webOS 1.3.1 was always destined to come alongside the launch of the Pixi, but it's surprised us by showing its face a day early. No app catalog bombshells here, but there are a slew of more minor fixes and updates that should make users experience a great deal smoother. Is this the update that finally unlocks access to the GPU and provides the speed boost Pre owners are waiting for / advances the iTunes chess match another step? We'll let you know once our unit reboots, for now here are a few highlights from Palm's list of changes:

Update: Downloaded, applied and rebooted. iTunes still isn't spotting our Pre as a device to sync with, and at least for the moment there's no great speed increases to speak of, but we have noticed a few more key tweaks that owners are sure to like -- setting a specific ringtone for text messages is exactly what we've been looking for.

• Yahoo! now appears as a Calendar/Contacts/instant messaging synchronization account.
• You can forward a text or multimedia message by tapping the message > Forward.
• A new option is available for restarting the phone: press and hold power > Power > Restart. The prior restart method (Device Info > Reset Options > Restart) is still available.
• Widescreen videos (including YouTube) now display in widescreen mode on the phone by default, instead of being cropped.
• If you tap to play a YouTube video embedded on a web page, the YouTube application launches and the video plays in the app.
• You can select a unique ringtone for new message alerts: Open Messaging > application menu > Preferences & Accounts > Sound > Ringtone.
• While listening to a song with album art displayed, you can tap the screen below the art to display a playback slider. Dragging the slider jumps forward or backward in the song.

A few days after blocking PlayStation 3 users, Hulu has yet to respond to questions concerning the change which has only helped to fuel rumors it is related to the Microsoft ad campaign currently featured on the site, but that seems less likely now that we've confirmed it also began blocking the Flash-enabled Skyfire browser on Windows Mobile devices at the same time. Whatever the cause is, if you prefer a homegrown hack over something like PlayOn or TVersity, Eric over at ypass.net has put together a simple enough walkthrough for creating an "unblockable" workaround by setting up a locally connected PC running Linux or Windows with the freely available Squid proxy server software that will make your PS3 look like appear as a PC running a Firefox (or whatever you prefer) browser to any website that asks. Of course, just like the other solutions your computer will need to stay running to keep you connected, but we figure it's a small price to pay for enjoying relatively low res Flash video running on an HDTV.

Read - Got a PS3? Want Hulu Back? Easy enough...
Read - Squid-setup for Windows NT /2k /X

It isn't an iPhone app, but we're sure plenty of people can appreciate Verizon's new, more widely available Remote DVR Management program. Previously limited to FiOS TV Media Manager subscribers only, accessed by the website or select VZW phones, now any FiOS DVR subscriber can queue up recordings via the website, while Media Manager subs can use http://m.verizon.com/tv from any cellphone, on any carrier for remote DVR programming.

[Thanks, Scott! Via Phone Scoop]

It's a new year and NetBlender has a new change of gear, pairing with BluFocus to bring last year's BD Touch software -- and its BD-Live enabled Blu-ray player to iPhone / iPod Touch connections -- up to version 2.0, featuring crossplatform capability with other WiFi enabled handhelds like Blackberry, Android and Palm Pre. While going iPhone exclusive hasn't hurt some apps, hopefully we'll see wider adoption of the technology, which can enable things from making the phone a remote control to using it as a keyboard, downloading files from the disc or playing games, now that it supports more than one platform. More info should be available once it hits the floor at NAB 2009 later this week.

Shockingly enough, people seem to be interested in the possibility of easily browsing TV schedules and programming their DirecTV DVR from the iPhone / iPod Touch, for free. Available for just one week so far, it's already ticked over 100,000 downloads so yeah, it's popular, our only question is what's next? You've probably checked it out by now, let us know what features need to be changed or added, or just tee off on the fact that your TV or cellphone provider hasn't unveiled a similar setup yet, we're listening.

All those eagerly anticipating the DirecTV iPhone application, and all its remote scheduling, program browsing capability can download it right now from the App Store. All that's required is iPhone software 2.2.1 or higher; anyone can pick it up to check out channel listings, but you'll need a DirecTV subscription and DirecTV Plus DVR (models R15, R16, R22), DirecTV Plus HD DVR (models HR20, HR21, HR23) or TiVo Series 2 receivers with 6.4a software registered to DirecTV.com to take advantage of the remote scheduling over WiFi, EDGE or 3G. And did we mention that it's free?

Just how the Samsung OmniaHD's video could reach directly from phone to TV screen was a bit of a mystery until the Engadget Spanish crew spotted the WMG100. Don't already own one of Samsung's high end sets with WiFi and DLNA built in? This dongle bridges the gap with all the necessary tech built in, pushing a max 480p (whether HD streaming to other devices from the OmniaHD will work is unknown) from its mini HDMI or component outputs for around €160 ($200), and is already available in Korea with a European debut planned for this spring. The idea that we'd ever get tired of watching that sweet AMOLED display is a bit of a reach, but just in case check out the gallery for some hands on pics.

