Palm have released webOS v1.0.4 as an over-the-air update, and as you might expect it addresses the most significant security hole discovered by Pre-hackers: side-loading applications via email.  In fact, aside from blocking up some security holes, webOS 1.0.4 brings no new applications or features.

Unfortunately, due to the way Palm have constructed their OTA update system, users don’t really have a choice whether to install new software versions or not.  The Pre will pester owners until they install the latest firmware, unlike the iPhone and iPod touch whose updates are user-triggered through iTunes.  That fact has allowed owners of the Apple devices to selectively keep their handsets at an earlier, less-secure stage, and open them up for hacking.

Interestingly, Palm thank the webOS developer who helped identify the security hole: “We’d like to thank Townsend Ladd Harris for his help in identifying some of the issues addressed in this release.”  Software already loaded in this manner onto the Pre still works, however.

[Thanks chronofire and pinkmonst3r!]