So, today at CES, Palm held its big keynote thing. Palm’s CEO, Jon Rubinstein, aided by several others, had a whole lot to talk about for just one hour, and boy, is this good stuff or what. We’ve got a boatload of stuff to talk about: two new phones exclusive to Verizon, tethering, video support, Flash 10, native application development, the official launch of the completely open app distribution model we’ve talked about before, and much more.
Where to start?
Native development
I’d say the native development aspect of the keynote is what’s highest up on most people’s lists. It was no secret that Palm was working on adding some form of OpenGL support to the webOS, but many expected it to be through WebGL or something similar. It turns out, however, that Palm has created a way to code in c and c++ on the webOS. It’s called the Plugin Development Kit, and allows developers to add c and c++ plugins to their applications.
Tier one partners have already had access to this new PDK, and they have already been quite busy. Palm demonstrated several games from Electronic Arts running on the Pre, such as The Sims 3 and Need For Speed. Palm even managed to get Electronic Arts CEO Travis Boatman to make an appearance on stage to talk about the new games they’ve made available on the webOS using the PDK. These games are available starting today, but only for US Pre owners – Pixi owners just got screwed.
The games integrate very well into the webOS. When you switch cards, the game will pause automatically. Notifications will still pop up at the bottom of the screen without interrupting your gameplay. According to people present in the audience, the game splayed “remarkably lag-free“. The PDK will be made available in beta form at the Game Developers Conference in March, with a final release within the first half of this year.
Apple, take notes: Palm’s take on application distribution
Palm also had a lot to say about application distribution. First of all, they officially launched the non-App Catalog way of distributing applications. Developers can send their application to Palm, who will then create a download URL that you can share with others. This process is “review-free”; in other words, Palm doesn’t do any checking, censoring, or whatever.
Secondly, Palm has opened up access to the App Catalog to third parties. By this I mean that third parties can create custom frontends to the App Catalog. Do you want to create a web front-end which shows only applications having to do with unicorns? You can do that – webOS users can then install applications with a single click, sending them to their phones over-the-air. Project Appetite is a demonstration of this idea.
That’s not all, though. Palm also launched its Hot Apps program. They will award the most popular free application (most downloads between February 1, 2010, and May 31, 2010) 100000 USD, and another 100000 USD for the most downloaded paid-for webOS application. The developers of the next 20 applications in each of these two categories receives 10000 USD each, and the next 200 applications 1000 USD each.
Palm also shared some figures with us. The SDK has been downloaded 85000 times since July 2009, and Project Ares has already seen 20000 registrations since its unveiling on December 18 2009. Palm also gave a shout-out to the very active homebrew community. “We are incredibly thankful to those who helped us get here,” said Katie Mitic, VP product marketing at Palm, “Especially those in the homebrew community.”
Classy. A world apart from that other gadget maker who tries to criminalise its homebrew community.
webOS 1.4: video recording, Flash 10.1
The next big thing during the keynote was webOS 1.4, which will hit Pre and Pixi owners coming February. It will bring with it two very important updates: video recording, and Flash 10.1. The former is oddly missing from the Pre and Pixi right now, so it’s about time Palm added this feature.
Flash 10.1 will hit the App Catalog in beta form soon, with the final version part of the webOS 1.4 update. Over at Engadget’s live coverage, they weren’t particularly impressed with the performance of Flash (why am I not surprised), as the Avatar trailer they played on stage was a little stuttery. Maybe the final version will fare better.
Of course, the update will also bring the usual round of performance and battery life improvements, as well as a set of bug fixes.
Pre Plus, Pixi Plus coming to Verzion, includes 5-way tethering
If all that wasn’t enough, Palm also introduced two new phones which will be exclusive to Verizon (in the US, at least): the Pre Plus and the Pixi Plus. The Pre Plus loses its centre button (Pixi-style), and comes with double the amount of RAM and 16GB of storage (instead of 8GB). The Pixi Plus includes wifi (missing from the regular Pixi), and comes in multiple bright colours.
Tethering supportis exclusive to the Plus phones and Verizon. All you need to do is install the Mobile Hotspot application, which will turn your Pre Plus or Pixi Plus into a mobile wireless router, allowing for up to five connected devices at the same time.
Both Plus phones will be available from January 25 onwards. Pricing information as of yet unknown.
Palm is back
This is a massive list of updates and improvements to the webOS platform and ecosystem, taking away many of the complaints people had about the webOS. “We’ve been busy this last year,” Rubinstein concluded the keynote, “I told you Palm was back, and we meant it.”
