The Official Palm Blog

Now playing: Developing for webOS

If you missed O'Reilly's SRO webinar featuring Palm's Software CTO Mitch Allen, here's your chance to catch it whenever you like. You can also leave questions and feedback for Mitch and the rest of the team on the Palm Developer Network blog (and they'll answer the ones they can).

Jon ZIlber

Mobile banking = more moolah?

My parents are super-duper budgeters, but somehow I missed that gene. Thank goodness there are so many tools to help people like me keep tabs on my finances on the go, without a yellow pad or calculator.

Imagine you're at the mall, and you spot a fantastic bargain -- but will it put you in the red? Check to see if your bank offers mobile banking. Most banks let you check your balance, pay bills and transfer funds right from your phone.

Palm phones have always had great applications for money management (available currently on Palm OS or Windows Mobile platform) that can help you create and manage budgets, set up bill reminders, look at credit card and bank accounts, make checklists, convert currencies -- all on the go.

Here are a few apps you can download over the air. Prices start at under $10.

- Adarian Money for Palm OS: A complete personal finance program that manages credit cards, bank accounts, bills, budgets and income/expense analysis.

- Budget Master: Budgeting made simple. Creates budget categories specifying a description and budget amount for each category.

- Cash Organizer: Works as a stand-alone program on your mobile device and can also synchronize financial data with Quicken and Microsoft Money. Access your bank account and credit card balances, budgets, projects and planned transactions no matter where you are.

- Ultrasoft Money: Tracks your spending by entering checking, credit card, cash and other transactions. Helps you set up accounts on your handheld, flag items for follow-up or set up alarm notifications when a transaction is due.

And hopefully, apps like these will drill a few sound financial habits into your DNA -- enough to make up for any money-management gene you might be missing.

Zeenat S.
Edelman for Palm

The new must-have phone for independent spirits

Palm was backstage at Film Independent's Spirit Awards in Santa Monica this past weekend, showing off the Palm Pre to some of Hollywood’s brightest stars (and independent spirits). Not only did they get to test-drive what many of them told us would instantly become their favorite new fashion accessory, but they also used the Pre to record messages of encouragement for Project:Involve, a program that supports cultural diversity in the film industry. (For every celeb that visited Palm in the presenter's gift lounge backstage, Palm made a donation to this program.)

Eliza Dushku made every other phone in the room envious when she gave the Pre a kiss, calling it “sleek and cute…it's scrumptious.” Melissa Leo, Spirit winner for Best Actress, had this to say: “Wo! Wo! Wo!” And about the Touchstone inductive charger: “Get out! Go fly a kite! Stop!” (Blair Underwood's take on Touchstone: “Are you kidding me?”)

 

Taraji P. Henson loved the mirror on the back of the Pre, using it to fix her hair and make-up, while Dominic Monaghan (above) literally ran over to the Palm table and turned around to give pal and Lord of the Rings co-star Billy Boyt a demo. Other celebrities who will be getting a Palm Pre when available include Jessica Alba, Mena Suvari and Michael Bolton. For more backstage photos, check out our photo gallery on the Palm Facecbook page. And to hear some of the messages to Project:Involve, click the names below:

• Robyn Hitchcock
• Justine Bateman
• John Waters

 
Michelle P.
Edelman for Palm

Palm Pre spotted in Times Square

You know the old joke: A tourist is lost in Manhattan, and asks a local: "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" Without missing a beat, the reply comes back: "Practice!"

And how do you get to Times Square? If you're the Palm Pre, the somewhat-less-snappy answer is "Win the CNET Best of CES awards for Best Cell Phone/Smartphone, the People's Voice award based on votes from over 10,000 CNET readers, and the Best in Show Award given to the best overall product at the show across all consumer electronics categories!"

For the next week, a video saluting the Best of CES award winners is screening on a video billboard high above Times Square at 42nd Street and 8th Avenue. If you're in the neighborhood, look us up (or, rather, look up at us).

