Palm should move as quickly as possible to implement a webOS Developer Beta Program to help test new features and functionality for future versions. That's what we're thinking, even though we know it's definitely not feasible in the short term or even medium term.
See, we just heard the news today from our sister-site The iPhone Blog that Apple has released a new beta for developers of their iPhone OS, iPhone 3.1. While We're happy to see that Palm has been rapidly releasing updates to the webOS, it's no secret that Palm has a very tough row to hoe when it comes to competing with Apple, who has at least a two-year head start. We're thinking that one of the better ways to hoe that row is to start handing out tools to the large and rapidly growing webOS community.
There are many many eager developers out there and more coming every day -- developers who would be happy to not only help out with future versions of webOS, but who would also be happy knowing that their apps will be compatible with what's coming. Developers who could help kick the tires, find security holes, and test out new features. We think that Palm should try to start releasing beta versions of the webOS to developers as soon as it's feasible.
Now, we understand that 'as soon as it's feasible' isn't likely to be anytime soon. The webOS has been out and in the public's hands for literally less than a month. We also get that the SDK is still in private beta and in all likelihood not even completely finished yet. For all we know, since the SDK is under NDA, Palm is already doing this with developers and we just haven't heard about it yet. We get that just throwing more people at a problem does not a solution make and that managing a public beta is often a logistical nightmare. This isn't something that can happen in the next month -- or even the next six months.
So we're not asking for this now -- we're just putting it out there. If Apple, that most secretive of companies, can see fit to release Betas of their upcoming smartphone software, we'd like to think Palm can too. Your growing webOS community is standing by, garden implements in hand. Help us help you.
[Image adapted from the FSA/OWI Archive]
Comments
(Slow clap that gradually gets faster)
Well Said...
Well Said.
Agreed. Very nicely put.
Exactly, well said Bohn, well said.
I think they should do something like Dirctv, once a week have Beta software thrown out to whoever wants to kick the tires and if not, don't DL then. D* has a great thing going and Palm should take notes. That way, hopefully get things out to the public sooner rather then later.
(If you don't know (about D*)then don't ask, you can always google!)
Given how many things are missing from webOS and the apps on the Pre, I cannot help but wonder if Palm has some huge feature list and is running way behind, or if they just do not "get it" and have too many iPhone owners and not enough Treo owners on the development/design team. Either way, it sure seems Palm needs help!
I would be glad to help, if they would let me. I want to see webOS become what it deserves to be -- the next revolution in mobile environments.
Palm, are you out there? Give us a chance.
i'll just say palm should move quicker in everything.
especially allowing me to use my employee referral so i can get my damn phone. Waiting sucks. moaning over. well at least for an hour.
I agree 100%. No matter how 'rough on the edges' the SDK may be, there's an army of developers (including myself) itching to get started to build great apps that make the Pre a better phone to have.
Palm, what on earth are you waiting for????
Yeah, this "29 apps a month after launch" thing is really a bit flaccid, especially when they're promoting some things in their commercials (like Facebook) that currently don't work as advertised at all. But hey, at least they have multiple Twitter clients in addition to its inclusion in the built-in search. I realize the kids love that stuff but to me, if there's more than one app for a single, rather simple web site, it might as well be a fart app.
I'm glad the browser works as well as it does, since it fills in some of the missing functionality -- though I'm kinda wishing for a zoom in and out mechanism that's a little more predictable than the pinch (a problem I have with the iPhone/iTouch as well.)
double tap on the area you want to zoom in on.
That's not zoom in/out, that's zoom to element. It actually fits the element you tapped on to the whole screen. Works great on sites with well-written CSS. Works really badly on most mobile sites (because they're designed for 200-300 pixel wide devices and the Pre browser pretends to be like 800 pixels, so the lines are really long and you have to scroll constantly.) In fact, the double tap thing works badly on all sites whose text columns are longer than about 500 pixels wide, including almost every web forum that hasn't specifically been fixed for modern mobile browsers. Wikipedia was useless too until they started browser-detecting the Pre last week (but at least one of our 29 apps is a Wikipedia browser.)
The iPhone browser has the exact same problem, so I don't know what the solution would be.
Ehhhh.. I kinda think we're being nit-picky on this one. If the iPhone guys want a software upgrade, they have to go to the apple store and suffer the masses of ignorant pretentious pretend-geeks to get it. It makes sense that Apple would elect to have some sort of beta for QA purposes.
Palm, on the other hand, is not only sending us live updates OTA but is also squating in the middle of the irc channel full of "hackers" handing out information and advice to help stimulate the group. Are they really there just to make sure we don't infringe on Palm's rights? Sure... But that doesn't REQUIRE them to be helpful.
For the record, I've never carried the Palm flag... I never owned a Treo, and I only bought a Pre because I didn't want to wait until possibly winter to get an Android phone (which at the time was my preference). I fully expected Palm to squash the GNU crowd like bugs, and have us all scrambling for Android as soon as it was released...
Now? Based on what I've seen so far, I absolutely love the idea of hanging onto WebOS over Android. The ONLY complaint I have is them hanging onto the SDK for so long... but that's no were NEAR the magnitude of the fact that they are supporting, if not even encouraging, the devs out there rooting there phones! And we now want to bash them for not having a beta group to bang away at releases of the OS that seem to be coming at less than a month appart? Seems a bit petty to me...
The iPhone team isn't squating in the iPhone irc channel helping "hackers" write jailbreak code. Put it into perspective... We as geeks are a LOT better off than the iPhone guys.
"on the other hand, is not only sending us live updates OTA"
actually I prefer the apple way, so that I am not forced to update, if I do not want to update. so at least I am sure, that my phone and my applications work as long and as good as it normally does. and no one knows, what happens after an update. the problems with the classic application was a good example. its my phone and not palms phone, so I want to be in control about what is on my phone and whether I want to update or not.
Again, a bit short sighted... Do you really want to receive no updates? Because that would be Apple's way..
It just seems there are a majority of whiners here. Palm has given better support, supplied a better product, been more prepared, and been much more tolerant of it's community that Apple... Yet here we have an entire list of people complaining that Palm isn't doing something as well as Apple.
I say go get an iPhone... go whine on their forums. It's this kind of banter that makes companies NOT support development communities.
I see that in the picture they are hoeing after reading a bit. But at first I thought they was digging the pre's grave!!! o noes!!!
Those who want the SDK, have the SDK. Might be Windows only, but it isn't stopping me from working. I miss Ubuntu for now, but I'll have my Linux version SDK soon enough. Yes, access to the Dev information would be nice, but think about this:
If everyone had access to the SDK and signed the NDA, we most likely couldn't release other than through the App Catalog. Then we really wouldn't have homebrew.
I'm not complaining about Palm at all. I'm just using free time to work on applications.
Hey guys on the palm website the are doin a "most requested is first priority" approach to the webOs... I already told dieter in email about this and suggessted we do a petition like letter to palm , but I say flood there inbox with demands
The "Beta" OS is (and always has been) in the SDK, and that's where it belongs.
At this point, the whole OS is essentially "beta". There's no sense in releasing beta code to the masses - especially when it comes to new features - under the guise of helping developers, when huge chunks of functionality are still missing from the API.
Keep the SDK up to date and release the "Beta" OS to developers. The last thing I want to see is 20 more whiny threads every day in the precentral.net forums from people who screwed up their phones by running beta code on them.
While I too would love the SDK released now (even in beta form), it appears that Palm is taking a methodical approach to what they are doing --- and I respect that. It seems they have a plan and intend on sticking to it.
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