My congrats to Palm. They are really thinking things through and pushing boundaries… especially by thanking their homebrew community. Probably the first company ever to do that as all I’ve heard recently is updates to lock out Wii owners, Xbox owners, Playstation running Linux owners, iPhone owners, and on and on and on.
Excited to see how to lays out the field over the next year!
“…thanking their homebrew community. Probably the first company ever to do that…”
Some companies go even farther. 😉
http://blogs.nokia.com/pushn900/what-is-push/
“These games are available starting today, but only for US Pre owners – Pixi owners just got screwed.”
Thom, The Pixi is sold as an entry-level smartphone and is priced significantly less than the Pre accordingly. Pixi’s weaker hardware specs are well documented (e.g., Pixi CPU=Qualcomm MSM7627; Pre=600Mhz Cortex-A8). Saying Pixi owners got ‘screwed’ because of this is like buying a Nintendo Wii and bitching that you don’t get Xbox360-quality graphics. You get what you pay for.
If anything, Sprint subscribers are the ones who got screwed:
The “Plus” versions of the Pre and Pixi only available for VZW despite both wireless providers being CDMA-based. The “Mobile Hotspot application” is also exclusive to Verizon, and that sucks for us Sprint users who are forced to hack this feature with the MyTether add-on. (MyTether wifi has to disable your Camera in order to work and breaks with nearly every minor release of WebOS. The least Palm could do is allow Sprint users the same feature.
As for the “Mobile Hotspot Application”… I’m guessing Verizon sees it as an opportunity to secure more data revenue, since Sprint requires an “unlimited” data plan for its Pre users. Giving Sprint Pre users free access to wifi tethering would just add to network congestion. (Still a shitty reason from a user’s POV.)
I am, however, excited over the video feature. Shooting, editing, and then sharing your flicks will be so easy on this device. The sucky part is (as previously mentioned), I will likely need to juggle the camera/video feature on-demand with my Wifi tethering. (Which requires you to patch/un-patch and reboot—a 4-5 minute process.) I suppose I could switch to USB tethering, but I’ve been using my wifi tether as my primary ISP at home. (Cancelling home internet made up the difference for my higher plan cost when I bought the Pre, so it made sense)….
Grrr and Yayy… the announcements at CES made me feel so conflicted.
There is virtually no difference in price between the Pre and the Pixi, especially when you take into account the problem with all phones, that the plan is many, many times the cost of the device. Right now on Sprint.com, the Pixi is $100 and the Pre is $150. Back in December, the Pre was frequently on sale for $100. Pixi users got screwed.
Tethering support on subsidized phones is never the decision of the hardware maker. It may very well be the reason Palm decided to jump to Verizon. And you’re right that a carrier’s policy against tethering probably has to do with unlimited data (which is not unlimited – it’s just capped instead of metered), but Verizon requires unlimited data plans for smartphones just like everyone else. So maybe we’re both wrong; maybe Palm is just jumping ship to free itself from Sprint’s obscurity.
I bought my Pre in mid-September for $150 (after a $50 instant rebate and a 4-month very delayed $100 mail-in rebate.) “Subsidized” with a 2-year contract and without rebates, that would have been $300. Sprint’s Palm Pixi was released on 15-NOV-2009 ($99) and was immediately available at a price of less than ~$25.00 due to a price-war between Amazon.com and Wal-Mart. (“Black Friday” through “Cyber Monday”, the Pixi even sold for $9). This wasn’t the case for the Palm Pre which was available for $300 at and immediately following its release.
A Pixi is still available at Amazon for $25 bucks with contract. (The Pre is currently ~$75 at Amazon.) To be fair, however, you really need to consider time-on-the-market and compare launch date prices. The Pre is “older” than the Pixi despite its specs and needs to be priced closely enough to the Pre in order to “up-sell” consumers.
My comment on (“screwed”) fairness was more targeted at the hardware in question. Prices can be as identical as possible, but the hardware clearly is not…and Sprint even marketed it that way describing the Pixi as an entry-level smartphone; a step-down from its ‘bigger Pre breatheren’. People shouldn’t be shocked that it lacks the processing power of the Pre.
I think you’re right here. Palm is jumping from Sprint to a provider with more market share. Perhaps the Palm’s success on sprint was a strategy to demonstrate its ‘come back’ potential in garnering a bigger/better deal with Verizon. Sprint and its users should feel like pawns, if that’s the case.
