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The big news from the last week was quite obviously the release of webOS 1.4.  First, we’ll bring you up-to-date on the story we mentioned last week about the roller coaster Palm’s shares have been on.  Next, we’ll talk about Palm’s Facebook app, which received a major update today.  Then, we’ll talk about a little discovery that makes free apps available without geographic restrictions.  We’ll follow that with news of the release of the webOS 1.4 SDK.  Finally, we’ll catch up the bits and bobs in the Roundup.

Palm Takes Stock

This last week saw a continuation of the rough times for Palm’s stock.  Last Thursday, the Wall Street Journal Digits blog published an e-mail from Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein in which he outlined the lower than expected earnings.  What’s interesting to take from the letter is that, according to Rubinstein, Verizon is taking some of the blame for lackluster sales of the Palm Pre.  Verizon did seem to drop the ball, not advertising the Pre at all when it launched on their network and there continue to be reports of Verizon sales people pushing other devices over the Pre.  Palm’s plans include something called Project JumpStart, an initiative to get more training for Verizon personnel, and increased advertising, as reflected by more ad sightings.  For our part, we think that Palm is in a good position to grow, particularly with webOS 1.4 generating excitement.  Others aren’t so sure.

Facebook App Update

Dion Almaer posted today about the latest update to the Palm-supplied Facebook app.  Some of the new features include support for viewing upcoming events, an enhanced inbox and a quick navigation grid.  The fine folks at PreCentral have even provided a video of the new version in action (see below).  As of this writing it had not appeared in the App Catalog but does show up as an update if you have installed the previous version.  If you have not yet downloaded the Facebook app you can still do so, then check for updates.

Free Apps Freed from Geographic Restrictions

When developers submit apps to Palm for inclusion in the App Catalog they can choose the region their apps will be available in.  Currently, paid apps are restricted to the US.  However, free apps can target more countries.  Some authors, however, have not selected all countries so some apps are not available everywhere.  Some people discovered that it is possible to directly download the apps from the app catalog, even going so far as to develop a desktop application to download free apps.

There are several thorny issues with this, though.  First and foremost, developers of geographically limited applications have the right to choose where their apps are distributed and this mechanism bypasses that.  Second, some speculate that downloading these apps directly may prevent the downloads from counting towards a developer’s download count for the Hot Apps program.  Thirdly, some paid apps available in the US have been made available for free download in Europe.  As usual, there’s been no official response from Palm regarding this but we strongly urge our readers to respect the copyrights of the developers.

webOS 1.4 SDK Available

It wasn’t too long after the release of webOS 1.4 that Palm officially released the corresponding SDK.  The latest version of the SDK makes available a number of new features for developers, including an updated audio API and support for the new video capabilities.  The biggest change for developers is the move to WebKit 4 and the updated V8 JavaScript engine.  The upshot is faster applications and a more compliant browser.  There are a number of tool changes as well so developers should check out the change list. Palm has indicated that this is, structurally, one of the biggest changes to webOS and there may be rough edges for developers. In particular, there may be issues with apps that use the Canvas element.

Roundup

An enterprising Pre owner created his own commercial for the Pre, taking the opportunity to show off the best features and apps for webOS. Check it out below. A new version of Preware is available for download now.  There were some issues with users attempting to update their patches while the server was overloaded which led to some ‘too many cards’ errors while attempting to launch Preware.  Know someone who’s on Sprint or looking to switch and get a Pre or Pixi?  Sprint recently announced a buy-back program that allows you to trade in old phones for credit.  Read Sprint’s announcement for details.  Got something we didn’t cover?  Drop a note into the comments below or shoot us a message on Twitter.

Update: Check out another commercial from the same author.

Key Features

As mentioned, the big feature that had been missing from webOS was video recording.  Palm has delivered with not only video recording but on-device editing and sharing of videos.  Check out the video below for a hands-on demo of video recording.  The other big feature we were told to expect is Flash 10.1.  While Flash 10.1 is not included with the software update you can visit the App Catalog to download a Beta version of Flash soon.

Here’s the official Palm blog announcement as well as the Palm webOS update feature page.

