I love just about everything about the Pre’s mail application, but since it’s built for all mail services the delete button really, you know…deletes stuff, which isn’t optimal for Gmail users who are used to the archive button.  Fortunately, I found his quick little hack to enable archive functionality:

1. Open the Mail application and go into Preferences and Accounts.
2. Under accounts, tap your Gmail account
3. Under Default Folders, change the trash folder to [Gmail]/All Mail

That’s it!  Since this hack usurps the delete functionality, I’d still prefer that Palm add a dedicated “move to folder” button.  This button could, for example, move the message to a “default” folder when tapped, or pop up a list to choose the one you want if you tap and hold.  Still, the workaround is preferable for those of us who can’t live without archive.

Update: Lifehacker commenters mentioned that the Pre does allow you to move mail to a folder, but for me this would take 5 taps: menu > move to folder > scroll, scroll (I have a lot of tags) > All Mail.  Like most hacks, changing the delete folder isn’t perfect but for some it may be better than the alternative.

In response to being asked how the Pre compares to the iPhone:

In all fairness…I’ve been a Palm fan for years, but I’m not too brainwashed to say that there’s a place in the market for both. Pre and the iPhone each have pros and cons, and the Pre meets my needs the best. For me, having a physical keyboard, carrier availability, and choice of development platform are high priorities. YMMV.

Now with that said, WebOS and Synergy are amazing new technologies that are full of possibilities, but I fairly and lovingly admit that certain aspects of the Pre reinforce the fact that it’s a v1.02 device. Things you’ll love: everything about the hardware, how easily it integrates with online services, beautiful multitasking, gps navigation, and push email. Things you might not like: unoptimized calendar experience, short battery life, and limited application selection. The people currently best suited for the Pre are early adopters, users without advanced requirements, and linux hackers (I’m trying to find a way to SSH into my phone as I write this). Since there are so many people excited about this device, I hope to see Palm engaging the community to incorporate our feedback into future updates (which I expect within a month or two).

…that got a bit too involved, didn’t it? The Pre’s a great phone. Buy it, bitches.

On Friday, Dan Rumney made some important announcements on the preDevCamp blog that I’d like to expand upon.

Meet your new organizing team
To fill in for whurley’s and Giovanni’s unfortunate departures, Greg Stevenson and myself will be stepping in to help co-ordinate the various preDevCamp events around the globe.  Greg has already been hosting some webOS training sessions (pre-preDevCamps, if you will), and will be invaluable bringing this knowledge to the community.  And while I’ve helped plan a barcamp or two, I’m positively giddy for the chance to help build a stronger community and facilitate knowledge transfer on such a massive scale.  Combined with Dan’s experience bringing preDevCamp where it is today, I think we’re going to make a wonderful team.

New target date:  August 8th
The second major announcement is regarding preDevCamp’s target date.  Several cities have expressed concern about organizing events on such short notice and without guarantee that the SDK will be available.  Palm hears our cries about the SDK loud and clear, but there’s a lot more involved than just making sure everyone has a copy of the software.  We still don’t have a confirmed SDK release date, but I’m very optimistic that pushing the date back to August 8th will give Palm time to finalize these issues.  And while August is later than the expectation that was originally set, it’s still only 9 weeks after the launch of the phone (recall that the iPhone SDK was released 9 MONTHS later).  Also, 9 weeks is the same amount of time it takes to make kittens.  Coincidence?  I think not.

More content coming soon
Momentum since the phone’s announcement has ebbed due to a lack of developer-related news, but now that the cone of silence is being lifted we can start featuring content created by Palm and other preDevCamp members.  The goal here is to provide maximum visibility to emerging community leaders and create a repository of reusable presentations, therefore lowering the barrier to entry for someone interested in talking about webOS but might not be sure where to begin.  Plus, I plan on releasing a series of articles on how to recruit developers in your community, how to sell the event to sponsors, and share other experience I’ve gathered on how to host a successful conference.  Now that we have a target to shoot for, expect to see a lot more activity on the preDevCamp blog!

What you can do
Some cities are still moving forward with June 13th events, and my personal opinion on this is kudos to you for getting a head start.  There’s a lot of learning to be done in the next few months, so I encourage you to use this time to help create our public knowledge base.  Write a blog post on something you’ve learned.  Record a presentation and upload it to the preDevCamp slideshare group.  Get to know other developers and provide feedback for each other.  And don’t forget to keep your city’s preDevCamp blog updated!

Learning as publicly as possible will show the world that the preDevCamp community is leading the way to webOS enlightenment.  Are you ready?  Let’s begin.