SIM unlock now available for AT&T Palm Pre Plus originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 May 2010 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments"
"
Recently, Paul Smith, the developer of the Palm app TweetMe, gave me some time out of his busy schedule to do an interview. Paul’s TweetMe has grown faster and more successfully than other Twitter apps in the catalog (faster than nearly all apps, in fact). And rightfully so. This app is great.
Perhaps better than his ability to build a great app, though, is Paul’s willingness to talk to me honestly about webOS development. I promised you that the transcript would be published eventually, so here it is.
This interview, by the way, is brought to you with the support of David Strack, webOS developer of Cabbie and Digloo.
If you would like to follow future interviews with developers, follow @twintrview or #twtv. If you are a developer and are interested in doing an interview, just DM me at that account.
Can you tell everyone a little bit about what you do (with both webOS development and other work)?
Well I originally started building websites a few years ago and then started doing freelance web development with HTML, CSS, JavaScript and the Ruby on Rails framework. I did a lot of client work and about a year ago started working on TweetMe for webOS. Right now TweetMe is my only webOS app. I designed it and did all the programming
What do you think is the biggest reason for your app’s success?
One big reason for success was all the testers that helped create buzz before launch, the other reason I’d say would be that I wanted to start with a solid foundation. It has the looks, it has a lot of features, but the biggest thing is that TweetMe has a solid base, it’s fun and it just kind of “flows” or at least that was my hope 
Where would you say you’ve gotten the most inspiration for your app? Any developers, apps or websites come to mind?
I’ve had a lot of input from friends and family. No one really knew about TweetMe until a few weeks ago actually. I’d say Tweetie, Birdfeed and the combo of other websites and apps I’ve built have all inspired how I approached and built TweetMe.
Do you have an online portfolio where we can see some of your other work?
Sadly, I took it down once I focused on TweetMe. I couldn’t handle all the extra load.
That’s understandable. Gotta focus on priorities! Since you’ve been developing TweetMe for a year, what made you choose webOS?
I chose webOS because it used web technologies, which I already knew pretty well. It was a really good fit 
Seems to be a trend among developers. What are the best and the worst things about developing for the Palm community?
There are lots of good things. Everyone is very receptive, the developer relations team rocks and is extremely responsive and I believe webOS has the most potential of all the mobile Operating Systems. Only bad thing is documentation can be hard to come by.
Mostly just a whole ton of great experiences so far.
Has developing with TweetMe become a full-time job for you? If so, that’s a sure sign of success! Think that others can do it?
Right now, it’s my number 1 priority. I have other clients, but it’s been doing pretty well. I definitely think others can do it if they put enough time and effort into the product and make sure that it is much better than what’s out there.
Also the webOS community (especially early testers of TweetMe) has been FANTASTIC. They spread word about apps they like, it’s great!
What bit of advice would you give to developers thinking about building their first webOS application?
My advice would be to design first, think about flow, think about how it works. Don’t code till you’ve got those things down. It’s VERY hard to go back and fix those things. I didn’t start coding till 4-5 months in.
Follow Up Question: Did you start on TweetMe Before the phone’s official release in June of 2009?
Around then, yes. I started designing it around May or June and coding a few months after that.
What are your favorite three apps/patches/things on your phone right now?
My #1 favorite thing is the potential of webOS. I’ve seen it from the start. It’ll be good. Second thing is Paratroopers, I love that game! Third, would be Tasks. I like having everything I have to do, right there in my Palm.
Thanks so much for your time, Paul. It’s been a lot of fun! Any last words?
Thank you! It’s been great! Last words: HP & Palm… I have a good feeling about those two.
- Sent from my Palm Pre
"The Palm Pre Challenge is a series of articles written by Tim Stiffler-Dean. For 30 days he uses a Palm Pre exclusively for all of his computing needs. You can read all of the Palm Pre Challenge articles here.
Follow Tim Stiffler-Dean and his Palm Pre Challenge here on webOSroundup.com or on Twitter: @anotherguy and #PalmPreChallenge. You can also see his personal blog AnotherGuy.us
wave.google.com now to get Waving, but read on for some beginner tips and use cases. More »
Continue reading Google's VOIP buying spree continues with Global IP Solutions offer
Google's VOIP buying spree continues with Global IP Solutions offer originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 May 2010 10:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments"
Extended range wireless (WiFi N) delivers the best quality video virtually anywhere in your home.
(legalese)
Sprint cans Nexus One in favor of EVO 4G originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 May 2010 15:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments"
A quick look at our webOS Apps Gallery reveals a nice number: if you add up all the downloads from the App Catalog, Beta, Web Distributed, and Homebrew apps, you'll find that webOS users have downloaded apps more than 55 million times and if you include patches and downloads from other repositories that number is surely much higher. That number likely includes upgrade downloads as well as new downloads.
While we still don't know how many Palm Pre and Pixi phones have been sold to put that number in context, if we had to guess we'd say that number is still relatively small - making the 55 million download count look fairly decent proportionately.
How many webOS apps have you downloaded? Poll after the break!
