Facebook for webOS gets a much-needed, and much-appreciated, 1.1.0 update

After a disappointing initial effort, Palm has unleashed version 1.1.0 of its webOS Facebook app. Currently only available via the update function but not the standard App Catalog, users will find new and improved access to their inbox, all their friends’ photo albums, profiles, direct photo uploading, friend search and a list view for upcoming events and birthdays. The first thing we noticed was the initial news feed now matches the notification preferences set on the standard webpage stopping the inevitable flood of Farmville updates we blocked so long ago. Features still missing include chat, video and the ability to respond to friend requests but with a distinctly faster and tighter experience, it’s certainly surpassed the mobile webpage as the best way to access Facebook on the Pre. Can’t reach the update button right now? Check our gallery for a few more images or this video demo from PreCentral embedded after the break.

[Thanks, @Isaac]

Continue reading Facebook for webOS gets a much-needed, and much-appreciated, 1.1.0 update

Facebook for webOS gets a much-needed, and much-appreciated, 1.1.0 update originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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webOS paid apps coming to Europe in March 2010

Okay, so this is quite the lag from October’s North American availability, but at least when the paid portion of Palm’s App Catalog rolls out across Europe it shouldn’t experience the stuttering start it suffered back in the US of A. Palm has excitedly blurted out the news on its developer network blog, but not without the requisite garnishings of buzzwords like “leverage,” “freedom,” “choice,” “control,” and “speed,” as well as something about “faster cycle times” — all of it designed to get more developers onboard. Kinda ironic the company is boasting about fast cycle times when it can’t transition its paid Catalog to Europe in less than six months, but hey — the Pre already has that one killer app, and it’s free, so what do you care?

[Thanks, Ben]

webOS paid apps coming to Europe in March 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 07:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted on January 4, 2010 at 4:22 am by Vladislav Savov · Permalink · Comments Closed
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Palm Pre plays Need for Speed, undercover (video)

While Palm’s Pre is many things to many people it still can’t game. Oh sure, it’ll play Magic Fortune Ball like a champ but when it comes to intensive 3D action the Pre is as helpless as a would-be terrorist trying to ignite his underwear. See, webOS and the Mojo SDK currently can’t exploit the GPU the way other smartphone platforms can. Rewind a few weeks, however, and we’re reminded of a video showing EA’s Need for Speed Undercover running impossibly smooth on a Pre. At the time, the video and claims of the device running Flash were shot down as fake largely due to the accompanying screen caps of the purportedly new App Catalog. Well guess what? Those screen caps were vindicated today with the webOS 1.3.5 update that just so happened to launch a new App Catalog matching the leaked images, exactly. That lends credence to the video then doesn’t it, while hinting at future apps and games with full OpenGL graphics support. Is that the big reveal at CES alongside enhanced Pre+ and Pixi+ handsets headed to Big Red? We’ll find out shortly enough — until then check the gameplay after the break.

[Thanks, Brian K.]

Continue reading Palm Pre plays Need for Speed, undercover (video)

Palm Pre plays Need for Speed, undercover (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Palm demos web-based Ares SDK for webOS

Currently, mobile entrepreneurs wishing to hawk their wares on the Pre (or Pixi, or unnamed webOS device of the future) use a software development kit from Palm called Mojo, a stack of Java-based tools that must be installed, studied, understood, loved, and respected before serious development can get underway. Palm sees that as a barrier of entry for web-oriented developers who want to make the leap to mobile apps, though, which is why they’ve crafted a new SDK called Ares that’s based entirely on web technologies — in fact, there’s no install at all, apparently. Much of the interface is said to be drag-and-drop with enough JavaScript exposed to make your local .com designer feel right at home, potentially opening the app landscape to a whole new set of folks — and considering that the App Catalog is tens of thousands of goodies behind the App Store and Android Market, they can use every loyal dev they get.