Jon Zilber

Mitch Allen: Keeping an Open Mind

Me, You and Palm: Profiles of Palm People
	Role: Figuring out where Palm software needs to be in a year or two to make you love our products all over again; finding that next important thing and taking the first steps to build it. At Palm since: A tale of three companies -- from Handspring in 2000 to Palm in 2003 to the "new" Palm. I feel like I joined some crazy startup three years ago and am watching it come out of stealth mode with a bang.
I have helped bring the new webOS from whiteboard scrawls to swipes and flicks flashing across the screen. It's the hardest three years of my life, but I've enjoyed every day of it. You are going to feel liberated. Palm webOS brings the web to you instead of making you go to it.   Palm is developing webOS in an open and transparent way, with web standards as a fundamental part of the platform.

  

This is the part where I'm supposed to show my personal side and tell a few anecdotes, but I'm pretty single-minded about my work. When I focus on something this deep and challenging, it's all consuming. I've been lucky enough to work on some truly innovative technology over the past 25 years, from early desktop publishing and color matching at Kodak to graphics software at Apple and the original Treo smartphones here at Palm. I've learned the hard way that it takes an intense level of focus, commitment and then some luck to build a great product.

When we first started sketching out the next Palm device OS, we knew that - in the age of the Internet -- we'd need to do three things: provide fast, open access to the web, leverage the power of the device, and get out of the way of the web developer. It was incredibly gratifying to be part of the CES launch of the beautiful Pre and the webOS, but I still have a profound sense of anticipation as the power of a web-centric platform has yet to be fully shown. The mobile web is the future of the web, and webOS is a significant step in the right direction.

Join Mitch on a Facebook discussion board and ask him just how and where he goes about looking into the future for the next big thing.

Pre and webOS: Meet Europe, O’Reilly, and Flash

Brace yourself: We've got the biggest blast of updates about Pre and webOS since they were unveiled in January. It's the dawn of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the largest exhibition for the mobile industry, and we've got lots of news to share.

For starters, we're showing off the European UMTS version of the Pre for the first time at MWC. Palm's Lynn Fox pinged us to say that “I don't know which is more over-the-top -- the Gaudi architecture in this town, the menus at the tapas bars, or the excitement that the European market is showing for the Pre.”

And here are a few more updates that should interest you regardless of what country you plan to use your Pre in:

• O'Reilly Media will be publishing a book about developing for Palm's new mobile platform. Written by Palm VP and Software CTO Mitch Allen and his development team, the book -- titled “Palm webOS: Developing Applications in JavaScript Using the Palm Mojo Framework” -- is the first official resource for programming webOS. The first chapter of the book is available on the Palm Developer Network site. You'll also be able to sign up to get new chapters as they're written through O'Reilly's “Rough Cuts” service, and the complete book will be published upon release of the Mojo SDK.
   
• Mitch Allen will also present a free webcast for developers on February 25 at 10 a.m. PT offering a rare preview of the webOS operating system and development environment, followed by a Q&A session.
   
• Palm is joining the Open Screen Project, to help deliver the benefits of Adobe’s Flash Player to the webOS experience. This will offer a richer and more complete Internet experience on webOS-based devices, such as the Pre.
   
• There's also a brand new video on Palm.com that gives you a peek at a typical day with your Pre.

Stay tuned for more updates from Barcelona -- here on the blog or follow palm_inc on Twitter.

Jon Zilber

Five ways to spice up a relationship

Chances are you know it's Valentine's Day (unless you're hiding behind a tub of Ben and Jerry's) and you need extra sizzle, a pinch more spiciness. Rather than destroy a relationship, check out how to revive your love life when derailed:

1. Snap, shoot and send an image with a personal voice caption to those you love (or like, like). Let’s keep it under PG, people.

2. Party for two! Ask that special someone out -- even if it is over SMS or email -- there's no shame in it. In fact, 15 percent of you take the plunge by hitting send.

3. Use images, video, SMS, email or Facebook to guide your sig other on a scavenger hunt. The last destination? You, of course.

4. Spoil your sweetie with a gift both of you can enjoy -- a Palm phone to remain connected. Check them out at the Palm Store.

5. Turn it off. The lights, the TV, the computer and YES, your phone.

Xoxo
Sara C.
Edelman for Palm

Five ways to destroy a relationship

It’s the eve of Valentine’s Day (and ominously enough, Friday the 13th). Love may be in the air, but it just takes one misstep to derail things. Here are a few pointers to help keep your love life on track:

1. Turn your ringer off (unless, of course, it’s purring out Barry Manilow or Marvin Gaye).

2. Get real. Real flowers, that is. Don’t attempt to “give” a fresh bouquet of lilies via a photograph on your phone, go to a floral mobi-site shop and order now (rush delivery).