Enhancements

The most visible enhancement to webOS 1.4 is the new launcher animation:  When apps launch now a window with the App’s icon is shown until the app is loaded.  The next enhancement has been expected every update since it first appeared in the code: LED blink notifications.  Indeed, the patch to enable the notifications has been one of the most popular patches.  This feature causes the center button on the Pre (and the LED behind the gesture area in the Pre Plus) to flash periodically when the phone is off and there are pending notifications.

One area of improvement touted in the release notes is performance and battery life.  Specifically, the performance of the phone, mail and calendar apps has been enhanced.  Further, several of the apps have been enhanced to make it easier to e-mail or dial embedded contacts and phone numbers.  Additionally, you can now choose whether Wi-Fi turns off or not when the screen turns off.

Another enhancement is that the old POP e-mail behavior is back as an optional setting:  You can choose to have e-mail that is deleted off the POP server deleted from the phone.  A welcome change for those who only use their phone to check e-mail when away from a desktop.

Fixes

Several bugs were reported fixed with this version.  These fixes included mail attachment issues, contact synchronization issues  See below for the link to the version notes.

Under the Hood

As always, a number of enhancements did not make it into the official change log.  In particular, developers will likely have access to new features, though the official SDK has not yet been released.  What is visible is that the browser has been updated to a more recent WebKit release.  It now scores a 92 out of 100 on the Acid3 test.  Over the course of the next few days we’ll gather some of the other changes that didn’t make it into the release notes and update you with them here.  Please use the comments below to add new features you’ve found.

Version Notes

Here are links to the version notes:

• Sprint Palm Pre
• Sprint Palm Pixi
• Verizon Palm Pre
• Verizon Palm Pixi (Link please?)
• O2 Palm Pre (updated)
• O2 Palm Pixi (Link please?)
• Movistar Palm Pre (Not updated as of 1:28 AM EST, 2/28/10)
• Movistar Palm Pixi (Link please?)

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February is drawing to a close and the big question on everyone’s mind is: Where is webOS 1.4? Unfortunately, we don’t have an answer for you. But, we do have a rundown of the news from the last week. The news this week is all about apps. We’ll cover them in quick succession and clean up any leftovers in the Roundup. Let’s get going…

gDial Pro Halted

The developer of gDial has stopped all work on the popular Google Voice client for webOS.  According to a blog posting the underlying mechanisms for accessing Google Voice are not open and available for developers of 3rd party clients.  Faced with providing a service that wasn’t as reliable as a phone app should be the developer decided it would be better to halt development until such time as the APIs are published and accessible.  Users who paid for a subscription should already have been refunded their money.  PreCentral has a bit more information on the API situation here.

Epocrates Arrives

Medical app maker Epocrates just released their first webOS application.  The self-titled Epocrates app (which the description calls Epocrates Rx) provides drug dosing, interaction and pricing information.  Epocrates is an essential application for many in health care so it is good to see this appearing on Palm’s newest phones.  For those interested a review may be coming soon.  The app is free to try and in the App Catalog now.

ScummVM Available for Download

A ScummVM interpreter is now available for download from the Homebrew feed on PreCentral.  Users of Preware and WOSQI can download the interpreter though they will have to acquire the games separately.  As pointed out in this PreCentral post, ScummVM is not, itself, a game.  There are a number of freely available games so feel free to check it out.

Grooveshark Attack

Streaming radio service Grooveshark is now available as a native webOS app.  Available as a free download in the App Catalog, Grooveshark is just the latest streaming radio app to hit webOS.  What sets Grooveshark apart is its comprehensive playlist features, including the ability to search others users’ playlists.  Check out the video below for shots of the app in action (courtesy of PreCentral).

Roundup

Zsoc, who originally brought us the homebrew video recorder, has been working on bringing extra codecs to webOS.  According to the PreCentral article GSM WAV support is available as a download through Preware.  They also have a good article about AUPT, which we discussed a bit last week, and what will happen when the webOS 1.4 update comes out.  In more somber news, Palm stock has taken a beating lately as related in this Engadget piece.  Palm’s certainly been on a rollercoaster with the analysts.  Got some other news to share?  Use the comments below or tweet to us on Twitter.