I just wish MyTether would be updated in a fashion where I don’t have to choose between camera functioning and tethering. But, given the purported featureset of the “Mobile Hotspot Application”… why do I have the feeling that MyTether’s author was, in some way, hired for its development? *shrug* Admittedly a stretch of a hunch.
Best Buy sold Palm Pres with all rebates instantly applied from the very beginning. Not that I recommend Best Buy very strongly, they have a habit of finding ways to screw the customer in an unethical fashion.
The way I’ve read it a few places, Sprint will likely get the Plus versions after Verizon’s exclusive time has finished. Whether things happen for current users or not, who can tell?
…and great news for the geek community. For the standard user – other than maybe Flash and the availability of more / better games because of the native app development – this really means very little. The average user doesn’t care one iota about the development or distribution models – in fact most love the way Apple do it because it’s simple – plug it in, iTunes opens, choose / buy the guff you want and it installs. Something your five year old daughter can teach your grandfather to do.
What would mean a lot to them however is their phone being infected with a Trojan that uses all that lovely connectivity to hijack their whole life’s details (and that of their contacts) or run up a $50k bill for them because there were no checks done to make sure it couldn’t happen.
In a perfect world or with a very small market share Palms app model is great, but we know this isn’t a perfect world and what if Palm unseats the iPhone in popularity? How long will it be before the same people who are praising it’s openness are either cowering in a corner somewhere from the backlash or are doing a complete backflip on their opinions because there are “home grown” trojans running rampant?
Can’t happen you say? I really hope it doesn’t, but if the history of computer OSes is anything to go by…
most people also loved AOL “so easy to use, no wonder it’s #1” but now everyone uses the web. People can adapt to open geekiness but closed and simple doesn’t adapt and becomes yesterday’s news pretty fast.
“A world apart from that other gadget maker who tries to criminalise its homebrew community.”
Don’t use DMCA language (criminalization) to describe a neutral position of non-support. If you fundamentally hack your device (jailbreaking affects the baseband processor) in a way that’s incompatible with their free upgrade, they’re not going to help you when everything goes up in smoke. Oh god help I’m being persecuted I can’t have free things anymore.
I have a friend who loves his Pre, and now that there’s video support, I think it’s worth a second look. It’s too bad Verizon is even worse than other carriers about shaking customers down (nickel-and-diming with web services), but tethering is an interesting advantage over the iPhone and AT&T’s over-capacity network.
I’m a little dissapointed at the whole “exclusive to” bit, but oh well. I wouldn’t mind it so much if “last year’s model” was unlocked or available on all carriers. That would make me rather happy! I’d love it if they followed Google or Blackberry’s lead, having the Pre being an ubiquitous offering. I’d love to have a Pre when my Centro dies (no time soon, I hope), and I’ve honestly got no reason to move off of AT&T at the moment…
Still, being on two carriers is much better than just one!
Palm announced the Pre and Pixi would be on AT&T also, I think the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus are currently Verizon exclusives though.
I just saw that at another tech site and I’m quite pleased! Thanks for pointing it out, though (I could’ve easily missed it).
Now if I can just buy it outright so I don’t have to get a data plan I’ll be all set. My Centro isn’t used as a smart phone, just as a “moderately bright but underachieving” phone, and it does great by me. Word processing, spreadsheet, PIM, convenient camera, etc., is all I want, really.
Oh, and making phone calls. Can’t forget that!
Good luck, most carriers require data plans for high-end smartphones nowadays. Also, Palm WebOS has no syncing without the cloud, it has to have an online account for the calendar and contacts to store with. It’s not quite as cloud-dependent as Android, but it isn’t like classic PalmOS where you can sync without having a data plan. (Even the “Classic” app for WebOS only syncs over the network, although it can do it over wifi.)
Also note that “native” here means that for games you get SDL (Simple Directmedia Layer, http://www.libsdl.org/ ) with OpenGL ES as the environment. Which is sweet for trivial porting from and to all kinds of other platforms.
I don’t know if I think Palm will make it, but they sure are making a lot of excellent moves.
Compare a multicorporate like Apple and an outsider like Palm, and see who’s gonna make the more effort to content their customers and consumers
Good to see that, I almost forgot that such companies were still alive, it reminds me the good’ol days of Atari vs. Amiga, Sega vs. Nintendo, etc… were the feature and goodies war was battling in rage !
Kochise