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Palm demos web-based Ares SDK for webOS originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted on November 5, 2009 at 3:50 pm by Chris Ziegler · Permalink · Comments Closed
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Palm pulls paid apps due to major bug allowing free app downloads

After mere hours of App Catalog-stravaganza, the paid apps have been removed for the time being by Palm due to a major flaw in purchase verification. From what we’ve gathered from the seedy underbelly of the internet, an exploit involving building your own dummy application with the same name as a paid application allowed folks to download a free “update” to these falsified shells and score for-purchase apps galore without dropping a cent. Whether or not this was the only exploit afoot we’re not sure, but it sounds like plenty of folks found ways to nab apps for free because Palm has clamped down hard on distribution for the time being. Optimistically, the company claims it should have the Catalog back up by tomorrow morning, but if the failure is really as severe as it sounds, we won’t be holding our breath.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in; picture courtesy of glamajamma]

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Palm pulls paid apps due to major bug allowing free app downloads originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted on October 5, 2009 at 9:02 pm by Paul Miller · Permalink · Comments Closed
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Palm throws the doors open: review-free app distribution over the web, open source developers can hop in for free

Well, things just got interesting. The very evening of the App Catalog’s launch of paid apps, Palm has made a very different kind of announcement: it’s going to let developers skip out on the App Catalog if they so choose. Devs will be able to submit an app to Palm, who will turn around and give them a URL for open distribution of the app over the web — without a review process getting in the way! The App Catalog will still exist for those who want to use it of course, with a $50 entrance fee to get an app inside — and we’re guessing it’ll remain the only way to distribute paid apps — but the new URL distribution should decentralize things just a little bit. In other good news, Palm will be dropping the $99 annual developer fee for folks building open source apps, and hopefully that free ride applies to App Catalog entry as well, though now there’s web distribution to make it less of a sticking point. Palm’s also going to open up its analytic data to developers, and even is giving away Pres and Touchstones to the audience members of the little shindig privy to this announcement — clearly the company is making a strong play for developers, and who doesn’t like to be loved?

[Thanks, Lawrence]

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Palm throws the doors open: review-free app distribution over the web, open source developers can hop in for free originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted on October 5, 2009 at 8:47 pm by Paul Miller · Permalink · Comments Closed
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Paid apps now live in webOS App Catalog, Air Hockey comes first

The first paid apps are finally starting to filter into Palm’s App Catalog, giving us all another great reason (after our daily caffeine fix has been properly handled, of course) to blow a buck or two every day of our lives. First up is none other than Air Hockey, an app genre that seems to be taking every platform by storm — we never really thought that the true Dynamo experience could translate well to a couple of fingers on a phone’s display, but we’re just $1.99 away from finding out for sure.

[Thanks, Joe]

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Paid apps now live in webOS App Catalog, Air Hockey comes first originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted on October 5, 2009 at 1:25 pm by Chris Ziegler · Permalink · Comments Closed
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Paid apps hitting the Pre tomorrow?

The release of webOS 1.2 got all of the stars aligned for a barrage (or, at the very least, a trickle) of paid applications to start hitting the Pre, and the word on the street is that the first of those will be dropping tomorrow, October 2 — for users in the US, anyhow (Canadians apparently need to wait a while longer, a problem that Android users up there are all too acquainted with). The company will smartly be tying purchases to users’ Palm Profiles, meaning you’ll be able to redownload previously bought apps on any device you choose as long as your account is currently tied to it. Of course, the big question is what apps will be available to blow some cash on in the first round of Catalog approvals — what’s everyone hoping for?

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Paid apps hitting the Pre tomorrow? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted on October 1, 2009 at 3:01 pm by Chris Ziegler · Permalink · Comments Closed
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Palm’s App Catalog is swamped with submissions, bursting with flavor

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

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]

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Palm’s App Catalog is swamped with submissions, bursting with flavor originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted on September 23, 2009 at 6:46 am by Tim Stevens · Permalink · Comments Closed
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Palm’s App Catalog getting paid apps on September 24?

Digital Daily’s stumbled across a leaked document apparently addressed to webOS devs that shows a timeline for bringing paid apps to the webOS App Catalog, and one date in particular stands out: September 24 for go-live. The infrastructure’s been in beta for a while now, giving everyone some time to get up to speed on the process and iron out the bugs, but for end users, the launch will likely happen in concert with the webOS 1.2 update we’ve been expecting this month and a redesigned Catalog app designed to support payments. Now, how long before we’ve got a bazillion-dollar I Am Rich app in there?

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Palm’s App Catalog getting paid apps on September 24? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted on September 18, 2009 at 10:44 am by Chris Ziegler · Permalink · Comments Closed
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