Palm: Pre, webOS & app discussion

[Crispy]

CSS - that's fine for websites. When you've made a custom piece of art to frame your game, for instance, there's no convenient way to shrink it down. Absolute screen position is required for many apps. By changing the screen size, developers have to take account of it everywhere.

I thought they'd done really well by choosing 360x480 and a capacative touchscreen as it maintained parity with the iphone to encourage ports or parallel development.

 

[editor]

I wonder if you'll be still be saying that if/when a 16 Gb Palm Pre comes out...

Naturally, I'd always like more memory, but I'm not going to refuse to buy the phone because it 'only' comes with 8GB.

hang on, the pixi has a 360x400 screen and the pre has a 360x480 screen

this really screws with app developers. now they have to target two screen sizes. This is exactly the sort of thing that kills development - multiple hardware targets. Especially for games.

The webOS is specifically designed to be fluid:

Palm webOS is designed to run on a variety of hardware with different screen sizes, resolutions and orientations...
http://developer.palm.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1761

Their 'cards' interface seems to have scaled down with no problems and all the 'hands on' reviews thus far seem to have been positive.

 

[Crispy]

Yes, I understand. That works wonders for apps that are not dependent on every pixel being on the right place.

Maybe palm are just going to say that no apps of this type will ever be supported on webOS. A very bad move, IMO.

 

[editor]

It's a bit out of date, but this piece on mobile screen sizes is interesting:
http://sender11.typepad.com/sender11/2008/04/mobile-screen-s.html

There's not many platforms with only one screen size.

 

[Crispy]

It's a bit out of date, but this piece on mobile screen sizes is interesting:
http://sender11.typepad.com/sender11/2008/04/mobile-screen-s.html

There's not many platforms with only one screen size.

which is precisely why apple have not messed around with theirs

 

[editor]

which is precisely why apple have not messed around with theirs

Apple don't produce low end phones though and the Pixi is aimed at a totally different demographic (if the speculated low price turns out to be true).

I predict that the Pixi will sell very well indeed and there'll be no shortage of useful apps to entice users. It'll never compete with the iPhone as a gaming handset, but there again, I see nothing to suggest that it's even trying to.

Edit to add two links:

Building Applications for WebOS, not the Pre
http://treo.discussion.treocentral.com/showthread.php?t=202141

Effective Design for Multiple Screen Sizes
http://mobiforge.com/designing/story/effective-design-multiple-screen-sizes

 

[editor]

Biff! Palm's rejects its first app 'for the current time' from its App catalog for using an undocumented API.

Users will, of course, still be able to freely download the app from the Homebrew site when it's completed without fear of a 'bricking' for their troubles or having to fanny about with the jailbreaking dance.

http://www.precentral.net/nanplayer-rejected-app-catalog

 

[grit]

Biff! Palm's rejects its first app 'for the current time' from its App catalog for using an undocumented API.

Users will, of course, still be able to freely download the app from the Homebrew site when it's completed without fear of a 'bricking' for their troubles or having to fanny about with the jailbreaking dance.

http://www.precentral.net/nanplayer-rejected-app-catalog

Eh just looking at the homebrew site and up to recently you did have to hack/jailbreak the phone to install homebrew apps.

edited to add: So it seems to be going pretty much the same path as the iPhone. Bit of a pain in the arse to jailbreak at the start and then the process gets streamlined.

 

[jæd]

I love the:

We have our first report of an app rejected from Palm's app catalog, but at least there's a clear and understandable (if somewhat maddening) reason.

if this was Apple it would be:

We have our usual report of an app rejected from Apple's App Store, and at there's the usual unfounded Apple-bollocks of a reason (Apple are c-unts lolz)

 

[editor]

I love the:



if this was Apple it would be:

Yeah, it's exactly the same.

LOL.

 

[Radar]

What phone do you currently use? To be honest, 8GB will be fine for me for now.

An ancient motorola, and to be fair that only has a max of a 2Gb micro SD expansion.

I just like the idea of whacking a huge micro SD in there and using it as a photo/music/ISO store.

