, etc etc etc.

Oh, yeah, and watch your abttery level during all.

Inquiring minds wanna know!

RE: Oh Dear...
Tim Carroll @ 11/24/2009 3:41:31 AM # Q
^^ I took a whole bunch of vids while I was out tonight, SV. ('bout a dozen in total) Depleted the Pre's battery by aboot 30% in 60 mins. Was messaging a bit too - you can record video and multitask into other apps at the same time, by the by.

All in all, not quite that bad. I genuinely think the only reason Palm hasn't done it yet is that they've got bigger fish to fry.

RE: Oh Dear...
jca666us @ 11/24/2009 5:05:58 AM # M Q
don't know if YouTube recompressed your video, but the quality looks very blocky and overly compressed - oh how do you say - piss poor.
RE: Oh Dear...
Gekko @ 11/24/2009 5:44:46 AM # Q

ah the Australians. what a simple people.


RE: Oh Dear...
Tim Carroll @ 11/24/2009 5:50:18 AM # Q
^^ Somebody shoooow me how to get back toooooo the simple life....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBLSOqvWYAM

RE: Oh Dear...
gmayhak @ 11/24/2009 8:22:19 AM # Q
Completely off subject but this is a cool gadget for a Centro, Treo or Tx, I bought 3 at $9.00 ea. (originally $200 ea.!). There are still some for around $30.

Altec Lansing imt1,

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B001CED3Q6/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

Tech Center Labs

RE: Oh Dear...
bhartman34 @ 11/24/2009 8:37:00 AM # Q
I've recorded a few videos on the Pre with the new software. Compared to the old video recording test software, this is much improved.

As far as the multitasking goes, exactly what kind of multitasking would you be doing while recording a video? About the most disruptive thing that could happen while taking a video would be the phone ringing, and I don't see the phone simply ringing as taking up a lot of extra juice. Now, if you were to take a call, that might be a different thing, but you're not going to take a call while you're recording video.

I think the biggest battery drain from video recording is going to be the writing of the file itself, irrespective of whatever else is running. Palm may be trying to work in some optimizations in that area. It also seems that getting a viewport on the display while you're taking a video hasn't been the easiest task to accomplish. That's not to say that the Palm people couldn't do it, but I assume they have higher priorities in development right now.

RE: Oh Dear...
Gekko @ 11/24/2009 11:24:35 AM # Q

gmayhak - you must like to collect junk. i'm a minimalist and i don't like junk and contraptions sitting all over my house. not even if you gave them to me for free.

RE: Oh Dear...
SeldomVisitor @ 11/24/2009 12:46:12 PM # Q
I must be a maximalist - you should see the 479 large shelves in my basement...

RE: Oh Dear...
mikecane @ 11/24/2009 5:03:01 PM # Q
>>>ah the Australians. what a simple people.

Gekko FTW. Damn him.

RE: Oh Dear...
gmayhak @ 11/24/2009 5:56:16 PM # Q
"Gekko @ 11/24/2009 11:24:35 AM #

gmayhak - you must like to collect junk. i'm a minimalist and i don't like junk and contraptions sitting all over my house. not even if you gave them to me for free."

I do, I have a 5 car garage and I have to park my old Ford F150 outside 'cuz the garage is full of 40 years of my pack rat habits.
But... the IMT1 ain't junk, it'll charge your Centro, hotsink, speaker phone, and a cool way to listen to your tunes. 24 hours on a set of rechargeable batteries.

btw, I've never heard of a minimalist using a smartphone, usually 2 tin cans and a piece of string ;-)
Tech Center Labs

RE: Oh Dear...
nastebu @ 11/25/2009 12:16:37 AM # Q
Was that the hot sister? Since she insulted Tim, I'll rate her both hot AND smart. :-)

As for Palm not including video recording out of the box, one assumes it's easier to get it working than to get it working well. Maybe Palm has decided that no implementation is better than a half-assed one. I'd agree with that.

Reply to this comment

I kinda fondled the Droid

mikecane @ 11/24/2009 5:07:36 PM # Q
Remembered to get to a VZW store this morning.

