Palm introduces 3D games for webOS phones

Palm’s announced that game titles from EA, Gameloft, Glu Mobile and Laminar are now available for the Palm Pre webOS platform via its Palm App Catalog.

“We are very excited about the potential of webOS as a platform for mobile 3D gaming,” said Katie Mitic, senior vice president of marketing. “This is a key application category, and we’ve worked closely with some of the leading game developers to deliver a great game experience for our customers.”

Seven 3D games were introduced today for Palm Pre at CES, which include: Need for Speed Undercover, The Sims 3, Monopoly, Asphalt 5: Elite Racing, Let’s Golf!, Glyder 2, and X-Plane along with the introduction of Tetris, Sudoku, Scrabble, Bran Challenge and The Oregon Trail.

“Recent improvements to Palm webOS represent major advancements in enabling world-class mobile gaming,” said Travis Boatman, VP for EA Mobile. “These innovations have allowed us to quickly bring our best IP to the platform.”

The Palm webOS Plug-in Development Kit, which extends the Palm webOS SDK with a set of tools, documentation and APIs will go into public Beta version in March.

The Palm App Catalog currently offers more than 1,000 webOS applications for download.

Source:http://www.vg247.com/2010/01/07/palm-introduces-3d-games-for-webos-phones/

Palm Pre and Pixi Getting webOS 1.3.5 Today

Sprint will release a new version of the webOS for Palm's most recent smartphones very soon. This operating system update will bring a number of enhancements, including the ability to store more third-party applications.

Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein recently gave a preview of webOS 1.3.5. His comment that caught the most attention was a promise that it will allow users to hold put more software on their Palm Pre or Pixi. This confirmed an earlier leak, which indicated that the next version of Palm's OS will let users use all of its internal storage capacity for holding apps, if they want.

Rubinstein went on to promise better Wi-Fi performance, and better performance from the Pixi.

Coming Today:-

Sprint's support website says that webOS 1.3.5 will be distributed starting today. This site also reveals some of the enhancements included in this update.

• Improvements in battery life optimization when in marginal coverage areas.


• QCELP capability fix will allow users to play and audio of video sent via MMS.


• Tapping an address from contacts will launch Google Maps or Sprint Navigation.


• Users can now download over 2G connections, when necessary

Curiously, Sprint's description of this update makes no mention of the increased capacity for storing third-party software.

Coming to a Pre and Pixi Near You:-
This carrier says it will begin pushing this update out to Palm Pre users over the air today. Users will be notified when it arrives.


Source:http://www.brighthand.com

Amazon now offering the Palm Pixi for just $24.99

So much for having to head in to Walmart to score a low priced Palm Pixi because Amazon now has an offer of their own. For a limited time, well actually until November 23 customers can get a Palm Pixi for just $24.99. Which means you can save yourself five bucks, but better still, you can do so from the comfort of your own home.

Of course, there are a few catches with that price, but honestly would you expect otherwise. First, like I mentioned that offer is for a limited time only. But more importantly, you will have to agree to and sign a two year commitment with Sprint.

With price drops like this, it seems like it is just a matter of time before the Pixi becomes free on contract. Still $24.99 is not all that bad.

Product [Amazon]

Story:http://www.gadgetell.com/tech/comment/amazon-now-offering-the-palm-pixi-for-just-24.99/

Palm Pixi now available from Sprint

Without all of the excitement and fanfare seen when the Palm Pre launched this past summer, the Palm Pixi officially goes on sale at Sprint today. With the latest version of webOS under its’ hood. the difference between the two devices is really all about the hardware. The Pixi lacks a Wi-Fi radio, and has a downgraded camera at 2MP vs. the Pre’s 3MP shooter.

The display, at 2.63 inches, is much smaller than the 3.1 inch screen found on the earlier model. But all of this cutting back has allowed Palm and Sprint to offer a webOS device at a lower price. The Pixi costs $99.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and your signature on a 2 year contract. Anyone looking to spread a little Pixi dust today?

