The Official HP Palm Blog

The next big (webOS) thing

Maybe you've heard that Palm webOS 2.0 is coming. Many of the details are still under wraps, but webOS developers participating in Palm’s early access program are getting a preview of the next version of our platform. A beta version of Palm webOS 2.0, the most significant update since its inception in 2009, was released to developers today. For more information, see the Palm Developer Center.

Jon Zilber

Facebook for Palm webOS: You asked for it, you got it

We heard two things from you after we launched Facebook for Palm webOS 1.1 back in March: You really liked the new features, and you wanted more. Since then, there's been a great dialog - everything from your latest feature wishlists and bug reports, to explanations of some of the gnarly techie details our developers have faced - on our Facebook page dedicated to the app.

For the more adventurous among you, we maintain a beta version of the webOS Facebook app, as well as the “official” release and we love the feedback we get on the beta version. For example, version 1.2.30 of the beta app was the first version to support selectable feeds. Within an hour of its release, Kris Venden told us that he'd like the app to remember his most recently selected feed between launches. Our team agreed, implemented that feature later that day, and released the updated 1.2.32 version a couple of days later.

Today, Facebook for Palm webOS 1.3 is available. The new official release includes dozens of new features and enhancements, many of which were prompted or refined by all of you. Highlights include selectable feeds, comments in the feed, photo tagging, landscape mode, clearing multiple notifications at once, and lots of performance enhancements. Want more details? Click here. (Or better yet, click here to download or update the app right now!)

Special thanks to the Palm webOS community for making ours the highest-rated Facebook app on any smartphone. We couldn't have done it without you!

Justin Ried

Got game? Palm Pixi Plus on Verizon does

Palm webOS 1.4.5 has been released for Pixi Plus on Verizon Wireless. And that means it’s game time!

 
With 1.4.5’s support for PDK gaming on the Pixi platform, Verizon Pixi Plus customers can now enjoy games built with the webOS PDK (Plug-in Development Kit), including 3D games. Popular titles now available for Pixi Plus on Verizon include “Crusade of Destiny,” “ExZeus,” “Galcon,” “Assassin's Creed - Altaïr's Chronicles” and “Need for Speed Undercover.”

 
You can find these and other great new games for Pixi Plus in the Palm App Catalog, so check them out. The detailed 1.4.5 release notes for Verizon Pixi Plus can be found here.

Paul A., Palm PR

The Angry Birds Have Landed

One of the hottest smartphone apps -- an addictive game called “Angry Birds” -- has just arrived on the webOS platform.

Rovio, the creator of “Angry Birds,” asked the webOS community if they wanted the game, and they were amazed by the enthusiasm of the webOS fan base. You asked for it, and Rovio worked quickly to get it to you. “Angry Birds” is available now for Palm Pre and Pre Plus running webOS 1.4.5, with additional availability coming for others who want to help the birds seek sweet revenge against the green pigs.

Rovio moved fast, but I’m betting a lot of webOS users will be moving even faster to download it. See for yourself what makes “Angry Birds” one of the best-selling apps in more than 60 countries.

 
If you can’t get enough of “Angry Birds,” Palm’s Ben Galbraith and Dion Almaer recently interviewed Peter Vesterbacka of Rovio about what it took to bring the game to webOS. Check out the podcast on the Palm Developer Blog.

Paul A., Palm PR

I never meta-tap I didn't like

You probably know that webOS has a clipboard that you can access by selecting text and then using the Edit menu. But do you know the much faster shortcuts for copying, pasting and cutting? Maybe you've seen the concentric circle symbol and a letter next to the menu command. Ever wondered what that's all about? It’s no secret -- we unofficially refer to this feature as the "meta-tap" but you might prefer to call them speed demons.

Describing the meta-tap is a bit like describing how to get gas into a '70s Cadillac (the gas cap is behind the rear license plate, btw -- a source of great amusement to my father whenever he went to gas stations with less experienced attendants). But once you try this, you’ll never forget it (just like the Caddy gas cap).

Let’s say you want to copy text from a Memo into an email. Here's how to speed up the process (and trust me, this takes longer to read than to do):

1. Open your email and open the Memo to copy.
2. Select some text you wish to copy (basically press shift and drag your finger to select text using the method described here and in Help).
3. Without opening the menus (no need), press your finger on the gesture area and wait for the LED to light up.
4. Without letting go of the gesture area, use your other hand to press c (to Copy) or x (to Cut).
5. That’s it. The text is now in the clipboard.
6. Now to use the clipboard, go to your email and tap an insertion point.
7. Press your finger on the gesture area and wait for the LED to light up.
8. Without letting go of the gesture area, use your other hand to press v (to Paste).