Like T-Mobile, the eejits only had DUMMY UNITS!!

But I saw it immediately on the tethered display -- even thought it was labeled as being (I am NOT kidding!!) a Palm Treo!! (750? 755?)

So, all I could do was hold it, slide out the keyboard, try to press the keys, and play with that gold Thumbthing.

Wow, is that thing THIN! After all these bricks that have sliding keyboards, that was really a revelation.

I didn't mind the boxiness of it at all because the dimension ratios are all nicely in a pleasing proportion.

The Thumbthing worked, but when I pressed on any of the keys -- nada. NO press-down. Is that how it is with the actual Droid?

I need to get to the VZW main store some day and see if they have a live unit to molest.

RE: I kinda fondled the Droid
SeldomVisitor @ 11/24/2009 5:35:24 PM # Q
Costco's kiosk had the same Droid dummy. As noted somewhere, they MAY have had a real one behind the counter.


RE: I kinda fondled the Droid
hkklife @ 11/24/2009 8:02:12 PM # Q
No, there is SOME tactile response from the d-pad. Not a lot but there is SOME. Think of a similar range of motion (but flatter of course) to the old Nintendo Game & Watch handhelds, for a very rough comparison.

As I've stated here before, the Droid's hardware is lovely. As lousy as the keyboard is, it's STILL a physical keyboard and you don't pay much of a price for its inclusion so I'm not complaining. My main gripes are with the crazy quilt, brain-dead, dumbed down OS that powers the Droid!

I mean, a call log that give you NO MORE data other than "2 days ago" or a pitiful "2 hours ago" even if it occured 2 hours and 45 minutes ago??? I get 25-30+ calls during a workday, easily. I need to know PRECISE times, dates, and call lengths! Maybe the Android-loving hipsters don't but I do. Android is definitely not an OS targeted towards business users (Gekko are you listening?).

Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?

RE: I kinda fondled the Droid
mikecane @ 11/25/2009 9:28:19 AM # Q
You misread. The ThumbThing MOVED. The damned keys wouldn't press in at all, however, on the dummy unit. Do they actually press in on the real Droid?
RE: I kinda fondled the Droid
Gekko @ 11/25/2009 11:56:29 AM # Q

MikeCon - you live in the largest most sophisticated metropolitan area in the world! why the f**k is it always so hard for you to get to a proper store to demo a proper device???!!!

put on those black Chuck Taylors and hipster outfit and get out there!

RE: I kinda fondled the Droid
BaalthazaaR @ 11/25/2009 12:12:30 PM # Q
mikecane wrote:
You misread. The ThumbThing MOVED. The damned keys wouldn't press in at all, however, on the dummy unit. Do they actually press in on the real Droid?

I just played with a live one this afternoon. There is very little play in the keyboard. The keys were rather stiff, but I didn't feel like the fat finger issue holds true with this keyboard. I didn't get to play with it much since it was the employee's personal phone.

RE: I kinda fondled the Droid
hkklife @ 11/25/2009 12:23:27 PM # Q
Mike, I think we are not reading each other's comments clearly.

Let me reiterate so it is perfectly clear: I OWN a Droid. I have had it since launch day.

The D-PAD (with the gold center button) does not move, wobble,rattle, or slide around in its housing. U/D/L/R directional "arrows" do click in/down very slightly. As I said before, it's a "flat" d-pad with about as much range of motion as an Game & Watch machine d-pad. The demo dummy units feel a lot different than a live device.

The KEYBOARD keys are also very flat but they do have a slight dome shape to them. They dont' have much travel but they do give a LITTLE. It has less key travel than a Centro. It feels similar to an old membrane keypad you'd have found on a late 80s Casio BOSS or some kind of digital diary device. I am not a huge fan of the keyboard but I can adapt. Again, even a lame physical keyboard is far better than NO keyboard at all.

Also, the Droids seem to vary quite a bit in slider feel & response. My slider is quite loose but one that's just a week newer than mine and arguably seen more use has a much tighter, solid-feeling slider. Makes me feel like the Tungsten T days all over again.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?

