Jason, please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your background.

Well, my name is Jason Robitaille, one part university student, one part hobby developer, all Canadian.  My website is www.canuck-software.ca though lately I’ve been posting most of my software in the Canuck Software subforums at PreCentral.

WebOS Quick Install

One question that came up at the Sprint Open Developers Conference was:  How do you pronounce your last name?

My last name is pronounced “row-bih-tie”.  It’s a French name, heh.

How did you get started with programming?

I got started years ago during high school.  LOVED the PalmOS back then and had the Zire 71.  In grade 10 computer science class they taught us very basic VB.NET programming and from there it was only natural to play with HandheldBasic, and from there I was hooked on software development.

How did you become interested in webOS development?

My current device is the Palm TX.  Around last December I was looking for a prospective smartphone.  I was really on the verge of quitting Palm for good.  With all the buzz about “Palm’s last stand,” their make or break announcement happening at CES, I figured I’d wait until after that before making any decisions.  Turned out the Pre was exactly what I was looking for in a smartphone.

If I understand correctly, you still don’t have a Pre yet because it’s not available in your area of Canada.  Why invest so much time in a device you can’t even use yet?

It’s because of my Palm TX.  I still use it daily and it’s like a mini computer.  Unfortunately, with the Pre and webOS, it doesn’t have the same breadth of third party apps as the PalmOS  A lot of apps I make are in anticipation of getting an actual device (with a few being done on request).  I wanna make the transition from the highly functional, but very outdated, PalmOS to the sleek webOS as smooth as possible.

For those not familiar with it, can you tell us what webOS Quick Install is and what’s special about it?

WebOS Quick Install was released several months ago, and it was the first, and to date only, cross-platform ipk GUI installer.  And it’s come quite a long way since then.  Not only does it offer full application installation and uninstallation, but more recently it was expanded to offer full patch integration. In just a few clicks you have access to dozens and dozens of patches for your device. What’s more, WebOS Quick Install also supports installing .patch files directly, all the while following webOS-Internals standards.

Other notable features include the ability to send and receive files to and from your device, theming, a basic Linux command line interface, and most popularly, a built in ipkg feed viewer.  With the ipkg feed viewer, you have access to hundreds of applications from across the web.

webOS Repair Utility

You also have a program called webOS Repair Utility.  Can you tell us what it does and why you wrote it?

webOS Repair Utility basically scans the program files on your device and compares them to the respective factory stock files.  In this way, it’s able to detect modified and missing files on your device, offering the option to restore the factory file. In addition, there is the ability to do a factory restoration of a specified file.  The advantage of both these features is you no longer need to wipe your device with webOSDoctor to restore files.  One thing people need to keep in mind is this is an in-development program, so keep expectations realistic.

I made this program in response the issues I had seen across the PreCentral forums.  People were having to use webOSDoctor when only a handful of files needed to be restored. It was insane to me that people were having to spend all that extra time running webOSDoctor and restoring things to how they were pre-wipe.  It’s still in-development.  [ed: I had a chance to use it so that I could apply a patch that was balking.]

Theme Builder

Then there’s webOS Theme Builder.  Some of our readers may not be familiar with themes and how they work.  Can you first fill us in on how themes work and then tell us how Theme Builder makes it easier to design themes?

As webOS is built on a foundation of HTML/CSS/JavaScript, virtually everything about it can be skinned. Skinning on the desktop is accomplished with WebOS Quick Install and a zip with the replacement images and a theme.xml file in it.  The theme.xml basically tells which files go where on your device.

WebOS Theme Builder basically makes things simplified.  The theme.xml gets built automatically, and with the latest 2.0 release, there’s a theme assistant, providing an easy way to add common image replacements for images like icons and system graphics.  [ed: Themes let you change the look of many parts of webOS.  At last check there were over 600 themes available.  You can use webOS Quick Install or Preware to install them.]

Internalz

Lastly, there are Internalz and FileMgr Service.  Who are these for and what do they do?

One thing sorely missing from webOS was a file browser.  It seems really inconvenient that users had to connect to a computer in USB mode to move or delete a file. With that in mind, I made Internalz and FileMgr Service.  Internalz is the webOS application that you use and FileMgr Service is a background service that powers Internalz.

Currently Internalz is able to browse the full file system, copy and move files and directories, rename directories, and delete files and directories. May not sound like much right now, but I have big plans for Internalz in the future. One particular plan is to add unzip/unrar/untar support. Can’t go into any other details, but rest assured, there’s lots of useful features coming to Internalz.

Are there any others that I missed?

Recently I created an open source utility call Unified Diff Creator. In short, it’s an easy-to-use patch maker. I’m also one of the people working on the open source video recording app. Everything else is in development and not yet released to the public.

Judging by the types of programs and apps you’ve produced it seems like you are more interested in the ‘nuts and bolts’ aspect of webOS.  Would you say that’s true?

Yea, that’s pretty accurate.  However it’s a bit more due to necessity rather than choice.  If I could, I would be doing a lot more webOS on-device applications. In particular, I’d greatly like to develop apps I could sell on the App Catalog (as I’d make more money by even selling $0.99 apps compared to the donations I’ve received), but I feel it’s more necessary to have tools like WebOS Quick Install and Internalz first. Plus, it certainly doesn’t hurt with creating a reputation of building quality software.

What would you like to tackle next?

I have many many things in development.  One big project I want to be continually updating is Internalz.  As well, I have many unreleased projects that I’ve been making progress on, including a dedicated archive extraction app, a comic book reader, a system monitor, and a school note taking app/class management app. But alas I’m only one man and it may be a while before everything sees the light of day. In the more immediate term, however, one project I’ll be working on is an open source cross-platform Java-based port of Rod Whitby’s Meta-Doctor, which I’m calling MetaDoctorX.