 

[jæd]

An ancient motorola, and to be fair that only has a max of a 2Gb micro SD expansion.

I just like the idea of whacking a huge micro SD in there and using it as a photo/music/ISO store.

Don't worry. 8 Gb will be all you need. Lol.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

8 gigs? Lol have almost that in films on my iPhone! Man I wish there was a 64gigger...

 

[editor]

Don't worry. 8 Gb will be all you need. Lol.

How much storage do you think the average phone user needs then?

Oh look! Palm have just approved a Google Voice app for their app store. That's handy.

It looks like it isn't just bluster from Palm when it comes to thinking differently about its app approval policy. Besides taking a pretty healthy stance on applications that deviate from its current standards, today 10 new titles have shown up for download... a Google Voice app being one of them. gDial Pro, a piece of software which started its life as a homebrew application, is now an official part of the beta store. The program lets you access Google Voice's full feature set (including a dialer), and no one seems very bothered by it.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/10/third-party-google-voice-app-hits-the-webos-app-catalog/

And here's Palm's response to the developer of the app they rejected from the app store. Spot the difference with you-know-who's attitude!

Well, how about that -- Palm Developer Community Manager Chuq Von Rospach has taken the time to respond to earlier reports of NaNplayer's rejection from the App Catalog, and he's surprisingly cool about it. As we'd heard, the underlying issue is that NaNplayer uses private APIs that will change in a future version of webOS, so Palm doesn't want apps built on them. That's understandable, but here's where Palm's doing it right: Chuq says that Palm is happy for NaNplayer "to continue life as a homebrew application until we get to the point where we can release public, supportable APIs for the functionality that it requires." That's the sort of hacker-friendly compromise we can get behind -- anyone in Cupertino taking notes?


http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/10/palm-responds-to-nanplayer-rejection-we-are-happy-for-it-to-co/

 

[editor]

Woohoo!
The Palm Pre launches in the UK next week!

Oh, hang on. It's one of those journo things. Bah.

http://www.t3.com/news/palm-pre-uk-teaser-event-scheduled-for-next-week?=40833

 

[jæd]

Woohoo!
The Palm Pre launches in the UK next week!

Oh, hang on. It's one of those journo things. Bah.

http://www.t3.com/news/palm-pre-uk-teaser-event-scheduled-for-next-week?=40833

Um, perhaps not:

From the article linked to above:

The smartphone will be on show in the UK next week, but Palm still refuses to give an actual launch date...

It Pro Portal goes on to say:

Palm has confirmed that it won't be launching its Pre smartphone next week during the Playbite 2009 event, contrary to an article that has appeared online.

A spokesperson for the company told tech website V3 that the event to which an article published in PC Advisor referred to was Playbite, which will be held on the 15th (ed: the same day as Motorola is launching its Android Dext in the UK).

Read more: http://www.itproportal.com/portal/n...palm-denies-early-uk-pre-debut/#ixzz0R1mKAcOm

 

[editor]

Um, perhaps not:

Like I said, it's a journo thing and the Palm Pre will be on show there. I'm going, in fact!

Elsewhere, what appears to the updated Palm App catalogue interface looks very slick indeed:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/14/is-this-palms-revamped-app-catalog/

 

[editor]

I *finally* got to play with a Palm Pre today and it really is a lovely, lovely handset - and it's tiny too!

The screen is incredibly sharp and the interface is extremely slick - easily the rival of the iPhone and light years ahead of Android.

I'll post up a full 'hands on report' on the all-new tech site later: www.wirefresh.com

 

[Piers Gibbon]

as I get closer to having to choose between the Pre and an iphone I find myself with a horribly uneasy feeling that synching my mac and a Pre might be not entirely straightforward

what with the broken iTunes link, the lack of LifeBalance conduit, and the whole cloud thing being a bit new and scary

 

[editor]

What problems do you think you'll have syncing the Pre with your Mac?

 

[jæd]

I *finally* got to play with a Palm Pre today and it really is a lovely, lovely handset - and it's tiny too!

The screen is incredibly sharp and the interface is extremely slick - easily the rival of the iPhone and light years ahead of Android.