There are lots of other speed demons throughout webOS. For example, tapping the spacebar will wake up your phone. Have you found others that have helped you zip through your day? We'd love to hear your favorite shortcuts in the comments.

Dave M., Customer Support

“Mad Men” across the water

We knew that Palm webOS was powerful -- what with its ability to multitask and to share information across apps and all -- but apparently it has an additional power that we didn't anticipate: the ability to inspire awesome videos from our fans.

Viewing on a phone? Click here to see the Palm Commercial from Arno Arni on Vimeo.

Arno Keifl and Sven Adolph are a couple of 22-year-old students living in Germany with an interest in the Internet and consumer electronics. Palm webOS was a natural subject for a short video project. And they didn't just shoot images of the phone -- they dug into the SDK emulator to capture screen images, and built an app using Ares that you can see in the kitchen scene.

(By the way, you may have noticed the phone in the shoot was a first-generation Palm Pre. As a small thank you, we're sending Anro and Sven the latest Palm Pre Plus for O2 in Germany.)

Jon Zilber

Now updated: Palm webOS, Featured Apps, and Hot Apps contest

The latest Palm webOS update (Version 1.4.5) is available for Sprint customers in the US, and is also available to webOS customers in Europe and Canada. Version 1.4.5 includes enhancements to support the public release of the webOS Plug-in Development Kit (PDK), and brings PDK gaming support for Palm Pixi. Pixi and Pixi Plus owners can now enjoy games built with the webOS PDK, including “Need for Speed Undercover” and “Assassin's Creed - Altaïr's Chronicles." See the detailed Sprint release notes here (and find those games in the App Catalog). 

We've also kicked off another Hot Apps promotion to give app developers a little extra incentive to bring their apps to the Palm webOS platform using the Palm webOS PDK. This time around, developers are vying for a share of $1 million in cash and HP products. The competition runs through September 30, 2010 (details here). 

And if you'd just like a few suggestions for some cool new apps you can download right now, update (or download) the free Featured Apps app, which has fresh recommendations for you (including new picks for Home Owners, Educational, Fitness, Shopping, and Commuter apps). 

Paul A., Palm PR

Summer Tour (and the living is easy)

The Palm Summer Tour made a special stop today at Palm HQ. The crew of Smart-car driving, lip balm- and t-shirt-dispensing Palm emissaries shared stories of the enthusiastic responses they've gotten at pit stops around the country with the Palm team in Sunnyvale (which was definitely living up to its name today).

Most fun stop so far for the Summer Touristas? New Orleans, hands down. Place with the best Palm fans? No contest: Comic-Con in San Diego, where none other than Darth Vader (or at least a dead ringer for the Darthster) whipped his Palm phone out of his pocket (or wherever it is that Dark Lords of the Sith pocket their smartphones) with an excited thumbs up.

Jon Zilber

Summer on the go

My idea of summer fun? Catching up on a good book, letting my inner muse free herself with some sketching, cooking up a tasty BBQ, or maybe just gazing at the night sky. Here’s how my Palm Pre helps with all of the above -- with free webOS apps.

Plop yourself in a shaded hammock for some summer reading. pReader software works with popular eBook formats. For content, point your phone's browser to The Gutenberg Project (m.gutenberg.org), a huge library of free classics. Or find out if your public library has an eBook lending program for current favorites in Mobipocket or eReader format. pReader software works seamlessly with the DRM on both.

If art is more your thing, try some sketching with Paintr Lite. The Featured Gallery of other users' artwork is amazing. For an entertaining challenge, try your hand at roll-a-doodle.

Never turn up at a backyard BBQ empty-handed again. What's For Dinner Lite frees you from the drudgery of printed cookbooks. It lets you search multiple recipe websites at once, and automatically creates a shopping list with one tap, remembering your chosen recipes in a convenient list. Or you can just use Yelp or GoodFood to find a great take-out place nearby.

Turn a gorgeous summer night into science class. Teach kids (or big people) about lunar cycles using Moon Info, or introduce them to meteorology using the weather maps in AccuWeather. Wear them out before bedtime by having them jump up and down to simulate earthquakes with Seismograph (tip: set preferences for a low amplitude).

Bonnie L., Customer Support