Hasta La Gadget!

So, you want to be a webOS developer, huh? That’s great kid, we’re excited for you, but there’s a catch: Palm won’t be handing out an actual SDK to most people until the end of Summer. In a post just published on the Palm Developer Network Blog, reps from the company say that although they’ve been cranking away on getting their full SDK in shipshape (the version given out to current devs is apparently pretty rough), they won’t have anything for a broader audience anytime soon. In their words:

With the Pre now in customers’ hands and reports of webOS hacks in the news, we know that you are more anxious than ever to get access to the SDK and start developing for webOS.

We’ve been working very hard on the SDK and are eager to open access on a wider scale, but the software and the developer services to support it just aren’t ready yet.

This should come as a bit of a blow to developers hoping to get cracking on Pre software, and will unquestionably turn those who can’t bear the wait towards the fully stocked iPhone or Android platforms. However, Palm does say that they’ll be opening the program up a bit wider, stating in the post that they plan to crank the number of devs with the early SDK in their hands up from “hundreds to thousands” over the next few weeks. Apparently, that’s part of process the company is beginning to ration out access, building to a full release.

Another bit of puzzling wordsmithing in this post comes in the form of the company’s stance on homebrew and DIY “experiments” (their words) which have come to light in the past couple of weeks. So says Palm:

As on any popular platform, we recognize that some developers will experiment in ways that cross official boundaries, but we believe that our formal offerings – and community efforts built around those offerings – will provide the best experience for the vast majority of webOS developers and users.

So while it’s not exactly a keep-off-the-grass statement, it certainly reads vaguely as to whether or not the company will lock out jailbreakers hoping to dive deeper into webOS. Further confusing the matter? Palm has just released the Linux source code used to compile the Pre’s firmware, making the possibility of cooked / custom ROMs a very serious reality, and obviously opening the floor to a lot of said experimentation. Mixed messages? Yes. Our word to Palm right now? Put every effort into getting that SDK out, or you’re at risk of quickly burning through all the good will you’ve just engendered.

Update: We’ve added some info above which reflects Palm’s statement that it will be considerably widening its pool of developers over the next few weeks with access to the early SDK.

Read – An update on the early access program and the SDK
Read – Open source packages

Filed under: Cellphones

Palm says no webOS SDK till end of Summer originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Palm may have wowed gadget geeks with its new Palm Pre phone but the company seems to be having a much tougher time convincing application developers to get on board.

The Pre’s app store, known as the App Catalog, had just about 30 apps one week after the device’s June 6 launch. The number has remain unchanged since then, says Medialets, a mobile analytics and ad targeting company.

“This number is a mere fraction on what we’ve seen at launch for other app stores,” says Rana Sobhany, vice president for Medialets.

What’s kept developers away has been the fact that the software developers’ kit hasn’t been easy to get, and the low user base of the Palm Pre compared to rivals such as the iPhone and BlackBerry, say industry watchers.

Palm released the Pre on June 6 exclusively on the Sprint network.  But the company has not been saying much about the Pre’s app store to date.

Since Apple first introduced the idea of an integrated store for third-party programs with the iPhone, other smartphone makers have been trying to catch up.  The iPhone’s app store, which launched in July 2008, has become a hugely popular feature among its users, who have downloaded the store’s more than 50,000 apps over 1 billion times. It has also helped create a new generation of mobile developers, some of whom have struck it rich creating games and other applications for the phone. Since the iPhone’s launch, other companies including BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, Nokia, and Google have launched their own stores for mobile software.

Nine days before the Pre launched, Pre’s App Catalog went live with 4 apps (Classic, Sudoku, Today Show, and Where). By launch day it had grown to 18 apps total, says Medialets, and now stands at 30.

One reason for the slow start could be that Palm has been very selective about giving out the Software Developers Kit (SDK) prior to the device’s launch.

In fact, the SDK is still not widely available. A Palm spokesperson said the apps in the Pre catalog are “preview apps from select developers.” “We have not announced nor fully rolled out our SDK publicly,” said the spokeswoman.

That may be a reason why all the apps in the App Catalog store, with the exception of one, are still in the beta mode, says Medialets.

Palm’s moves have turned off at least one developer. “Palm is only sharing their SDK with top secret developers,” says Robert Patterson, director at Nex Studios, which has created apps for the iPhone and Sony PlayStation 3. “So screw them, we’ll keep developing for a platform like iPhone that already has millions of users.”

