How To: Become a Palm Pre App Developer

This summer Palm isn’t just launching a new mobile device, along with the Pre they are also releasing webOS, a brand new mobile operating system. Since the official announcement of webOS in January, Palm has touted the new operating system as being insanely easy to develop for. If you can create a website, you can develop for webOS or so Palm claims.

This has attracted the interest of a whole new breed of developers and has sparked the interest of existing developers who want to port over their existing iPhone applications. If Palm can build a better app store, with an easier approval system than Apple (which shouldn’t be hard) the Pre really could give the iPhone a run for its money.

So How Do I Start Developing?

Palm is currently providing a software development kit called Palm Mojo SDK to developers who want to play around with webOS before the Pre and webOS are released into the wild. Palm appears to be letting more people into the program each week, however exactly how many remains unknown. If you can hold out a bit, once the SDK is officially released, it will be free to download for anyone.

From the Palm Website:

The early access program is an opportunity for developers to test-drive and provide feedback on the Mojo SDK prior to its public release. We will admit a small group of developers to start and will increase the size of the program as the tools mature.  

Regardless, we are closing in on a launch date and it’s only a matter of time before they open up the doors for everyone to join. Lets just all hope that Palm has an easier approval system than Apple does for their iPhone Developer Program. I know quite a few people who’ve waited over a month to get into the iPhone dev program.


Right you if you are interested in the development kit you can apply for the program here.

It’s also important to note that the Mojo SDK supports 32-bit Intel hardware running Windows (XP or Vista), Macintosh (OSX 10.5), or Linux (Ubuntu 8.04).



You also can follow the developer blog Palm has set up for more updates and information regarding the program.

[Originally posted at palmpreblog.com]

Palm Pre TouchStone Kit Accessory Spotted in Best Buy Inventory, Priced at $69.99

Would you pay $70.00 for a mobile phone charger? Well apparently Palm thinks so, the Palm Pre TouchStone Kit has appeared in the Best Buy inventory management system priced at 70 big ones. To be fair, the TouchStone Kit is somewhat of a technological marvel - it wirelessly charges your Pre through the use of a magnetic induction charger.




Will most people end up forking up $70 to eliminate a wire? Probably not - so lets just hope a much cheaper wired option will still be available. It’s also worth mentioning that some other accessories were spotted in the Best Buy inventory as well including 3 acrylic cases, a leather case, and a case simply labeled “Palm Pre Case”.

[Originally posted at palmpreblog.com]

Palm Pre Email and Contacts Tutorial Videos: Updated

This recently released “Palm Pre Podcast” explains how email works with the Palm Pre. Synergy which is the information management system developed for Pre allows you to seamlessly access all of your different email accounts simultaneously. When it comes to email it looks like the Pre can do everything the iPhone currently does, and then some. See the training video below:




Update: We have stumbled across another training video posted on YouTube by itechsgurl that explains how contact management works on the Pre.



[Originally posted at palmpreblog.com]

Palm Pre Launch on June 5th Confirmed?

It appears that we are getting close and closer to the launch of the Pre, considering the banners over at Best Buy and alleged Sprint employee training that has been going on for months now.



The latest development over at the rumor mill is this document, obtained by Boy Genius Report that appears to be an internal memo. The memo contains a schedule of Palm Pre events in early June leading up to what the document states as “Launch Launch” on June 5th.

Although we can’t confirm that this document is official - It’s important to note that Best Buy is more than likely to do a trial launch of the Pre on June 7th, so the dates on this internal memo seem to be inline with what we’ve been hearing elsewhere.

[Originally posted at palmpreblog.com]

Palm Pre headed to Canada's Bell Mobility

Oh, Canada, Palm delivered some pretty good news on Wednesday morning, announcing that it will bring the Palm Pre to the Great White North through Bell Mobility.

Bell Mobility, a CDMA carrier, will offer the Pre some time in the second half of 2009, so now, Canadians can also agonize over an exact release date just like us here in the States. You can sign up to be notified via e-mail of its availability here.

(Source: The Official Palm blog)

Palm's Pre to be shadowed by a Pixie named Eos

We're all still waiting for the Palm Pre to make its appearance, most likely this month. But Engadget has a peek at what it calls the second phone that will run Palm's new WebOS operating system. That phone, the Palm Eos, is reportedly headed to AT&T and will serve as a follow-up to Pre, just as the Palm Centro, a lighter, cheaper, smaller model, did to Palm's earlier flagship devices. Check out Engadget for a full list of specs.



Techcrunch, which broke the story Wednesday, said the Palm Eos' code name is Pixie and it will sell for $99. Like the Centro, it will have a fixed keyboard, but run on the new Palm operating system.

It's unclear when this baby would be available. Techcrunch said Palm could put it out in the fall but may be waiting to see how the Pre does first.

This will be a necessary component for Palm's success. It'll need to get its WebOS out to as many customers as possible if it really wants to build developer support for the platform. With the Pre starting on third-place Sprint, Palm will be under pressure to release it or other WebOS devices on other carriers as soon as possible.

Disney buys stake in video site Hulu

Walt Disney Co. is taking a 30 percent stake in Hulu and will bring many of its popular ABC and Disney shows and movies to the online video site.

Disney joins News Corp. and NBC Universal, which built the Hulu site with Fox and NBC programming. Hulu in March became the third-most-watched video site, according to comScore, with 380 million videos viewed.

The deal, which had been rumored for some time, bolsters Hulu's lineup. The site will now get ABC shows like "Grey's Anatomy," "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" and ABC Family shows like "The Secret Life of the American Teenager." It appears that ESPN content and ABC News material, however, will not be part of the deal.

With the addition of ABC, Hulu now boasts content from three of the four major broadcasters. CBS is the only network that hasn't signed on.

For ABC, the deal brings a new avenue for distribution. The network was an early adopter in streaming shows on its ABC.com. But it said Hulu adds another audience that does not overlap with its own video site.

The added partner should push Hulu into the No. 2 online video spot soon. Fox Interactive Media is currently second after YouTube with 3 percent of the market, while Hulu is in third with 2.6 percent.

[Originally posted at businessweek.com]

Palm Pre's little bro to be launched later this year?

Palm Pre is coming. Soon. Really soon. They say it's about to show up on the shelves in May or June. Well, one thing is for sure: the closer it comes the more rumors surround it.



Like this one: according to BusinessWeek the manufacturing cost of a Pre is 138 US dollars which is way lower than iPhone's 174 US dollars or even BlackBerry Bold's 169 US dollars.

The next thing going on in Rumorlandia is that Pre's Mom and Dod are expecting its smaller brother later this year. We admit it does sound unsubstantial, as even the original Pre is still awaiting its release date.

It is supposed that the mini version of Pre (shall we say Mini-Pre?) will be targeted at other markets.

Supposedly, the Mini-Pre will also run the new WebOS but it's not clear whether there will be a hardware keypad.

Until then, we'll keep on waiting for the day the GSM-version of the Palm Pre becomes available.

By the way, you could be among the first to get one. All you need is a bit more luck and reviewers skills since Palm are looking for the Palm Real Reviewer (only US residents over 18 years of age may apply). Why not give it a shot?

[Posted at gsmarena.com]