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For those of you who were looking forward to webOS 1.4 making its appearance on Monday we have some bad news: It didn’t arrive. No doubt you already noticed, though. However, the week wasn’t a complete disappointment! Read on for the highlights:

Auto Update Patch Technology Updates

The WebOS Internals folks have been busy again, updating patches so they will be more compatible with webOS updates.  Check out this forum thread for more information.  In short, if you’ve applied patches to your smartphone be sure to update to the latest versions.  To help you out, Preware has also been updated recently, adding French, Italian, German and Spanish translations, so be sure to run Preware and apply all the updates.

Roundup

In addition to webOS 1.4 a lot of folks are expecting Flash to appear this month.  The Pre Central folks have two stories about Adobe to check out:  Flash 10.1 may not be out this month but Adobe is planning on releasing AIR for webOS.  AIR is a technology developed by Adobe that allows for the distribution of Web-like applications to the desktop (and now, mobile devices).  WebOS Internals will have a booth at the upcoming Southern California Linux Expo and may have some Palm giveaways.  (Have you noticed all the really cool stuff is happening in California?  How about some love for the East Coast?)  Also, check out the App Catalog, a number of new apps have arrived, including Earthworm Jim and Avatar.  Back on the disappointing side, PreCentral also noted that DataViz, maker of Documents To Go, didn’t have very positive news about a full version for webOS.  If you need this capability be sure to drop by their web site and sign up to receive notification or send them a tweet to let them know you’re interested.

CC Photo by {eclaire}

Most of the US has been focused on the snow storms to hit the east coast (at least, it seems that way to us). And, there was a little sports thing that went on over the weekend (Sprint subscribers, did you use the NFL app?). However, there were a few things of interest to those who focus on the Pre and Pixi.  First up we talk about the rumors of an upcoming webOS 1.4 release.  Secondly, we’ll talk a little about a Mozilla Weave client that’s in the works.  Finally, we’ll cover the flotsam and jetsam in the Roundup.

webOS 1.4 Late for Valentine’s?

PreCentral recently provided some information that points to a February 15th release date for webOS 1.4.  This much-anticipated version of the Pre and Pixi operating system is slated to include, among other things, video recording and editing.  If so, it will be a nice belated Valentine’s Day gift.  We’ve often speculated that the lack of video recording may be one of the reasons we haven’t seen as strong a marketing push for the Pre and Pixi.  webOS 1.4 should go a long way towards making the platform feature complete.

Mozilla Weave Sync Coming to webOS?

Although the Pre does not (yet!) support Mobile Firefox we’ve heard that Mozilla Labs is working on a webOS Weave Sync client.  For those who don’t know, Weave Sync is a a tool for securely sharing bookmarks, passwords, browsing history and even open browser tabs between desktop Firefox and mobile clients.  The webOS client, which is in a very early state, supports full read capability, meaning you can’t share your browsing on the Pre back to your desktop.  The webOS client was developed by L. M. Orchard.

Roundup

Jason Robitaille has found some placeholders for voice dailing in webOS, which would be a welcome addition to webOS.  French developers can get excited about an apps contest announced by SFR:  Jeunes Talents Developpeurs.  Even better, they can also take part in the Hot Apps contest.  Also announced at the SFR event was confirmation of Flash coming in February.  Have something else to tell us about?  Drop us a comment or send a tweet.

CC Photo by {eclaire}

The last week brought some interesting things to folks running webOS: First up, the Hot Apps contest has officially begun. Next, our friend Jason Robitaille has released a new version of WebOS Quick Install. We’ll cover the rest of the tidbits in the Roundup. Fire up your Palm Pre or Pixi and play along.

Hot Apps Launches

We’ve previously mentioned the Hot Apps Program, where Palm will be giving away $1,000,000 to developers who create the most popular paid and free apps.  The period for which apps will be judged began on Monday.  Be sure to check out all the new apps that are appearing in the App Catalog daily.  If you’re a developer looking to get in on the gold rush, check out the Palm developer site and our sister site webOS 101.

