I realize that they have now released Mojo or about to release it on a full scale but part of the reason I am leaning to iphone is the apps available and the Pre only has around 30 last I counted.
I really think they hurt themselves by doing this. Did this at all away you to wait or did it not matter?
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Did Palm shaft itself without releasing an SDK before launch?
They didn't quite shaft themselves.
It's disappointing, yes, but now that the homebrew scene is picking up (the reasons for its so called death posted by various news sites are... dumb, to say the least.) we'll have a good amount of applications until it comes out.
It's disappointing, yes, but now that the homebrew scene is picking up (the reasons for its so called death posted by various news sites are... dumb, to say the least.) we'll have a good amount of applications until it comes out.
They didn't shaft anyone. It was public knowledge that the SDK had not been released on the release date of the Pre, and if you had an issue with that, you shouldn't have bought it. The SDK really is rough around the edges. It got leaked a few days ago and is a bit of a pain to setup. The core functionality is there, but if they would have released it at this level of quality, people would have been saying "Did Palm shaft itself by releasing a sub-par SDK before launch?". I do feel that the phone was released a little sooner than it should have been. Don't fear, though, the SDK will be released publicly in the coming months, and we will have plenty of fun with it. I've seen homebrew apps that are almost exact source copies of existing javascript applications, like a scientific calculator made 10 years ago. This means that porting of existing code will be rapid and easy. Websites like gdgt will be able to use their existing javascript and HTML to make applications without reinventing the wheel.
i dont think they shafted themselves.. i feel the app store is overrated.. ofcourse it is good to get all the apps under one place, i have around 6-7 pages of apps in my ipod touch, but i dont use more than 7-10 of them regularly..
the apps which Pre has are all good atm, u are likely to use them more..
and their SDK will be available by august end and u can get some 3rd party apps by then i guess.. so though all the tech sites complain abt it, i dont think it makes a huge difference.. but different people might perceive it in different ways..
the apps which Pre has are all good atm, u are likely to use them more..
and their SDK will be available by august end and u can get some 3rd party apps by then i guess.. so though all the tech sites complain abt it, i dont think it makes a huge difference.. but different people might perceive it in different ways..
Going to have to agree with Sarav. I'd say a good 80-85% of what I am going to ever use this phone for I already have the capability to do. The only glaring ommision that I can think of that I feel I NEED is the Slingplayer. Outside of that...I'm good without having games I'll play once or Mr. T soundboards that are fun for ten minutes.
Minor improvements to what is already available is what I am looking forward to. Perhaps a way to download files from the Internet? Improved syncing with Facebook? There are just several little things I'd rather have than a flood of third-party crapware.
Minor improvements to what is already available is what I am looking forward to. Perhaps a way to download files from the Internet? Improved syncing with Facebook? There are just several little things I'd rather have than a flood of third-party crapware.
I have to agree here, too. The iPhone may have 50,000 apps, and surely some of them are useful to someone, somewhere, but I never really found any that I couldn't do without.
I don't need iFart, iLightSaber, or any other useless novelties. I don't need 15 tip calculators, because the regular calculator in the Pre is just fine. I don't need AIM (Now with Push Notifications!), because the Pre has AIM support built-in, and a better notification system to boot. Pandora's nice, the Pre has that too, and it's actually useful because, unlike the on the iPhone, you can listen while you do other things.
The iPhone does have a pretty decent selection of games, and some are actually impressive. However, the lack of input methods is limiting to the sorts of games that are possible, and I don't really find accelerometer games all that thrilling. Super Monkey Ball just doesn't do it for me. Besides, with no replaceable battery, you can't really do much gaming while you're out and about.
The things that really want my phone to do, like make phone calls, send text messages, browser the web, and play music, the Pre can already do those things. It's beats the iPhone in some areas, and needs improvement in others (I'd like better podcast support, for example), but it's very capable. There's not a single app in the App Store that I can't wait to come to the Pre. (Maybe Skype, but can live without it, especially since Sprint gives you a lot more minutes for a lot less money.)
I don't need iFart, iLightSaber, or any other useless novelties. I don't need 15 tip calculators, because the regular calculator in the Pre is just fine. I don't need AIM (Now with Push Notifications!), because the Pre has AIM support built-in, and a better notification system to boot. Pandora's nice, the Pre has that too, and it's actually useful because, unlike the on the iPhone, you can listen while you do other things.
The iPhone does have a pretty decent selection of games, and some are actually impressive. However, the lack of input methods is limiting to the sorts of games that are possible, and I don't really find accelerometer games all that thrilling. Super Monkey Ball just doesn't do it for me. Besides, with no replaceable battery, you can't really do much gaming while you're out and about.