3. According to AOL Mail’s Email Addiction Survey, 16 percent of you still keep email notes from ex-boyfriends and girlfriends. Survey says? Time to purge those emails.

4. In 2003, Berger dumped Carrie via a yellow sticky note on Sex and the City. In 2008, sticky notes were out and breaking up over email was in. If words fail you, don’t reach for your phone (or office supply closet) -- it’s still bad form.

5. Whether it’s your first or (gulp) your last, refrain from texting on a date. A lot of you -- 25 percent to be exact -- text on a date. And you wonder why he/she didn’t call for a second?

Tomorrow Palm plays cupid and lets you in on five ways to spice up Valentine’s Day and spread the love.

Sara C.
Edelman for Palm

Adam Kaufman: Product Manager, a.k.a. Accessory Guy (but please don’t call me that)

Me, You and Palm: Profiles of Palm People
	Role: I get to bring you gorgeous new Palm Pre accessories -- the little things that will make your experience with Palm products that much better. (And while I’ve been known to answer to “Accessory Guy,” I prefer “Adam.”) At Palm since: Summer of 2007 -- right before we launched Centro.
I have two words for you: electric toothbrush. What's that got to do with Palm Pre accessories? Read on... You can expect the thoughtful, elegant design of Palm Pre to carry over to its line of accessories.   Palm is about to change the mobile industry, and that’s a really exciting place to be -- especially with the great people here. It’s the people that really make Palm the innovator it is.

  

OK, back to the electric toothbrush. One of the incredibly cool accessories that I'm extremely proud to have worked on is the Touchstone inductive charging dock. “Huh” you say? Inductive charging? What’s that?” Well, have you ever used one of those electric toothbrushes where all you have to do to charge it is drop it on the charger -- there are no metal contacts to connect the toothbrush to the base? Wireless. Elegant. Easy. It's so easy that you probably never thought about how simple it is.

So we thought: If you can do that with a toothbrush, why not a phone? And Touchstone was born. After all, simplicity is Palm's DNA. All you have to do is set your Pre down on the Touchstone charging dock. That's it. You don’t have to worry about connection, orientation, or fit. And the phone is active while charging, so you can use the touch screen, watch movies or video, or talk on the speakerphone. Wireless. Elegant. Easy.

Maybe it looks like the distant cousin of a hockey puck, but it's truly a revelation. A recent Bloomberg article called it the first major consumer electronics product to feature inductive charging. It's a unique accessory in an exploding industry, and I can’t wait until we can get it into customers’ hands. How often do you get to work on a project that brings to life something most people think is impossible? I'm a lucky guy.

And get this -- if you look up “inductive charging” on Wikipedia, Touchstone is already at the top of the list under “examples” -- just above the electric toothbrush battery charger.

Join Adam on a Facebook discussion board all this week where, if you ask nicely, he might share some of his expertise about tequila, which he believes is the universal accessory that enhances all phones.

Dear Palm: You saved my life today

At least that's what we hear from our customers. We get some great - and sometimes pretty funny - stories about our Palm phones. There's the one about a Centro surviving a 400 foot fall from the 34th floor…and another one about the self-flush toilet (it was clean!).

And then there’s the downright practical, like this one from Jeanne-Marie:

"Recently while rushing from one event to another, my older son was putting on a tie in the car. He doesn't get dressed up often and since I was driving and my husband was meeting us late (coming from my younger son's lacrosse practice) the tie was not being tied properly. I passed him my Centro and had him Google how to tie a tie...a pictured site loaded quickly on the Centro and the tie was tied properly on the way to the event, once again proving my Centro to be invaluable in assisting with management of my family. Thanks!"

And sometimes your Palm smartphone is a more than just a figurative lifesaver -- here's a video from Major Matt White of the US Air Force Reserve who says "I feel quite certain that the Treo helped to save not only my life, but the lives of three children, their father, and two other men" when it played a crucial role in a rescue operation in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike last fall.

How about you? Visit our Facebook discussion board and tell us how your Palm phone improves your life.

Jon Zilber