Source:http://www.webosarena.com/2009/11/16/palm-pixi-now-available-from-sprint/

First Paid Apps for webOS Hit Tomorrow

Our tipsters tell us that the first batch of paid apps for the webOS's new and improved App Catalog should land sometime tomorrow, October 2nd (barring any more delays).



Paid apps will be tied to your Palm Profile, which results in a couple of nice things:

* deleted apps can be re-downloaded for free
* If you get a new webOS device (like a Pixi or a new Pre), when you sign into your Palm Profile you'll be able to get all your apps on your new device.

Also, remember that nice new 1.2 feature where Universal Search can find apps based on hidden tags? For example, typing in "SMS" can bring up "Messaging." Those tags are being made available to developers, so they can make their apps easier to find on the Pre.

We're digging the fact that Palm's doing the right thing by allowing us to re-download deleted apps - we imagine more than a few people will be hitting the frustration app memory ceiling soon and knowing that deleting an app now doesn't mean having to buy it later will make the Orange+Tap that much easier.

Oh yeah, Canadians: you have to wait and we don't know for how long yet, but you're (sadly) used to that by now, we're guessing.

Palm's does it again, unveils Pixi before Apple’s big day

While the Pixi isn’t likely to overshadow the buzz of Apple’s press event this afternoon, Palm is showing that it does indeed have the moxie (the audacity, if you will) to stand up to the big dogs. If you’ll think back just three months to the launch of the Pre, where Palm showed it had the balls to launch two days before the world knew Apple would unveil the new iPhone. Apple is expected today to show off their latest iPod line, while most eyes will be waiting to see if Steve Jobs and his patented Reality Distortion Field will be making an appearance, Palm’s going to be standing at the sidelines waving two Pixi phones over their head screaming “Look at me!” And the media will look, as they like nothing more than to compare to the iPhone.

Now, Palm and Apple aren’t going to be the only ones making noise today. The long awaited complete digital remastering of The Beatles’ albums will be released today. Also hitting the scene will be The Beatles: Rock Band, possibly the most anticipated release of Rock Band to date.

As I said above, it’s only been three months since Palm launched the Pre, also on Sprint. Since then they’ve launched the Pre on Bell Mobility in Canada and announced a partnership with O2 to carry the Pre in Europe. While these wouldn’t be notable accomplishments for a company of Apple’s size (35,000 employees and $32 billion revenue for 2008), it’s quite audacious for Palm. With just 1,000 employees, Palm is small potatoes in the smartphone market, especially when you consider that in 2009 Palm lost $739 million just trying to stay afloat.

The rapid fire pace of releases has several advantages for Palm. Firstly, it allows them to have an expanded product portfolio. This means that there will be more than one webOS device on the shelves in Sprint stores, as well as gives carriers different options for which phone they want to carry (look at RIM’s prolific BlackBerry line for evidence of how well this works).

By putting out a new device so soon, especially one that is visibly quite different than the Pre, Palm is setting themselves up in the public’s eye as being able to produce notably different devices, even if they are notably similar on the inside. By spitting out a lower-tier device like the Pixi, Palm is also opening up a new front in their war to regain their place as a top-tier smartphone provider. By unveiling the Pixi so soon after the Pre, Palm is staying fresh in the eyes of the media and consumers and may be able to capture the attention of consumers who were interested in the Pre, but turned off by the styling or price.

Source:http://www.precentral.net/palms-does-it-again-unveils-pixi-apple%E2%80%99s-big-day

Streaming Video Better on Pre Than on iPhone?

Though it got off to a slow start, Palm’s App Catalog is slowly evolving into the ecosystem for which the company had hoped. It recently surpassed four million downloads and is poised for a bit of a growth spurt now that more applications have begun to appear on its virtual shelves. Indeed, in the last week, the number of applications available for the Pre increased by 40 percent to 58.

Now, that’s still a trifling number when compared to the 50,000 or so available in Apple’s (AAPL) iTunes App Store, but it’s something, and it shows that Palm (PALM) is managing to convince iPhone-addled developers that writing WebOS applications will be lucrative business.