RE: I kinda fondled the Droid
Gekko @ 11/25/2009 1:06:31 PM # Q
>even a lame physical keyboard is far better than NO keyboard at all.

are you sure about this? i'm starting to warm up to the versatility and simplicity of the iPhone virtual keyboard.

RE: I kinda fondled the Droid
mikecane @ 11/25/2009 2:08:47 PM # Q
>>>are you sure about this? i'm starting to warm up to the versatility and simplicity of the iPhone virtual keyboard.

Is that sarcasm?

There are several different on-screen KBs available for Android from 3rd parties. The stock one tends to be crap for me. There are others and people have sworn by them -- instead of at them.

And gad, that on-screen QWERTY on the ELSE looks crap!

RE: I kinda fondled the Droid
Gekko @ 11/26/2009 4:27:27 AM # Q

everyone i talked to and everything i've read tells me that the iphone's virtual keyboard is very usable and you get used to it rather quickly vs. a physical keyboard and you can actually type faster and more accurate than a physical one.
RE: I kinda fondled the Droid
abosco @ 11/26/2009 7:54:50 AM # M Q
Well I can't type faster than a physical keyboard, but it's close. Put faith in the autocorrect, and it'll work as designed. Go to an Apple store and try it out. It's the simplest thing to test.

I think Gekko is about to bite...

RE: I kinda fondled the Droid
Gekko @ 11/26/2009 8:13:44 AM # Q

i'd probably bite if/when it gets on Sprint which i think is a matter of when and not if.

OT question - i need a stereo headset for my Centro. i just bought the official OEM Palm 2.5" to 3.5" stereo adapter for $9.99. i'm looking at buying the iphone headset for $29 because it looks like good quality, small/ergonomic, and inexpensive. i'm pretty sure that the iphone headphones and microphone will work on my Centro - but does anyone know if the answer/end call button will work? i'll find out soon enough regardless.

any other suggestions?

RE: I kinda fondled the Droid
Gekko @ 11/26/2009 3:03:32 PM # Q

here you go bosco - best music station on the planet but i can't stream it but you can on the iphone for free -

http://www.hot97.com/streaming/mobile/index.aspx

RE: I kinda fondled the Droid
Gekko @ 11/26/2009 3:24:25 PM # Q

correction - i just figured out how to stream it using pockettunes.

if anyone wants to know how i did it - let me know.

RE: I kinda fondled the Droid
SeldomVisitor @ 11/26/2009 3:33:31 PM # Q
> ...best music station on the planet...

I'm kinda fond of RadioParadise...

RE: I kinda fondled the Droid
mikecane @ 11/26/2009 5:40:53 PM # Q
>>>everyone i talked to and everything i've read tells me that the iphone's virtual keyboard is very usable and you get used to it rather quickly vs. a physical keyboard and you can actually type faster and more accurate than a physical one.

Look at how this guy is getting his soul saved. Last year he wasn't having ANY of this.

The Jesus Phone SAVES, lad! Repent of your Centro sinnage!

BTW, did walkies in Manhattan today. Several Verizon outlets are selling the Droid for just $139 w/contract. And I got up to the Verizon mothership store. Looks like they have LIVE phones in there (was closed, looked through window, blew nose on glass as souvenir -- just kidding on that last bit).

RE: I kinda fondled the Droid
nastebu @ 11/27/2009 3:44:56 AM # Q
random comments on the iPhone keyboard:

sometimes in some apps there's lag, and that sucks.
The autocorrect works very well.
It's not faster than a good physical keyboard, but it's close.
for switching languages it's just magic.

Reply to this comment

Headset

hkklife @ 11/26/2009 4:50:40 PM # Q
Gekko;

Did you buy that piece of bulky crap Palm OEM adapter that I reviewed 2 or 3 years ago? That one that sticks out of the Treo/Centro at an awkward right angle and feels very fragile?

I would've gotten a Seidio/Boxwave/Brando adapter instead (with a smaller connector going to a short length of cable instead).