The things that really want my phone to do, like make phone calls, send text messages, browser the web, and play music, the Pre can already do those things. It's beats the iPhone in some areas, and needs improvement in others (I'd like better podcast support, for example), but it's very capable. There's not a single app in the App Store that I can't wait to come to the Pre. (Maybe Skype, but can live without it, especially since Sprint gives you a lot more minutes for a lot less money.)
thats the point: you're supposed to learn and improve on the other companies. the iPhone wasnt as great as it is until 2.0 and the huge stream of apps began to start. Palm definitely should have learned from that and made the SDK available in advance or at least developed more application and seeded some developers with Pre's or something. That way the current catalogue would be much bigger and apps would roll out everyday like for the iPhone
I am a hobbyist developer, and am anxiously awaiting the public release of the SDK. However, I think I am one of the few people that think that Palm made the right decision to wait before releasing the SDK.
First of all, I think that the Palm Pre needs a strong launch. Not only does Palm need to make sure that the hardware is relatively reliable, but they also need to make sure that webOS is viewed as a stable platform.
While it is true that there were only a few applications available at launch, I think (for the most part) they were high-quality applications. For example, Google Maps, Pandora, and AccuWeather are all well-polished. These applications work well, and exemplify what can be done with webOS.
However, if there were a handful of buggy or broken applications, I suspect that the user experience with webOS would be much, much worse.
For example, I would say that my experience with MotionApps Classic would fit this category. I really needed Classic to be able to access my Palm OS password database, and the thousands of memos I kept on my Treo 680. The occasional crash with Classic on webOS 1.0.2 was annoying, but it was nothing compared to the fiasco with Classic 1.1 after the webOS 1.0.3 update. According to MotionApps, the webOS 1.0.3 update was missing some files, and it ended up completely incompatible with Classic. It actually put my phone in an endless reboot loop. I ended up having to exchange my phone at the Sprint store.
Not only was I without a phone for the majority of a day (while on-call, without being able to receive phone calls or text alerts), but I also had to work without my password database and work memos for four days. It was extremely frustrating.
I understand that developers need a lot of time to get used to developing for a new platform. Considering the scope of what they were trying to accomplish with Classic, I think MotionApps have done an excellent job. Their tech support was really responsive when I was troubleshooting my phone. I also think that Classic 1.1 with webOS 1.0.4 is much more stable. Still, I think that this experience is a great example of how one bad app ruin a user's opinion of a phone.
If the major of the applications available were buggy, I think it would only make matters worse. With a lot of hobbyist developers (and not a lot of documentation) I could see that releasing the SDK too early could spell disaster.
I don't think that homebrew applications have the same effect on the general perception of webOS. I think that if you go through the trouble of hacking your phone, you are more prepared to deal with potential problems and are generally more tolerant of any issues. I also think that any problems experienced after installing homebrew apps will not be blamed on Palm, the hardware, or webOS.
Hopefully, Palm will release the SDK soon, along with sufficient documentation so that I can develop something and not have too many bugs in my apps. :) In the meantime, I'll try to wait patiently.
First of all, I think that the Palm Pre needs a strong launch. Not only does Palm need to make sure that the hardware is relatively reliable, but they also need to make sure that webOS is viewed as a stable platform.
While it is true that there were only a few applications available at launch, I think (for the most part) they were high-quality applications. For example, Google Maps, Pandora, and AccuWeather are all well-polished. These applications work well, and exemplify what can be done with webOS.
However, if there were a handful of buggy or broken applications, I suspect that the user experience with webOS would be much, much worse.
For example, I would say that my experience with MotionApps Classic would fit this category. I really needed Classic to be able to access my Palm OS password database, and the thousands of memos I kept on my Treo 680. The occasional crash with Classic on webOS 1.0.2 was annoying, but it was nothing compared to the fiasco with Classic 1.1 after the webOS 1.0.3 update. According to MotionApps, the webOS 1.0.3 update was missing some files, and it ended up completely incompatible with Classic. It actually put my phone in an endless reboot loop. I ended up having to exchange my phone at the Sprint store.
Not only was I without a phone for the majority of a day (while on-call, without being able to receive phone calls or text alerts), but I also had to work without my password database and work memos for four days. It was extremely frustrating.
I understand that developers need a lot of time to get used to developing for a new platform. Considering the scope of what they were trying to accomplish with Classic, I think MotionApps have done an excellent job. Their tech support was really responsive when I was troubleshooting my phone. I also think that Classic 1.1 with webOS 1.0.4 is much more stable. Still, I think that this experience is a great example of how one bad app ruin a user's opinion of a phone.
If the major of the applications available were buggy, I think it would only make matters worse. With a lot of hobbyist developers (and not a lot of documentation) I could see that releasing the SDK too early could spell disaster.
I don't think that homebrew applications have the same effect on the general perception of webOS. I think that if you go through the trouble of hacking your phone, you are more prepared to deal with potential problems and are generally more tolerant of any issues. I also think that any problems experienced after installing homebrew apps will not be blamed on Palm, the hardware, or webOS.
Hopefully, Palm will release the SDK soon, along with sufficient documentation so that I can develop something and not have too many bugs in my apps. :) In the meantime, I'll try to wait patiently.
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