HP webOS Developer Blog

Dion Almaer (aka Director of Palm Developer Relations and my boss) has been busy getting his hands dirty in WebOS and is starting to write about it on his blog.

palm-run: package, run, launch and then see log messages talks about one of his early tools for automating some of the recurring tasks in a development cycle, and of course, his code’s available for you to borrow and use (and improve and send back for the rest of the community, of course!)

I am having fun taking my Web skillz and applying them to mobile with webOS. It is obviously important that I learn about the platform. I want to understand the limitations, and get a feel for the SDK so I have opinions on where to take it (Fortunately, the community gives us great feedback,keep it coming!).

As I develop applications I quickly see repetitive tasks that fit into my workflow.

Dion Almaer (aka Director of Palm Developer Relations and my boss) has been busy getting his hands dirty in WebOS and is starting to write about it on his blog.

Gearing up your applications to be touched and the horizontal scroll is an interesting look at some of the things you need to consider in taking content designed for the desktop and making it usable in a mobile browser.

An excerpt:

The two biggest challenges I have found so far on the design side have been dealing with the real estate available (screen size) and the touchy feely-ness of the device.

We have been trained on the desktop, thanks to the mouse as our pointer interface, to click lots of buttons. The tactile feedback that we get is the button looking depressed, but that is about it. The mouse has a lot going for it. The fact that I have a set of states due to the fact that there is a difference between having the cursor located somewhere, and having a click on that location is useful. It can be especially useful for discoverability. As a user mouses around you can unveil information “hey, if you click this button X will happen mate!” It also has the nice side effect that your hand can rest on it.

What’s happening in webOSland is a collection of interesting links to articles and conversations about webOS and webOS development. If you have something you think we might want to include in future postings, you can send it to us at pdc@palm.com or via twitter to @webosdev

• Engadget: reviews the new Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus phones on Verizon.
• As Engadget also notes, we’re going to be at the Game Developer’s Conference this year. Pop by and say hi.
• Lionel Laske: OneNote on iPhone and Palm Pré using Windows Azure

Martin Grund sent me a note on his work on PyPalm and I wanted to share it with everyone…. (if you’re building things that make programming on WebOS easier or better, drop us a note at pdc@palm.com and tell us about it!)

Martin says:

What’s happening in webOSland is a collection of interesting links to articles and conversations about webOS and webOS development. If you have something you think we might want to include in future postings, you can send it to us at pdc@palm.com or via twitter to @webosdev

• Ajaxian: Project Appetite, $1m How App program, and more. Boss-man Dion talks about our CES announcements over on the Ajaxian blog.
• WebOS School: now all of our app goodnes available via RSS
• Ajaxian: View Source; how important was it, is it, and will it be?
• Rick Neff: Start here — developing for WebOS.
• William Clausen: Palm Ares Development Tutorial Walkthroughs
• Michael Gartenberg: Good Idea from Palm. Hope it Catches On.
• GigaOM: The Apple App Store Economy (some interesting background info here for webOS Devs…)
• Daniel Beames: WebOS Patches Web Portal Now Online
• House of Palm: Online webOs Discovery Engine and App Store

A year ago Palm introduced the world to the Pre and webOS. Since then Palm has shipped the Pre and the Pixi, launched with strong carrier partners in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Ireland, and Mexico, and partnered with you for a successful private beta that has resulted in over 1,000 applications that have enriched the Palm experience.

Today we’re proud to announce the official opening of Palm’s worldwide developer program, giving developers around the globe the opportunity to develop and distribute applications on Palm webOS devices.

As long-time advocates of the web platform, we are absolutely thrilled that all developers now have the opportunity to experience the convergence of mobile devices with a native web platform. Palm’s webOS allows developers to use web technologies to create compelling applications. The result is a platform that offers a low barrier to entry (these days, who doesn’t know HTML, JavaScript and CSS?), high levels of productivity (the term “web time” was coined for a reason), and powerful integration capabilities.

Of course, the distribution model for a platform is at least as important as the development model. Like many other mobile platforms, our developer program offers an on-device App Catalog experience. This is a key element in our strategy to deliver an on-device application sales channel.

However, many developers want more flexibility than a single catalog can provide. Further, other developers want to avoid the review process that of necessity must accompany a branded catalog like ours. And, consumers as well are interested in a variety of ways to discovery relevant applications. It’s difficult for one app catalog to fit all.

That’s why as part of the launch of our program we’re pleased to offer developers a choice: the ability to bypass our catalog and review process entirely through what we call Web Distribution. In this model, you simply upload your application and within a few minutes to an hour you receive a URL which you can then distribute to users however you like.

What’s more, we want to facilitate the creation of other application discovery mechanisms. We want to see the community explore innovative new ways to present applications to users to help them discover the next great app–be that ranking mechanisms, directories, marketing integrations, social sharing and more. To this end, we’re making data feeds (in RSS 2.0 format) of all Palm webOS applications available to the world. We know and trust the community can help us build great Palm experiences.

With Web Distribution and the application feeds, we’re strengthening our relationship with the web community–a partnership first made when Palm made the bold bet of building a mobile operating system based on the web. Let’s work together to deepen this relationship in 2010. The web has a long, rich history of helping consumers connect with relevant content and applications, and we’re excited to continue that tradition with Palm applications.

For more details on the developer program–and to start developing webOS applications today–visit developer.palm.com or email us at devrel@palm.com. We can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the developer program, our SDK, and get any other feedback you may have.

Ben and Dion
Directors of Developer Relations
Palm

Following the launch of the e-commerce program in the U.S., we are excited to announce that the European e-commerce program is planned to go live in March 2010. The e-commerce program has been tremendously successful in the U.S., with about 600 new paid apps available in just 2 months, and the extension to Europe gives developers a compelling new opportunity to distribute and monetize their apps. In Europe, Palm Pre is currently available in the UK, Ireland, Spain and Germany, providing excellent opportunities for developers to do business in multiple large markets.

The general app catalog model is not new, but what we’re doing with it is. The Palm developer program extends the unique web orientation of the Palm webOS platform, providing developers innovative opportunities to leverage the web as a promotional channel for applications. We offer greater freedom and choice of how to get your applications to market and unparalleled control to promote and grow your business. For developers looking to make money, it’s all about speed, promotion, and reacting to customer feedback. Our platform gives you greater access to customers and faster cycle times to make higher-quality, compelling applications.

If you have an app you’d like to submit for consideration for the European e-commerce program, please send an email to appcatalog.ecommerce.europe@palm.com stating your interest and giving details about your company and your application using the following format:
In the subject of your email put your company followed by the name of your application. For example:

• Subject: My Company – My Application
• In the body of your email, include the following:
  • Your Palm webOSdev user name
  • Details of person to contact
    • Name
    • Direct telephone
    • Mobile telephone
    • Email
  • Company Details:
    • Address
    • Company telephone
    • Web page
  • A description of your application
  • What price (in Euros) you intend to charge for your application when we start the e-commerce program

Our web page at http://developer.palm.com/ covers all the aspects required to make a compelling and successful application. We urge you to get started now so you can get the earliest access and be among the first to get paid for your apps in Europe.