WebOS Quick Install 3.0 Available

Those of you who install a lot of patches, themes or homebrew on your phone are probably already familiar with WebOS Quick Install.  For those of you who don’t, you can read a bit about it and the author in our interview with Jason Robitaille.  Jason has recently released version 3.0.  Among the new features with this version is support for Auto-Update Patch Technology (which we discussed last week) and the ability to automatically download the webOS Doctor for your device.  WebOS Quick Install is a good place to get started with homebrew and patching and is one of the ways to install the on-device installer Preware.

Roundup

Our good friends over at Totally Palmed have started a very good tutorial for new users.  If you’re just getting started with your Pre or Pixi or you feel like you could be getting more out of it you owe it to yourself to take a look at the series.  Start with the first:  Tips and Tricks every webOS user should know! (Part 1 of 5).  Our other friends over at Pre Central have an article about Palm’s recent stock movement, check it out if you’re interested in the company behind your smartphone.  Rod Whitby of WebOS Internals is calling for open source developers to assist with Preware.  Contact him if interested (finding his e-mail is the first test you must pass).  Jay Freeman (of Cydia fame) is developing a single-source Web site called Cyrket for checking out the various smartphone app stores.  The Palm feed can be found here.

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It seems like it was only last week that we did our weekly news roundup. Time sure does fly! Since we were last here, the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus launched on Verizon. We’ll cover that then we’ll talk about the latest news from WebOS Internals, which will be of special interest to those of you who patch or want to patch your webOS devices. Next, we’ll talk about some of the new 3-D games to hit the App Catalog. Finally, we’ll wrap it up, as we always do, with the Roundup.

Verizon Joins the Party

On Monday, Verizon began selling the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus smartphones.  So far, Verizon has had little to say about the new phones.  However, according to a tweet, we should be seeing print and TV ads soon.  It may be that their agreement with Motorola kept them from promoting the Palm phones at launch time.  Hopefully Verizon will wow us all soon with some high-quality ads that feature the best aspects of webOS.

webOS Internals Adds Auto-Update Patch Technology

A recent announcement from Eric Gaudet revealed that patches installed using Preware will no longer require removal before a webOS update.  What this means is that those of you who’ve been a little leery of trying out patches for fear that it might interfere with phone updates will now be able to rest easy.  The bottom line is, if you update your patches to the latest version, or, if you install patches now, you will be covered when webOS 1.4 comes out:

Auto-Update Patch Technology is a major upgrade to the existing patching technology found in all homebrew patches in the webos-patches feed. AUPT is a smarter version of the existing scripts that can better detect when files are already modified by a patch and/or already removed. This will help to allow patches to be installed/removed even after faulty installs, partial or full erases, webos doctors and even OTA updates to new WebOS versions!

Look for a post about how to take advantage of webOS patches soon!

3D Games Aplenty

Developers haven’t been idle since Palm announced the Plugin Development Kit at CES (see our Palm at CES coverage for more information).  Some recent titles added to the App Catalog (at least here in the States) include Assassin’s Creed – Altaïr’s Chronicles, Brothers in Arms: Hour of Heroes, Giant Fighting Robots and X-Plane Carrier.  There are others as well, including a free demo version of Asphalt 5.  Hit up the app catalog and check them out.  Gameloft, makers of several of the games, has a video preview (embedded below).  You can also see videos of Assassin’s Creed or Brothers in Arms (iPhone version).

One thing to keep in mind while playing these games is that they take up a lot of RAM so you may need to reboot your phone to play, unless you happen to be sporting the Plus phones.

Roundup

Our friends out Pre Central have a little article about what to expect in webOS 1.4.  The voting for the 2009 Engadget awards is underway.  Unsurprisingly, several Palm products appear on the list of best gadgets of 2009.  Feel free to head over there and vote for your favorite Palm devices (they appear in several categories so be sure to scroll down).  Have something else you’ve discovered?  Drop us a comment or send us a tweet.