Have you had any interactions with the folks from Palm?  If so, what’s their reaction to the work you’ve done?

The only interaction I have with Palm is with Chuq [Von Rospach] (Developer Community Manager), though I’d love to have greater interaction with Palm, and do anything I can to assist them.  I’m a long time Palm user and love the new direction the company is going.  Their interaction with other developers has shown they realize it’s the third party apps that make the platform, and while they may occasionally misstep, it’s mainly as they’re playing the catchup game with the other smartphone platforms (and they’ve generally rectified those situations promptly).  I have the utmost confidence in webOS and wish Palm all the best. If they need to contact me, they have my email, eh.

What do you do when you’re not working on webOS software and dreaming about the day you’ll get the Pre?

Well, university takes up a lot of time.  I’m going for a 4-year major in Computer Science (specialization in networks and security) and a minor in Film Studies. Between university and webOS work, my little amount of spare time goes towards hanging out with friends and the occasional playing of World of Warcraft.

What’s your favorite pizza topping?

I’m a sucker for ham and pineapple, heh.

Thank you very much for taking the time to talk with us.

Pre Re-Reconfirmed for Verizon

Those of you waiting for ‘the VZ’ to jump on to the Pre bandwagon won’t have too much longer to wait.  In a recent Tweet Verizon said they’ll have it ‘early next year’.  The more networks the Pre (and Pixi) make it to, the better.  We’ve even heard of unlocked GSM versions of the Pre making their way across the pond.  Hopefully Verizon has set aside a good ad budget for the Pre launch on their network.  Hopefully they can do something similar to the ad they aired for the Motorola Droid.

Palm Makes Finding Apps Easier

For those of you wishing you could browse the App Catalog from the comfort of your desktop, Palm has (sorta) granted your wish.  Palm set up a webOS Mobile Applications page where you can see some screenshots and brief descriptions of some apps in the App Catalog.  Currently, it’s running a couple weeks behind the App Catalog, as evidenced by the fact that Match ‘Em hasn’t shown up in the list yet.  If you can’t wait a few weeks to see the new apps then head over to Twitter and follow @PalmNewApps, an account at least partially set up in response to our prompting.  Palm has indicated this account will alert us to new and updated apps appearing in the App Catalog.

webOS 101 Launches

This last weekend we launched webOS 101, a collaborative webOS development site.  This site aims to help share knowledge about programming for webOS.  The site will feature tutorials and documentation that can be added to by anyone.  We welcome your ideas and contributions!  If you have experience working with Wiki’s we certainly can use your help in organizing the growing amount of information on webOS and the Mojo SDK.

News Roundup

Last week we discussed a couple of books for the Palm Pre.  Now, Made Simple Learning has released Palm Pre Made Simple.  If you’d like to pick it up you can even find a coupon at PreCentral.  Also, last week we mentioned that the Palm Pre would be getting its official launch in the UK.  Apparently things went off without a hitch.  Our favorite phone also made an appearance in USA Today in an article on social networking on smartphones.  Finally, we’re interested in what you have to say.  Would you like to get your voice hear on Pre 101?  We’re looking for guest authors and contributors.  Drop us a note below!

The Palm Pre Goes Global

Those of us in the US and Canada have been enjoying our phones for a while.  Now, Europe is finally getting its turn.  Palm had a gala event in London.  In attendance were a number of ‘Euro-stars’ and others eager to see the Pre.  The Pre will be available on O2 on Friday in the U.K. and Ireland.  O2 also has the exclusive on the Palm Pre in Germany.  Germany had its own pre-launch parties for its launch yesterday.  In Spain, Telefonica launched the Palm Pre today.  Reports are that there’s a lot of interest in the Pre.  Welcome aboard, Europe!  Pretty soon you’ll be trying to backswipe everything, too!

Good News for Dummies!

Having anxiety about the aforementioned back gesture?  Not sure what that little button is on the front of the Pre?  Chris Ziegler has you covered.  His recently released Palm Pre for Dummies has 300 pages of facts, figures and guides for our favorite smartphone.  If you’re afraid to admit to that level of ignorance you can always check out Palm Pre: The Missing Manual by Ed Baig.  Both are priced at $16.49 on Amazon.com.

Apps Galore

A number of app releases have graced us over the last seven days.  The total number of apps in the catalog is now up to 151.  If you haven’t checked recently it’s time to bring up the App Catalog app.  Of special note is the appearance of Match ‘Em, our very own contribution to entertainment on the Pre.  We also saw the appearance of two German apps:  billiger.de and SPIEGEL ONLINE.  While we don’t expect too many German apps to appear in the English language App Catalog we will likely see more now that the Europeans have devices to test their apps with.

Roundup

Also appearing this week was a Palm Pre knockoff.  China has some amazing cloning ability.  This model has a few more buttons than the Pre we’re used to but it also comes with TV and FM tuners.  VuiVision has you covered if you want TV on a real Palm Pre.  Have some news to share?  Use our comments section below or tip us on Twitter.

Today’s update includes the following new apps:

• Survivor Samoa
• P2GoogleVoice
• Ditto
• DeadMan
• Dot Game
• Chess for webOS
• Reversi
• Three PicHunt games:  Space, Pets and Vintage Cars
• P2Snippets
• MediPDA
• Send My Location for webOS
• Herbrew Calendar Trial Version
• TipCalc

Apps seeing an update are:

• Tweed
• Lemonade
• Mileage Monitor
• Zilch Lite
• Connect 4 Demo
• Checkers
• Pandora Radio
• Photo Dialer

For those of you who’ve been testing the apps available at PreCentral and other places many of the new apps will be familiar.  Still, it’s good to see them making the transition to the App Catalog and a wider audience.