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Palm's App Catalog is swamped with submissions, bursting with flavor

by Tim Stevens posted Sep 23rd 2009 @ 9:46AM

Palm's App Catalog for the Pre properly launches tomorrow, and right now the question on most peoples' minds is just how many paid apps will be in there when the doors open. Based on the latest word from the development team, the answer could be quite a lot. Apps submitted late to the party are apparently being added to approval queues so long Palm is having a hard time keeping track of them all. Developer Community Manager Chuq Von Rospach has indicated the approval group has "more applications than we could handle well," apologizing because they have "dropped some things on the floor." We're hoping they'll be picked up and dusted off quickly, because the five-second rule is not something to be messed with.

[Via PreCentral]

Sprint support site says webOS 1.2 coming today, releases patch notes

by Ross Miller posted Sep 8th 2009 @ 6:51PM

According to Sprint's official support pages, webOS 1.2.0 is officially heading out of the stable sometime today. There's lots of minor tweaks and updates here, a hefty refinement of the current system -- but a few of you already know that. Our Pre phones haven't started blinking yet, and there's still a chance the patch date is in error. Hit up the read link for the full list of changes, and be sure to let us know if you start getting any update notifications.

[Via Pre Thinking]

Homebrew apps come to the Palm Pre

by Joshua Topolsky posted Jun 23rd 2009 @ 11:31AM

According to Dieter over at PreCentral, real, honest-to-goodness usable apps are starting to "trickle out" for the Pre / webOS. Apparently utilizing a loophole in the operating system which allows unsigned apps to be sideloaded through email, homebrewers have taken to the interwebs with small utilities like the tip calculator (pictured above). This comes just a day after a group of DIY'ers figured out a workable solution for getting software onto the phone without rooting, so obviously Pre hacking is moving along at a healthy clip. These are -- of course -- very early applications, so don't expect perfection, and there seems to be some concern that Palm might want to patch up this hole, as it leaves the phone vulnerable to less altruistic endeavors. While the latter point is reasonable to consider, we do have a piece of advice for the folks at the front of this movement: don't wait and worry on how Palm will react to this stuff. It's important to push platforms like webOS, and the Pre needs all the love it can get on the development side right now.

Read - Right now: Install a Homebrew App without Hacking
Read - Homebrew Apps Tricking Out, but be careful

The secret to Palm Pre dev mode lies in the Konami code

by Ross Miller posted Jun 10th 2009 @ 12:17AM

We couldn't believe it either, but as it turns out, from the launcher screen of your Pre, simply type in the phrase "upupdowndownleftrightleftrightbastart" -- which if you parse with spacing might be more easily recognizable as the infamous Contra / Konami code (look it up) -- and up comes a hidden app called "Developer Mode Enabler." Looks like it was discovered via the leaked ROM from earlier this evening. It's apparently used to connect a Pre to a machine running Palm's Mojo SDK for webOS, and we have confirmed its legitimacy. In fact, if you want proof and you don't have a Pre of your own, head on after the break for a video we put together, just for you.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Continue reading The secret to Palm Pre dev mode lies in the Konami code

Palm's webOS root image leaks out, code enthusiasts reschedule their normal nightly plans

by Ross Miller posted Jun 9th 2009 @ 9:27PM

Looks like Palm's webOS Reset Doctor, intended for resetting Pre smartphones with a mangled system, has been outed to the public at large along with a very special bonus for hackers and other programming enthusiasts: a complete 195MB root image of webOS itself. Code-inclined individuals on the PreCentral forums have already cracked open the ROM and are getting an unfettered glimpse at the Palm's new platform, which for the layman means it should open the doors for some crazy Pre hacking and possibly hint, by way of unfinished / unused code, of what's to come for the platform -- and if we're really lucky, maybe someone will be able to look at this and move us one step closer to an unlocked Pre that could jump onto Verizon's network. Amusingly, you also get to see all the comments left by the devs in the code, guaranteeing a few good chuckles from others who can relate. Intrepid computer science-ers can hit up the read link to find the appropriate .jar file or just follow along with all the fun in the forum discussion.

Plethora of Palm Pre interface videos emerge from leaked emulator

by Ross Miller posted May 24th 2009 @ 1:48PM

Palm Pre secrets? That's very quickly becoming a thing of the past. After getting some pretty good shots of webOS last week, the "invisible man" from PalmPreForum.org has uploaded an absolute ton of videos -- fifteen in all, at last count -- showcasing the interface from a leaked emulator given out to early developers (available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, in case you were wondering). Browser, tasks, memos, YouTube, Google Maps, backup, settings, copy and paste -- frankly, we're still wrapping our heads around all of them, and while it's a shame we can't see any multitouch gesture since he's limited to a mouseclick, we're not gonna be choosy here. Clear your afternoon schedule and check out the video playlist we've embedded after the break -- and not to worry, the audio clears up right around the 9th video.

Read - YouTube channel
Read - PalmPreForum.org

[Thanks, Michael]

Continue reading Plethora of Palm Pre interface videos emerge from leaked emulator

New Pre Classic emulator video shows off 3D gaming prowess

by Ross Miller posted Apr 19th 2009 @ 4:01AM

The last time we saw the Pre's Classic Palm OS emulator in action, we had a few lingering questions in our mind, chief among them being how well can it game? From the looks of this latest video, released by Motion Apps to answer that very question, pretty well so far. In addition to confirming sound support for the latest build, we also get a brief glimpse of the software handling 3D driver GTS World Racer. Of course, seeing this makes us even more curious about the gaming potential for the native webOS, but alas, we're in the cold there. In the meantime, check out some classic 3D racing in the video after the break.

Continue reading New Pre Classic emulator video shows off 3D gaming prowess

Pandora's CTO talks about Pre, webOS development, gaming, and small children

by Tim Stevens posted Jan 14th 2009 @ 2:42PM

While we were happy just to see pictures, Tom Conrad, CEO of Pandora, is one of the lucky few to have seen in action the innards of the software that keeps things moving on the Pre. He sat down with Palm Infocenter (on the wrong end of a zero-bar concall by the sounds) to talk details of webOS software development. Conrad clarified that, despite all apps being mixtures of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, webOS is more than just a big browser -- it has direct access to local files and UI elements. However, he echoed the fears of others that this web-friendly programming interface won't exactly be well suited for gaming, expressing hope that Palm will address this with integrated Flash support or some sort of a lower-level API to appease those who want to tap that OMAP processor directly. Hit the read link to hear the whole conversation yourself.

[Thanks, Jay]