Among the latest and most promising of those new apps, DirecTV’s (DTV) NFL Sunday Ticket. Though the app–which allows users to watch NFL games on their cellphones–is available for the iPhone as well as for the Pre, it may offer a better experience on the latter, as Pali Research analyst Walter Piecyk notes in a research alert this morning.

“We will be interested to see how this application performs on Sprint’s (S) network compared to how it will perform on the iPhone on AT&T’s (T) network,” Piecyk writes. “Sprint is more likely to allow a less compressed stream and therefore higher quality video on its network as we have seen with Sprint’s implementation of YouTube, which is much higher quality than viewing YouTube clips on the iPhone over the AT&T network. When the iPhone is forced to WiFi, the quality of the YouTube clips improves to the level we experience on the Palm Pre but that kind of defeats the purpose of the mobile internet.”

An interesting point and an interesting potential selling point for Palm and Sprint–especially given the beating AT&T’s network has been taking in the media lately.

Read On to this: http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com

Get ready for Premium Palm App by Mid-September

Palm is now ready to accept the apps for consideration in the Palm App Catalog e-commerce beta program. The program has been launched to test the experience for webOS app developers and users. The program will be open to all developers later this year. Presently its app catalogue contains roughly 30 applications.

Starting today you can submit your apps via email for consideration. Palm will take 30 percent of any revenues earned from sales in the online store, through which apps can be purchased by webOS users via credit card. Palm will accept apps into the beta test program based on the following criteria:

• Apps should be useful and engaging to users.


• They need to have an appealing design and user interface aligned with Palm UI guidelines.


• They are written specifically for webOS and not delivered through the browser.


• They leverage webOS platform and device capabilities, for example, notifications, multitasking/background processing, location services, accelerometer.


• They have acceptable performance and response time on the device; apps with slow UI response or sluggish performance will be rejected. Applications that consume excessive power on the device will also be rejected.

In its blog post announcing the beta, Palm offers details of the program:

• Developers can submit both free and paid applications for evaluation.


• You can charge a one-time fee for the download of your application.


• Initially, the user base for e-commerce will be limited to the United States.


• Developers will receive 70 percent of revenues generated through application sales (less applicable sales taxes).


• webOS users will pay for their application purchases using credit cards and will download apps directly to their webOS device.

Palm's Pre Is Trying to Live Up to the Hype

Palm's road to a comeback is hitting a few speed bumps.

When Palm (PALM) launched its Pre smartphone on June 6, expectations were high that the long-troubled company could have a hit with the device, the biggest launch by the new management team led by a former Apple (AAPL) executive. Now analysts estimate that Palm likely will sell just 300,000 to 500,000 Pres in their first three months on the market. That's not bad, but it's short of the outsize expectations ramped up by the phone's advanced technology and splashy debut.

The modest sales performance for the Pre, which sells for $199 with a two-year contract from Sprint Nextel (S), is raising questions about Palm's ability to land other wireless carriers to offer the phone, and how large the carriers' subsidy payments and marketing support for the Pre might be. "Some carriers will be looking through less rose-tinted spectacles than before, [and] expectations will be pushed back" for the Pre, says Neil Mawston, a director with tech consulting company Strategy Analytics. "If Sprint can't prove that the Pre is an iPhone killer, it'll really affect the level of subsidies" carriers pay to make the Pre cheaper in stores.

[ Via:http://www.businessweek.com/ ]

Palm Pre @ Amazon.com

Since August 1st, you've got the option of buying Palm Pre from Amazon.com too. The best thing is, it is available in non contract form and you don’t have to deal with any mail in rebates.

That means that you pay $199.99 when you buy the Pre with a two year contract with Sprint.

If you want to check it out yourself, simply log onto Amazon.com and enter your Zip Code on the right hand side of the site to check availability. The phone costs you $199.99 out the virtual door.

Also of note, you can nab the non-contract version for $499.99, which is a $50 savings over the Sprint pricing, and certainly a value compared to Best Buy's $749.99 price tag. But you'll have to wait for 4 to 6 weeks for the delivery

Palm webOS 1.1 enhances support for enterprise -- and beyond

Pre” and “business” just got a lot friendlier! Today we released Palm webOS 1.1, which brings several additions to our support for Exchange ActiveSync (EAS), including remote wipe, PIN/password requirements, inactivity timeout, improved certificate handling, and more. You can find more details about how Palm webOS fits into your business environment here.

