A year ago Palm announced at CES it’s new webOS and Pre smartphone which took the show by storm. As much promise as it appeared to have, when it was actually released people were not as receptive to it because of it being on the less than spectacular Sprint network. Things are about to change however as there is expected to be a big announcement from Palm at this years CES:  OpenGL Graphics!

While it is still speculation as to exactly what they will announce, the latest release for webOS (version 1.3.5) has brought a lot of surprises including the addition of OpenGL ES files. This has enabled the WebOS Internals team to release DOOM for webOS via Preware (an application used to load un-official applications onto the Pre). This also gives more evidence that the Need For Speed video released this past November was real despite everyone saying it was a fake.

Check It Out> Precentral

When it comes to creating a full application for an operating system, no one makes it easier than Palm. They have received a lot of publicity for the sole fact that their new smartphone operating system is primarily focused on standard web technologies. This allows developers to get started very quickly with languages they are already familiar with. As if using html, CSS, html5 and JavaScript was not enough, now they have released Ares.

Ares is a development environment that is fully hosted inside of an Internet browser.

Ares Features:

• Complete integrated development environment
  • Drag-and-drop interface builder
  • Code editor
  • Visual debugger
  • Log viewer
  • Source control integration
• Fingertip access to the full library of Mojo UI widgets
• Push-button project & scene creation
• Drag-and-drop file upload
• Instant project upload & download for seamless desktop/cloud workflow
• Preview apps in the browser
• Run apps directly on the webOS emulator or device (requires SDK installation)
• Use Ares in Safari, Chrome or Firefox

This past weekend it was released to Beta status and anyone can try it after registering for the Palm Developer Network. When it comes to developing an application it is hard for it to get much easier than Ares. Palm has gone above and beyond any other mobile device manufacture to make it this way so that developers will get involved with the webOS platform. While easy, it is still powerful and is only going to be getting more powerful as time goes on.

Check It Out> Ares

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Palm Pre has finally made the jump from Sprint and into Canada! This is sure to make quite a few Canadians happy that they can finally get their hands on it. To commemorate this momentous occasion Palm has also added a few more applications to the App Catalog. It’s just too bad that they think a few more demo applications are going to appease the masses.

Now Palm has 45 applications including the new Tetris and Yatzee demos that were added today. I am all for adding more applications to the App Catalog but Palm really needs to wake up and start working with all of the developers out there that have been making them look slow.

For Canadians to get the Pre they will need to spend a whopping 199.95 CAD which is $183.88 so it looks like they are getting a slightly better deal, that is until you look at the contract. In order to get the Pre they have to sign up for a 3 year contract as opposed to the 2 year contract Sprint users get treated to in the US.

Check It Out> Bell Mobility via MobileCrunch

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When it comes to adding applications to their marketplace Palm appears incredibly slow. It has been 2 1/2 months and they still appear to be dragging their feet on their app store. The ironic part to all of this is that Apple took a year to deploy their app store but it has been such an immense success that consumers have gotten spoiled. Even non-Apple customers now expect that any smartphone they purchase has a large list of applications they can buy.

Palm will soon open up their App Catalog to developers wanting to sell their applications but if you don’t want to wait any longer there is always the “Un-Official App Catalog” where there are currently 148 applications you can download and try out. And what makes it even better is that you don’t have to worry about fake reviews from PR companies.

Check It Out> Pre Central

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Despite the Palm Pre being a game changer for the entire mobile phone industry, things are not looking good for them in the short term. Palm has been very quiet about exact sales figures and the initial rush of people buying them only lasted for a few weeks. Most recently the speculated sales numbers is just below 300,000 devices. Now today there is a report coming out that Palm is cutting their production plans of the Pre. Palm is still expected to sell 500,000 devices by the end of the year but things are looking to have slowed a great deal for them.

This is a good wakeup call to Palm to not be so stupid as to lock themselves into a single carrier, especially Sprint. I admit that I personally really want a Palm Pre but I am finding it difficult to bring myself to purchase one when the carrier is Sprint. When the phone is carried by Verizon I am sure that Palm will see a surge in sales of the device but I think it would have been a much wiser move to offer it to multiple carriers from the beginning.

Check It Out> Tech Trader Daily