Let’s say you’re a customer in the market for a new, shiny smartphone. You’ve never had one before, and you’re able to choose from whichever U.S. carrier you want. You’ve heard some news about a “Google Phone” and you’ve seen commercials for this thing called “Droid” and apparently that has something to do with Google as well. You’re intrigued, but also confused, and I feel your pain.

Baby Android’s First Steps

I love Google as a company because they offer a lot of services that work well which I use every day. Maps, Mail, Search, etc. The idea of them having their own phone is great in theory, but the execution over the last year or so has left a bit to be desired. Many people think that the new and fancy Nexus One is the first Google Phone. In actuality, Google’s first phone was the G1. Google and phone manufacturer HTC launched Android into the world with this phone 15 months ago and it was with a whimper instead of a bang. Ugly hardware matched with unfinished-feeling software just couldn’t cut it with most consumers. If you were on T-Mobile, chances are you were sticking with your Sidekick, or your Blackberry. If you weren’t on T-Mobile, there wasn’t much reason to switch.

Resurgence

Over the months, Android carried out a relatively quiet existence with a small group of low key phones. However, about three months ago, we started seeing some commercials about this “Droid” thing and it could apparently Do a bunch of things that another competing smartphone Doesn’t. I was intrigued, the masses were intrigued, and being the resident nerd among all my circles of friends, everyone was asking me what this Droid thing was. No one ever asked me anything about Google and it’s mobile operating system before that. A clear sign that Google hadn’t yet made an impact with their presence in the mobile marketplace. The Droid was shaping up to be the heavy-hitter that the search giant needed to shake things up, by partnering with the largest cell provider in the U.S. and with an ad-campaign taking direct jabs at the countries best-selling phone, the iPhone. If you were waiting for an Android phone that was worth your while, it seemed your waiting would now be over.

That is, unless you waited just two short months after the launch of the Droid when Google and HTC would announce and release their new flagship device, the Nexus One. Boasting a better processor, a bigger and newer version of the Android OS, the N1 had taken the title away from the short-lived champ that was the Droid as the best Android phone to have. If you had just signed into a two year contract with big VZW and were hoping to show off your big, bad Droid, you might be feeling a bit of a sting at this point.

webOS Makes it Simple

When you look to Android as a mobile platform, you no doubt have a lot of choice behind what kind of device you can have. Size, shape, keyboard or not, flavor of OS (as we mentioned previously, not all devices sport the latest -or same- software version). But if you want the cream of the crop, what phone do you turn to? The choice isn’t so clear.

With webOS, Palm have been gracious enough to bestow upon us the advantage of choice as well. Although they have made it a much easier task deciding which phone is right for you. The Pre is clearly the flagship, power device that fully realizes the power of webOS, and the Pixi is the choice for those that are looking for something less imposing, yet boasting the same great look and feel of the operating system. The Pre Plus and the Pixi Plus coming to Verizon in just a matter of days, are only incremental improvements for the hardware that Palm has already released into the world. Technology changes at a rapid pace, and for Palm to release the same old phones on a new carrier would be an obvious missed opportunity for them. Nonetheless you’re still getting the same version of the same great operating system on all four devices.

So if you’re out there with cash in hand and are looking for the best that Palm can offer with webOS, the choice is pretty clear. The same, unfortunately, can’t be said for Android, which will have you doing more research and making more compromises than you’re probably hoping to make. Choice is always good, but in this case too much of something good isn’t always.. erm.. good.

So with that said…lets put them head to head shall we?

“What other phone don’t, droid does”…that is the slogan for this beast, and it is mainly aimed at the iPhone, but lets see how it stacks up.

Basics

• Screen: 3.7″ WVGA, 854×480
• 16 GB memory + SD card expansion
• Wifi, 3G, USB
• 5 megapixel camera
• 550 Mhz processor
• 256 Megs of RAM
• Android 2.0

Now first thing to notice is that this is not the Droid Eris…The Droid Eris is a completely different Android phone that happened to come out right around the same time. That guy can’t hold the DROID’s charging cable…

Ok, now that we know what phone we are looking at, the next thing to notice is this thing is a beast. From a pure specs perspective it stacks up better than the Pre in several areas, but the Pre Plus starts to put it in its place. The Pre has a faster processor and the Plus has more RAM (and the same amount of memory). There is one place the Droid spanks the Pre…the screen. Seriously, the screen on that thing is ginormous.

