Digital City Podcast

We've already seen Palm and Apple clash when it comes to print advertisements, but now details of what could be the first Pre TV advertisement have leaked. Photographer and film maker Jaime Gonzalez had been tweeting (of which has mysteriously disappeared) about his part in filming the commercial in Los Angeles, and even uploaded a photo of the massive Facebook set involved.

Is this supposed to show how simple uploading photos to Facebook can be on the Pre, and how there will be shiny happy people laughing? Everyone around love them, love them...

(Credit: twitpic - Jamie Gonzalez)

The tweet came from Mr. Gonzalez yesterday evening while at the Warner Bros. film studio, saying the following:

Back at Warner Bros! Palm Pre in the house...It's the iPhone for chicks! LOL

Gonzalez also claims to have held and tried the phone--a big accomplishment for anyone who has tried to pry the Pre away from a rep's grip during a trade show--calling it a "good challenger" to the iPhone but still not a direct replacement.

The very large 3D reproduction of the Facebook homepage (they couldn't do it in CGI?) appears to have various protruding ledges that actors could sit on, but Gonzalez hasn't given any hints on the detail of the ad, just the photos. There are also some cutaways that could be used as an "online" friend space, uploaded video, or whatever.

If all of this is what it claims to be, then the timing further supports notions that Sprint could release the Pre on the rumored June 7th date, or, at the very least, a month from when the ad is likely to be finished. And, if you were chosen as a beta tester for the Palm Pre, don't rub it in.

So far we've seen a 3D cutout of Facebook, a soundstage...where do you guys see this supposed first Palm Pre commercial going?

Episode 30 of the Digital City, where we discuss the new multi-camera setup in the studio, how to fight the swine flu online, how one of us ditched cable for online TV, and the crossroads of Twitter and World of Warcraft.

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Combining two of the most addictive things about the online universe--Twitter and World of Warcraft--seems like a good way to bring productivity in the Western world to a screeching halt.

If that happens, you can blame PlayXpert, a maker of various in-game widgets for PC gamers. The company today announced the PlayXpert Twitter Widget, adding Twitter functionality to the existing PlayXpert software, which works with WoW and other online PC games.

In-game widget engines such as PlayXpert (which bills itself as an "in-game operating system") run alongside PC games, offering voice chat, Web browsing, and other tools for players, without the need to quit or ATL+TAB out of the game to launch another app (popular examples include Xfire and Steam).

Besides allowing normal Twitter messages ("Proc on healing spells to get a buff for 15sec that adds a 15% shield to all healing spells!"), the Twitter widget can also automatically post when you enter or leave a game.

The PlayXpert software and various add-on widgets (including the Twitter widget), are available for free at playxpert.com.