Hasta La Gadget!

Man, remember LiMo? Amazingly, there are some 40 handsets on the market today based on the platform, but precisely none of them are boasting a profile as high as any one of the Android smartphones also on store shelves. As Motorola scrambles to re-make itself and prove that its CLIQ is a force to be reckoned with in the burgeoning Android phone sector, the company has also decided to remove itself as a “founding member” of the LiMo Foundation. The company recently noted that the outfit was sliding down to “associate member,” stating that “at this time it feels that the Android platform gives it a richer, more consistent foundation with strong support for the ecosystem and developer community.” That’s a pretty damning statement to our ears, but we won’t go so far as to call the breakup between Moto and LiMo official; we’re guessing “it’s complicated” would be entirely more appropriate here.

[Via phonescoop]

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

Motorola quietly takes one step away from LiMo, looks to Android for consolation originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Love the Pre? Love code? Love money? Well it’s your lucky day. Palm has just announced that it will begin accepting applications for developers interested in producing for-pay apps for the webOS App Catalog. The company says that requests taken now will make devs eligible for inclusion in the mid-September launch of its e-commerce program. Just like Apple and Google, Palm will be splitting profits of paid apps with developers 70 / 30 (the devs get 70 percent, don’t worry), and go figure — credit cards will be accepted. Of course we’re pumped about paying $.99 for a to-do app someday soon, but we’re hoping this will also herald in a new age of steady releases for the Catalog, which is still looking frighteningly bare to us. Hey, that’s what homebrew is for, right? Full PR after the break.

Continue reading Palm launches e-commerce beta for the App Catalog

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

Palm launches e-commerce beta for the App Catalog originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, it’s not quite the release date and price you were hoping for, but it’s definitely something. Today Palm — via a short keynote at the Web 2.0 Expo — announced that the company would begin taking names and numbers on the webOS dev site for potential developers who will receive an “early look” Mojo SDK. And that’s starting right this moment… as in now. That news alone would be big, but reps we spoke with said that the SDK would be made available to developers that the company will be cherry-picking as early as tomorrow. So if you were looking to get into the Pre app game, here’s your first big chance.

In addition to the SDK news, Palm is introducing a new set of “integrated cloud services” for developers (called Mojo Messaging Service) which will use a standardized publish / subscribe system to allow data to be bounced from the “cloud” to devices. Basically, it looks like this is Palm’s play for some of that push buzz — though the indication is that this service can and will be used for bigger tasks as well.

Finally, the company announced that third-party developer MotionApps will be making a Palm OS emulator available for purchase to coincide with the launch of the Pre. The application will be utilize the mass storage mode of the device to allow for drag-and-drop of PRCs, though according to the press release, the emulator “won’t be able to leverage core webOS functionality,” meaning that you probably can’t expect pure bliss across all of your applications, particularly those with roots that go deeper into phone databases and the like. What’s interesting to note about this app is that it’s being built on more than just the standard webOS SDK — an event which Palm called “unique.” They went on to assure us that this was a one-off to allow for emulation, but we’re thinking they might want to reconsider that policy by factoring in the clamor for serious gaming on a device like the Pre. You can check an image of the emulator after the break.

So, no pricing, no release date, but lots of movement on the developer front — which is big news if you’re a company trying to launch a completely new operating system. Still, we’re getting a bit antsy with all this waiting… it might be time to throw everyone a bigger bone than that tired “first half of 2009” line, guys.

Read – Palm developer site
Read – MotionApps Palm OS emulator

Continue reading Palm announces webOS SDK availability, Palm OS emulation for Pre, new cloud services

Filed under: Cellphones

Palm announces webOS SDK availability, Palm OS emulation for Pre, new cloud services originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Apr 2009 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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