In addition to these treats for business users, Version 1.1 also includes a few other goodies for everyone -- like support for emoticons in the messaging app, and the ability to set “person reminders” in the contacts app (next time you get a message or phone call from that person, a message pops up showing you a reminder to ask them about their vacation in Maui -- cool, huh?). Oh, and one more thing: Palm webOS 1.1 re-enables Palm media sync. That’s right -- you once again can have seamless access to your music, photos and videos from the current version of iTunes (8.2.1).

For a list of the new features of Palm webOS 1.1,take a look at the release notes at www.palm.com/webos-pre-sprint-en.

Via:http://blog.palm.com/palm/2009/07/palm-webos-11-enhances-support-for-enterprise-and-beyond.html

Palm pre restrained from itunes access

Recently apple has updated, its itunes software version itune 8.2.1,that will revoke Palm pre smartphone users to access and sync the updated iTunes.

At time of Palm pre's launching,Palm said that ,iTunes is accessible to Palm users and they will be able to download free music, photos and videos via iTunes.Now Pre owners can no longer use Apple's iTunes to sync their smartphones.Pre will not be able to act much like an iPhone or iPod.

The new update policy would seriously hurt pre sales, and help apple to retain its monopoly in this silver lining smartphone market. It will also defend apple from smartphone market competitors.With this move it looks ,Apple would be able to generate higher sales and profits .

Newer versions of iTunes may no longer provide syncing functionality ,but for now older version should work fine for Pre owners by avoiding updates to this release.

Also if pre users want to use iTunes,than can also look at other alternatives like Salling Media Sync.

Palm WebOS Mojo SDK Now Available to All

Palm's SDK is available to all..!! Palm has recently released the Palm Pre Mojo SDK for developing for the webOS. You can now get the SDK and Palm Pre emulator for yourself and start coding up apps. Coding for webOS is very easy. If you are an expert in HTML and Javascript. You can know how to code for webOS.

With the launch of the SDK, Palm has also launched the WebOS Developer Portal, and the Pre Virtual Device Lab. In the portal, developers can acquire the SDK, read reference guides, help docs, and associated FAQs, or post in the developer forums and blogs. With the Virtual Device Lab, developers can load their app onto a virtual Pre for remote testing.

One of the major things that makes the SDK so great is the fact that it uses common programming language that most programmers are familiar with. HTML and JavaScript are pretty basic stuff and with a little practice and help from the API it wouldn’t be too hard for web programmers to get used to the Palm Pre programming environment.

The initial response to Palm webOS apps from both developers and customers has been enthusiastic. In the initial beta stage, over 1.8 million apps were downloaded from the beta App Catalog. Palm says thousands of developers participated in the Mojo SDK early access program since it began in early April.

There’s also a opportunity for Palm to better manage the type of content available. For example, will Palm filter submissions so that their catalogue doesn’t fill up with 30 different shades of iFart? Some sort of quality threshold would be an ideal way to distinguish the App Catalogue, but that would potentially hurt Palm’s profits - apps that appeal to the lowest common denominator can also sell very well. How brave will Palm be in the months to come?

Palm Pre developer meet-up: July 13 in NYC

Are you a webOS developer in the vicinity of New York City? You are? What a crazy random happenstance! Listen up, because we’ve got something exciting for you. It’s a Palm Pre developer meet-up in New York City on this coming Monday, July 13, at 7:00 pm. Put together by Michael Prenez-Isbell of BlueSwitch, the first-ever Palm Pre Developers Group meet-up in NYC will take place at the BlueSwitch offices at 61 Broadway (27th Floor), just a few doors south of Trinity Church.

On tap for discussion will be (naturally) webOS, the Mojo SDK, and the Palm Pre itself. Speaking at the meet-up will be Eric Marthinsen of Agile Commerce – the company that developed FlightView for the Pre.