Patterson says he is impressed the Pre’s operating system but the lack of widespread availability of the SDK and the tiny number of Pre users makes it not worth the development effort for small shops. “The market is not there yet for the Pre,” he says. “So, to be honest, we don’t really care about Palm right now.”

If other small developers share Patterson’s feelings, it could spell doom for Palm’s Pre App Catalog.

Palm’s selective distribution of the SDK for developers is in contrast with how the company wooed programmers before the device’s launch.

The company’s biggest promise for  WebOS, the new operating system that powers the Palm Pre, is that it would be easy to develop for. In February, Palm held an online tutorial that touted the ease of creating an app for the Pre using HTML and JavaScript.

Ted Wugofski, chief technology officer at mobile app company Handmark, agrees that developing apps for the Pre is easy.  Handmark was one of the select few developers to have its app, Express Stock, available in the Pre Catalog at launch. “The Pre requires simpler technology for apps and we found the development process to be fairly smooth,” says Wugofski.

Handmark worked closely with Palm, which reviewed the app’s interface and suggested changes, he says. “They guided us and let us know how they wanted the UI to be,” says Wugofski.

The move indicates Palm wants to offer users the best experience with apps in the Pre Catalog. But somewhere along the way the company may have gotten too controlling, suggests Patterson, skewing the game in favor of large companies. “I can understand they want to offer users apps of the highest quality at launch but it also makes it difficult for smaller developers to participate,” he says.

It is not clear if Palm will adopt an approval process for apps on the Pre similar to what Apple does for the iPhone. Handmark says Palm’s involvement with its app creation process was because the company didnt’ have a set of published guidelines for Pre developers yet. Handmark didn’t have to go through an approval process because Palm chose to partner with it.

What may be encouraging for developers is that the  Pre App Catalog publishes data on how many times each app has been downloaded, which other app stores don’t, says Sobhany. “Apple’s App Store listed downloads only for a couple of hours post-launch before they were made unavailable,” she says. “Android Market provides buckets of download ranges which, at the low end are helpful, but at the upper end vary widely.”

Palm has also not disclosed the revenue sharing arrangement it will put in place for developers for the Pre Catalog.

“Since the SDK is not public yet, we have not disclosed the details,” says a Palm spokeswoman.

See also:
Palm Scores a Modest Hit, Despite Problems

Photo: Pre App Catalog (rhastings/Flickr)

In 2004, it was all about iPodding your BMW, but in 2009, it’s all about Palming it. No, not “palming” as in concealing your car in the palm of your hand — “Palming,” you know, as in the act of hardwiring a Touchstone into your center console so that you can charge a Pre on the road with the greatest of ease. Ironically, this modern marvel of technology is mounted right where the iDrive controller in most newer models would normally go, which means you’re stuck making the nearly impossible choice between this hack and BMW’s.

[Thanks, Mike]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Dude hardwires Palm Touchstone into BMW, charging ensues originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s the big question, isn’t it? Sprint vs. AT&T, Palm vs. Apple, physical keys vs. solo touchscreen. Here are recent stories to help inform you about every aspect of both, so your eventual decision is intelligent, whichever one you choose.

Palm Pre Reviews
• Our review
• What other reviewers said
• 10 things you should know about the Pre

Known Pre Issues
• Tethering? Maybe not
• iTunes syncing could go away
• Hooray for homebrew!
• How’s that reception?
• Screen scratchy? Heat distortion?

Apple iPhone 3GS Reviews
• Our Review
• What other reviewers are saying
• iPhone 3GS Complete Feature Guide

Known 3GS Issues
• 3GS-exclusive apps from the App Store; definitely better graphics for 3GS
• Tethering? Probably gonna cost extra
• Already jailbroken and SIM-unlocked
• What, no Verizon?

Easy Advice
• A flowchart
Stay tuned for more issues and revelations with the 3GS when the phone finally ships to customers, and people start the inevitable complaining.

What about the original $99 iPhone 3G? And while we’re at it, what about the best BlackBerry and Android phones? Hey, that’s why we wrote up the Smartphone Buyer’s Guide: The Best of the Best. You can thank us later. Or now, below, in comments.

And of course, there’s always the choice of buying none.