If you watch people look at the Droid for the first time you hear a lot of…”man that is huge”, “is that a brick?”, “can this thing fit in your pocket?” The fact of the matter is, this phone is big and was designed for techies, geeks, and nerds. Why? Because while the Pre and the iPhone are all about slickness and style, the Droid is about pure functionality.

When it comes to pure functions, this thing delivers…just don’t ask it to give you sexy. The Droid is a great phone, but I still recommend the Pre. Here’s why.

First, as of right now the Droid has just about the newest version of Android out there (Nexus one is one digit higher). As I have mentioned before, there is absolutely no promise that this will remain so, and 2.2 (or Froyo) is right around the corner.

Second, apps. Seriously, did I just say apps? Am I trying to say that the 16,000 marketplace compares to the 1,200 of the App Catalog? It’s all about quality…not quantity. Have you seen Asphalt 5 (if not check out the review)? Android has nothing that can compare. Now to be fair, the Droid does have a separate GPU so it is possible for the beast to get games like that at some point…course that would be done through an upgrade to Android…which you probably have to wait 6 months for.

Its not just about the games though. The lastest version of webOS opened up the door for programmers to talk straight to the GPU and linux itself. This opens the door to way more than just games…just watch.

The Nexus One is the newest Google phone, and, like the Droid, it is a monster. Here are the specs:

• 1Ghz Qualcomm QSD 8250 “Snapdragon” processor
• 3.7″ 800×480 AMOLED display
• 5 Megapixel camera with LED Flash
• 512MB RAM, 4GB MicroSD storage
• Wifi, 3G, USB
• Android 2.1

If you just read that for the first time, you probably drooled a bit. That’s ok, it really is impressive. The screen is the same size as the Droid (the resolution is just a tiny bit lower), but it has a much faster processor and more RAM. It also has the latest and greatest Android version with it. Now, one can hope that since this is actually a phone sold by Google, that they will let you stay up to date with Android…time will tell.

Now how does the Pre stack up to this monster? Well, from a specs perspective, not all that great (the Plus hangs in there though). Aside from the same problems I mention with the Droid, the real kicker to this guy is support and price. When Google released this phone they wanted to change the way that phones were sold…no forced carrier lock. You could buy this phone without worrying about which network you were gonna be on. Well, that sounds noble, but here is the truth. First it is a GSM device so there goes Sprint and Verizon. Also, the way that the 3G tech works in the device it currently doesn’t work with AT&T at all. So that means, as of now, you can only get it to work right on T-Mobile. So you can get it without contract, but you can’t go anywhere with it. Now this will change, of course, but it is definitely something to keep in mind.

Now lets talk price. Lets say you like T-Mobile and you get the Nexus One all hooked up. Then, for some reason, 90 days later you decide you need to get out (probably cause the Pre 2 comes out!!!). With a normal phone you would just get nailed with a $200 early termination fee. With the Nexus One you also get a whopping $350 Equipment Recovery Fee. Huh? Say again? Basically Google charges you for dropping the phone if you get rid of it within 120 days. I don’t know what you call that, but I call that sleezy.

Finally…service. Google sells this phone,  not T-Mobile (or any other phone company). What does this mean? It means that if the phone goes berserk, you can’t just take it to the phone company’s store and get it looked at. You have to go through Google’s email only technical support. If you have ever done this, you know the kind of joy this really is (I do it for clients all the time and I cringe every single time).

Sure the Nexus One is a great phone, but is it worth the extra hassles that come with it?

CC Photo by {eclaire}

Welcome to this week’s News Roundup.  This week we’ll sort over the recent webOS news to bring you the tastiest tidbits.  First up, news of webOS 1.3.5.2 hitting Europe.  Then, a bit of news about Verizon and AT&T.  Finally, we’ll close up with the Roundup of the smaller stories.

webOS 1.3.5.2 in Europe

webOS 1.3.5.2 hit Europe a little over a week ago.  Fortunately, this update hit them much quicker than previous updates to webOS had.  One feature that the European webOS devices got that those of us in North America didn’t was Bluetooth tethering.  Here’s Palm’s changelog for O2.