Read More on Palm Pre developer Meet

Palm Pre Vs. iPhone : Opt for a Best Smartphone

iPhone faces heat from a new challenger in the market in shape of a slick new software with a cool design. Palm Pre is all set to to take over the market place and will surely outdo the hype created by the iPhone. It not only looks good, but also features applications that make it desirable to any device enthusiast. Its technical features goes well with its superior looks.

The Pre resembles the iPhone in terms of most of its features. And it even carries few innovative capabilities not seen on the iPhone, such as an actual QWERTY keypad and the ability to have multiple applications open at once. But for financially savvy shoppers, the Pre on Sprint's 3G network offers a value proposition that may just be enough to tip the scale when deciding between smartphones.

In terms of the upfront cost of the devices, the iPhone and the Pre are the same. But the Pre's initial monthly service starts at $70, whereas,s iPhone'ss AT&T unlimited plan at $100 a month. It's really the service contract from Sprint that sets the Pre apart from the iPhone from a cost perspective.

Both the Pre and the iPhone are good products. They both physically look good. They appeal to people's senses. They're easy to use. And both are very comparable, but the Pre on Sprint's network offers better value for many consumers. In short words Palm pre is the next alternative for iPhone, lets take a look on the some features of both smartphone’s.

1. Screen: Both phones have smultitouch Screens. The Pre’s glowy little “gesture area” has dropped the touchable real estate all the way down to the bottom of the phone.

2. Multitasking: In the case of Multitasking, Palm appears to be the clear winner, whereas, iPhone lags miles behind.

3. Developers : Again Palm pre is leading with WEBOS because it supports JavaScript, HTML and CSS. While Apple provides OS X-based SDK.

4. Web Integration: Palm Pre, again with WEBOS, supports to share your contacts of Facebook, Gmail, IM and and scanned for duplicates also. Truly Web Interface.

5. Applications : Here Apple gains the advantage of Third party applications Via App store or Cydia there are tons of free & paid applications available for iPhone while it may take time for Palm Pre to have this type of support.

6. Camera: The Palm Pre gains another advantage with the LED Flash for its 3MP camera, which iPhone lacks. Flash cellphone photos are ugly, but for a lot of people, they’re good enough.

7. Keyboard : Palm Pre has Physical QWERTY Keyboard while iPhone has pretty Virtual Touch keyboard. For the existing iPhone users, it’s a bit hard now to use QWERTY Keyboard so iPhone gains another advantage.

8. Battery: Apple’s comes with their non-removable battery while Palm pre comes out for a spare swap too.

9. Copy & Paste: The Pre supports this feature, whereas, iPhone still doesn’t and still this is not expected in near future.

Therefore with its agile and smart software, the Palm Pre has become a favorite of many already. The Palm Pre is the most interesting phone and has become a big challenge to the market leaders like the iPhone and the Android. So, to conclude it can be stated that Palm Pre is surely something to look forward to. And Apple must have to work on its Third version of iPhone to compete with Palm Pre other wise palm pre has the potential to grab a good amount of Smart Phone market.

Latest WordPress Mobile Adds Palm Pre Support

When Palm’s Pre phone was finally unveiled at January’s Consumer Electronic Association’s (CEA) bash earlier this year, everyone knew it was going to create a stir.

With it, Palm introduced some very cool hardware and a new operating system that looks like it will be Palm's platform for mobile devices for the foreseeable future: webOS.

Now, with the phone on general release, Alex King of Crowd Favorite, a prodigious developer of WordPress (news, site) plug-ins, has released a new edition of his WordPress Mobile Edition plug-in that will allow Pre users with WordPress blogs to update and edit the blogs using Pre.

Apart from the added support for the webOS operating system — a Linux-based platform which leverages web standards for development – there are also a couple of other updates.

For one, it fixes a CSS bug that was referencing a non-existent image. For another it includes a new version of Carrington Mobile, the content management system theme framework for WordPress. This also includes updated README files and version 2.3 of the core Carrington framework.

Read More on : http://www.cmswire.com/cms/mobile