I'll post up a full 'hands on report' on the all-new tech site later: www.wirefresh.com

Good you finally got to see one. I'm sure we all look forward to your balanced and objective review on that website.

as I get closer to having to choose between the Pre and an iphone I find myself with a horribly uneasy feeling that synching my mac and a Pre might be not entirely straightforward

what with the broken iTunes link, the lack of LifeBalance conduit, and the whole cloud thing being a bit new and scary

MissingSync looks like it will handy. I used the previous version for my Treo when I realised Palm's last sync tool was crap. Unlike Palm, the developer is gave out regular updates to the sync-tool...!

 

[Piers Gibbon]

yes I'm guessing Missing Synch would be the way to go for Pre/Mac synch
and that's partly what's making me nervous as I'm not so impressed with my two years of using that on my Centro
it's this as well - the broken iTunes link, the lack of LifeBalance conduit, and the whole cloud thing being a bit new and scary

none are definite dealbreakers...but just make me nervous

 

[grit]

Good you finally got to see one. I'm sure we all look forward to your balanced and objective review on that website.

 

[editor]

Good you finally got to see one. I'm sure we all look forward to your balanced and objective review on that website.

Glad you're looking forward to it so keenly. Here's the review: http://www.wirefresh.com/?p=80

 

[jæd]

Glad you're looking forward to it so keenly. Here's the review: http://www.wirefresh.com/?p=80

So that's a review of a phone based on a "play" at the tiny manufacturers booth by way of a tech junket..? Right...

 

[editor]

So that's a review of a phone based on a "play" at the tiny manufacturers booth by way of a tech junket..? Right...

There really is no end to your attempts to put me down, is there? First you cast aspirations on my integrity by suggesting the review would be biased and now that you've presumably failed to back that one up, you've decided to slag off the style of the review itself.

FYI: the review is called a "hands on review" and that's exactly what it is. Perhaps the concept escapes you, but it's quite a popular and common sort of review on tech sites and gives readers a reviewer's first impressions of a gadget. Some people find them quite useful/interesting/entertaining.

I already knew an awful lot about the phone and spent a good ten minutes with the device, so I reckon I got a pretty good impression of it capabilities. If you have any further questions on the Palm Pre, I'd be happy to try and answer them for you.

 

[jæd]

FYI: the review is called a "hands on review" and that's exactly what it is. Perhaps the concept escapes you, but it's quite a popular and common sort of review on tech sites and gives readers a reviewer's first impressions of a gadget. Some people find them quite useful/interesting/entertaining.

I'd of thought the review should be entitled "first impressions" rather "hands on". "hands on" IMO (of course) implies you spent more than 10 mins with it.

I spent a good ten minutes with the device and got a pretty good impression of it capabilities, so if you have any further questions on the Palm Pre, I'd be happy to try and answer them for you.

There's one about 10 ft away from me being used as a novelty paper-weight on my boss's desk. Mostly because its CDMA, and also because I think he may have lost the charger.

 

[grit]

Were you able to actually make a call on the thing?

 

[editor]

Were you able to actually make a call on the thing?

I got as far as dialling a number but then the bloke didn't want me chatting to his contact!

It really was a bit of a slapdash affair, to be honest. Apparently their main guy couldn't make it as his wife had just given birth, so they were going to cancel the event. They decided to reluctantly go ahead anyway rather than piss off journos (and no doubt start off a fresh wave of rumours), so the thing went off a bit half cocked. The rep had just synced his personal contacts to his phone and had only had it himself an hour before the event started.

I gave the phone a really good go though and had - obviously - already read and watched a ton of reviews and videos on the web, so it's not like the phone was a brand new thing to me.

I'd of thought the review should be entitled "first impressions" rather "hands on". "hands on" IMO (of course) implies you spent more than 10 mins with it.

"Hands on" is just fine for me, thanks.

But to recap: you don't think I'm capable of an impartial review. You don't feel the review has any credibility and you don't like its title either. I wonder what you're going to criticise next...

 

[Sunray]

Review seems reasonable to me.

What was the carrier shown? I am assuming it was the GSM version rather than a CDMA version for demo purposes?