Verizon and AT&T Tidbits

As you may know, Verizon announced that the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus will be available on the 25th.  Shortly after the announcement, Verizon announced that it was cutting the prices on its plans.  For more information on the new rates, check out this PreCentral article.  Verizon also announced pricing for the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus:  $149 and $99, each requiring a two-year contract and a taking into account a $100 mail-in-rebate.  Additionally, Verizon is offering a free Pixi Plus to purchasers of a Pre Plus or Pixi Plus through the 14th of February.  If you’re interested in using your Pre or Pixi Plus as a wireless hotspot, that will set you back $40 per month and has a 5 GB limit.

AT&T was not to be outdone in the price war, they cut the price of their unlimited talk and data plan by $30.  While Palm hasn’t announced availability of webOS devices on the carrier, AT&T said it would have two devices in the first half of the year.  As if to underscore how certain this is, PreCentral tips us to reports of Web logs showing AT&T devices running webOS 1.3.8.

Roundup

As we reported from CES, Flash is coming to webOS devices soon.  In fact, Adobe released a video of the Pre running some Flash games (and multitasking, of course).  The WebOS Internals folks haven’t been resting:  they’ve released VisualBoyAdvance, an emulator for Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance ROMs.  Also, there was a thread in the PreCentral forum about an NES emulator and there’s a Wiki post about NES emulators on WebOS Internals.  As always, to keep up-to-date be sure to follow us on Twitter.

Jon Rubinstein, Palm’s Chairman and CEO, took the stage in Las Vegas to recount where Palm’s been and tell us where Palm’s going.  Click on the video to watch the entire 50 minute presentation.

The follow are the key points:

Hot Apps Bonus Program

Katie Mitic, Palm’s SVP of Product Marketing, announced $1 million in prizes to be awarded to top webOS developers.  The prizes are open to both free and paid apps developed using Palm’s existing Mojo SDK.  The prizes are tiered as follows:  $100,000 each to the top downloaded free and paid app, $10,000 each to the developers of the next two most downloaded free and paid apps and $1000 each to the developers of the next 200 most downloaded free and paid apps.  The download period will be between February 1, 2010, and May 31, 2010.  Drop by the newly relaunched Developer Center to get started developing your app today.

3D Gaming Comes to the Palm Pre

The announcement that got the most reaction was the release of 3D accelerated games, made available by Palm’s new Plugin Development Kit (or PDK).  Joining Palm onstage to make the announcement was Travis Boatman, VP Worldwide Studios for EA Mobile, who introduced some of their new titles.  In all, twelve PDK titles are available in the App Catalog, including the much hyped Need For Speed Undercover, The Sims 3, X-Plane 9 and Tetris.  You can see a video review of Gameloft’s Ashpalt 5 on WebOS Roundup.

More important than the release of these twelve games, though, was the PDK itself.   The PDK allows for development of applications that work with webOS but that are developed with C and C++ — in other words, native applications.  One of the criticisms from some developers is that Palm’s Mojo SDK, based on HTML, CSS and JavaScript, is too slow for some types of applications.  The PDK, and the fact that Palm has been testing this with some partners possibly since the release of webOS, indicates that Palm was well aware of this and has a solution.

While we’re excited about the release of the PDK we’re not sure that the capabilities of the Canvas element have been fully realized by game developers.  As Frank Zammetti pointed out, there is a tremendous potential for applications developed with existing Web standards.  Particularly as we see technologies such as WebGL get included in webOS.  Further, battery draw from games that tap the GPU will likely be big issue.

The PDK is scheduled for release in March on the Palm Pre and a later date for the Pixi.  In case you missed the significance of the statement, the 3D games available today in the App Catalog are only available for the Pre, not the Pixi.  Those missing 80 pixels could be very significant indeed.