Get enough Netflix / Microsoft synergy yet? We hope not, since that Netflix queue manager for Windows Mobile showcased during Steve Ballmer's CES keynote is slicker than we thought, with an exclusive streaming video preview feature. Whether DVD or Instant Watch that should add some enjoyment to your Netflix browsing, check out a YouTube demo after the break or just go ahead and download the app for yourself.

[Via My Philly Network]

Let's face it, that low res cellphone video of last weekend's party and your Days of Thunder VHS won't be upscaling themselves, hence the sudden explosion of Super Resolution technology including this most recent entry from NEC. Claiming low power and memory requirements, part number uPD9245GJ is ready for duty blowing up images for display on your VGA cellphone or nav system without blurring, or upscaling low res sources to 1080p in a Blu-ray player or HDTV. Don't let the ridiculous soundtrack on the demo reel fool you -- recent reviews have given super resolution tech a thumbs up, and with Toshiba, Hitachi and Broadcom already in the game we've got a clue what feature will be checkmarked on your next electronics purchase.

The original Helio Ocean burst onto the scene nearly two years ago, impressing with its dual slide design, Bluetooth, 3G, GPS and well-integrated messaging app challenging phones on both sides of the feature / smart phone line. 2009 finds the Ocean 2 once again topping the Helio line, but now facing even stronger competition. Luckily, it's offering a lot more than an exclusive MySpace app to lure in users this time, with 2GB of internal storage, touch controls and a slew of software tweaks. Now that we've spent a few days comparing it to its predecessor, check after the break for some of the the highs and lows of this new handset.

After initially opposing the Obama administration / Jay Rockefeller digital TV delay -- pushing the analog TV shutoff date back from February 17 to June 12 -- Verizon CEO Ivan Seiderberg has jumped on board with competitor AT&T in support of the plan. Considering Verizon just dropped $9.63 billion on the soon / not-so-soon to be vacated airwaves for its 4G wireless rollout this is an interesting position to take, but it appears that as long as the delay is a mere 115 days he can join AT&T ($7 billion or so invested) in waiting for the DTV converter coupon program to work itself out. Of course, if anyone wants to take advantage of the extra time to subscribe to FiOS or U-verse, we're sure that wouldn't be problem either.

Taking a page from i.TV, last night during the Ballmer keynote Microsoft announced a Netflix queue management app for Windows Mobile devices. Pick a Watch Instantly movie and it shows right up in your Xbox 360 (or any other Netflix-enabled device's) viewing queue. PyxisMobile offers similar functionality in its Smartflix program for those who can't wait until later this month when Microsoft & Netflix's homegrown version becomes available.

We swore we wouldn't fall for tech demos of Toshiba Matsushita Display's sexy optically compensated bend LCDs and their CRT-like ultra wide viewing angles and high refresh rates ever again but by adding autostereoscopic 3D (read: no glasses necessary) we're falling in love all over again. By adapting a 3D film for use with 3- and 9-inch displays, this year's CES demo promises simultaneous 2D and 3D viewing on the same display in high res. How close is OCB's curved, rather than horizontally or vertically aligned liquid crystal approach to reality? Your guess is as good as ours but for now we'll wait for some eyes-on time and throw it on the wait-and-wait-and-see heap with SED and the rest.

Ending the awful (two) days of waiting, NetBlender's officially presenting its latest innovation, BD Touch. Bringing together Apple's iPhone/iPod Touch and Blu-ray's BD-Live internet connection to potentially allow combinations like sending copies of a movie to iPhone directly from the disc menu, viewing fan created content in sync with a movie or, yes, using the iPhone as a remote control. All that geolocation, 3D motion sensitive, multitouch and predictive keyboard could be a part of our favorite movie (The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension) -- once some developer makes it happen. The disc authoring end of the tool is built into NetBlender's DoStudio software, while there are two iPhone SDKs (the Connect SDK is free, while the Premiere Blend/In SDK adds functionality but requires certification and licensing) available. Video demos are after the jump, so take a look and see what you can come up with.

Quartics, the company behind the PC-on-TV solutions peddled by D-Link and others showed its latest spin on the technology, Mobile2Display. We checked out a demo allowing Windows Mobile 5 or 6 based phones to send video wirelessly to a TV, with no problems about codecs or formatting, the picture upscaled through Quartics' device to high resolution. Look out for these coming from your cell phone manufacturer in the second quarter of this year. Next up? Adding the ability to send video from the TV back to the phone, Slingbox-style. Check out the gallery on Engadget.