If anything, you could always get the OEM Palm stereo 2-in-1 headset. It's not fantastic but it looks decent enough and the MSRP has gone a good bit since it was initially released. I still carry it on trips in my carry-on when I want to listen to some tunes on my Treo.

http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/8820/palm-stereo-headset-pro-review/

Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?

RE: Headset
Gekko @ 11/26/2009 5:06:56 PM # Q

hkk - palm has since improved the adapter. it now has the little wire which puts less stress on the jack. here it is -

http://store.palm.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3095655&cp=3238806&fbc=1&f=PAD%252FAccessory%2BType%252FHeadsets%2B%2526%2BHeadphones&shCMS=1&fbn=Accessory+Type%7CHeadsets+%26amp%3B+Headphones&parentPage=family&catsId=3238806

Model Number: 3397WW

i looked at the OEM Palm stereo 2-in-1 headset that you reviewed (i read your review before purchase) and decided against it. it was expensive $39.99, limited to the legacy 2.5" old standard, and i didn't like the big "cans" that didn't look like they'd feel very comfortable. hence, i figured i'd get the adapter and then buy the 3.5" iphone headset for $29 at Best Buy which i could use with my next device with no adapter required. 3.5" is the new standard so why fight it?


RE: Headset
Gekko @ 11/26/2009 5:12:14 PM # Q

i see you reviewed this adapter -

http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/8905/palm-treo-headphone-adapter-review/

no i didn't get this one - this has disaster written all over it!

i don't even think they sell this piece of shit anymore.

RE: Headset
Gekko @ 11/27/2009 6:50:44 AM # Q

any other recommendations for a decent stereo headset???

RE: Headset
gmayhak @ 11/27/2009 7:40:11 AM # Q
This is the one I use to test the headset adapters I make for the TX and to listen to tunes on the Centro...

http://cgi.ebay.com/FOR-PALM-CENTRO-690-685-TREO-680-650-STEREO-HEADSET-NEW_W0QQitemZ140361332954QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPDA_Accessories?hash=item20ae2ff8da#ht_1608wt_1111

Gary
Tech Center Labs

RE: Headset
Gekko @ 11/27/2009 8:40:07 AM # Q

thanks Gary, but i was looking for something a little more modern, minimalist, and sleek. that one looks like it came from a mid 90s blister pack pocket radio.

it looks like these are my best option at this point.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Apple%26%23174%3B+-+iPhone+Stereo+Headset+-+White/8994216.p?id=1218007088449&skuId=8994216

RE: Headset
gmayhak @ 11/27/2009 10:27:28 AM # Q
If you have a friend in the states they could get them for $3.50 and mail them to you for under $3.00.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Original-Earphone-Headphone-for-i-Pod-iPhone-Nano-Touch_W0QQitemZ110407678005QQcmdZViewItemQQptZOther_MP3_Player_Accessories?hash=item19b4cf7835#ht_2336wt_1012

If you don't I can get them for you ( contact on talestuff.com )

Gary
Tech Center Labs

RE: Headset
gmayhak @ 11/27/2009 10:33:46 AM # Q
I just noticed they ship for free worldwide!

Gary
Tech Center Labs

RE: Headset
Gekko @ 12/2/2009 10:10:56 AM # Q

still waiting for my adapter. beware that palm.com store uses "UPS Mail Innovations"! they are evil!!! had i known this i would have paid the extra 2 day shipping charge to avoid them!

http://www.viewpoints.com/UPS-Mail-Innovations-reviews


RE: Headset
Gekko @ 12/2/2009 11:57:48 AM # Q

UPDATE: the palm 3397WW adapter has arrived and it works flawlessly with the iPhone headset and my Palm Centro. both headphone speakers work in beautiful crisp stereo sound and the microphone works great for phonecalls. no snaps, crackles, or pops. also, the answer/end call button on the microphone tab works great too! the adapter is of high quality and not too obtrusive. it connects solidly and firmly and does not rattle. the iphone headset is minimalist and much sleeker than my one mono palm ear bud. now i can listen to streaming stereo music and use the same headset for phonecalls as well.

highly recommended combo!

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