Video Recording, Editing and Sharing

Those of you who’ve been following the homebrew announcements knew that video recording is possible on existing webOS devices.  It was only a matter of time before Palm incorporated the feature into the OS.  Palm demonstrated their upcoming video recording functionality at CES.  What they also demonstrated was the integrated video editing and sharing capability.  With a few clicks, Paul Cousineau, Director of Product Marketing at Palm, edited a video he shot live at the event then uploaded it to You Tube.  After it was uploaded, he used another feature to share the video with his Facebook feed.

Many have criticized Palm for not having the feature available before now.  Hopefully, this very slick implementation will go a long way towards smoothing any ruffled feathers.  What’s more important is that this feature will be included with webOS 1.4, another free update available to all webOS devices sometime in February.  Although it wasn’t discussed, we hope that audio recording will also be included in 1.4.

Flash 10.1

It was confirmed that Flash 10.1 will be available soon.  According to Paul Cousineau Flash 10.1 will be available for download from the App Catalog.  This feature will open up the Web even further for webOS devices.  Some have pointed out that the recently announced SlingPlayer, being Flash-based, will work on webOS, allowing you to watch and control your TV on your Pre or Pixi.

The Pre Plus and Pixi Plus

Palm also showed off the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus smartphones at CES.  The Pre Plus sports double the memory and storage (512 MB RAM, 16 GB Flash) of the original Pre and sheds the center button.  The Pixi Plus adds WiFi and more storage and memory.  Both devices will ship with Touchstone compatible backs.  These two phones will be Verizon exclusives (see below).  No doubt the increased memory and storage will be important for applications developed with the PDK, as many users have noted that the 3D apps sometimes fail to launch with the dreaded ‘too many cards open’ message.

Another Verizon exclusive will be the ability to use the Pre Plus or Pixi Plus as a MiFi hotspot, allowing up to five devices to share the 3G connection.  All you’ll need to get your laptop online is the app and a webOS device on Verizon.  What was not disclosed is how much the data plan for that will cost.

New Networks

Palm announced two new network partners at CES:  SFR in France and Verizon Wireless in the US.  As mentioned above, Verizon will be getting an exclusive on the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus (at least in the US).  Verizon currently has about double the subscriber base of Sprint in the US so this opens up a huge market for Palm and app developers.  What remains to be seen is how Verizon will promote the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus.  If they are half as successful as they were with their Droid Does campaign then the more consumer-focused webOS devices will sell very well.

Analysis

It seemed that Palm’s announcements were targeted very strongly towards developers.  Palm realizes that in order to compete with Apple and Android its important to have apps.  The opening of the developer program, the freeing of the app distribution process, the Hot Apps program and the PDK all point to the fact that Palm is deadly serious about expanding its App Catalog.  Palm is actively courting developers and is making it clear that they embrace openness, even giving a ’shout out’ to the homebrew community at CES.  This is very exciting news and this strategy will very likely bear fruit.

What a strikingly different out-of-box experience awaits those users whose first webOS device runs webOS 1.4 as compared to those of us who started with the first release of webOS.  Certainly the underlying OS that we all love hasn’t drastically changed but the power, features and available apps have grown tremendously.  Kudos to Palm for the customer focus and rapid updates.  This is clearly one area where Palm outshines Apple and Android.  Many Android devices are stuck on older versions of the OS and are unlikely to ever see updates and Apple’s releases are slow in coming.

Prior to CES we predicted a number of things.  We got most of them right.  We missed on seeing a non-Palm branded webOS devices and we didn’t have any clue about the Hot Apps program.  However, what was most important about CES is that Palm has again generated buzz.  They showed that Palm was not to be ignored in the smartphone wars of 2010.  They reinforced that they are committed to extending the functionality of their devices through more updates to the OS.  They showed they’re committed to reaching more end users.  We think 2010 will be a great year for Palm and a great year for webOS users.

Other Reviews of Palm at CES

All Things Digital agrees that Palm has shaken things up once again.  Slashdot has some coverage of the Hot Apps Program.  Ars Technica ha a writeup about CES.  PC Magazine has a hands-on with the Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus.  About Palm Pre has some interesting thoughts on Palm’s developer strategy that mirror our own.  And, of course, PreCentral has a lot of articles about CES.