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Mojo Widgets are dynamic user interface controls provided by webOS to help application developers build feature-rich interactive applications. Types of widgets include static lists, dynamic lists, button controls, selectors, text fields, menus, dialogs, pickers, and viewers. For an up-to-date list of all widgets, check out our UI Widget reference. (At time of writing, the list may still be subject to change.)

Note: The info in this article was covered in Chapter 3 of Palm webOS by Mitch Allen. (For additional detail, consider purchasing access to the Rough Cuts book; a real bargain at $17.99.)

Common methods for declaring, instantiating and managing widgets make it possible to start using a wide variety of widgets in your application. In a sentence, Mojo widgets are set up through sceneController.setupWidget(), visually customized with CSS styles and managed through Mojo events.

Chapter 4 of Palm webOS - Dialogs and Menus - has been released!  Looks like the new info is coming fast and furious now as the rumored May 17th date draws closer!  This section covers:

Dialogs
Menus
Commander Chain
Summary

We're putting together an article covering all the wholesome goodness...grab the RSS feed or follow us on Twitter to keep up with the latest news!

Thanks to shutton from the forums for the heads up.

The Pre may still be at least a few weeks away, but photos via Twitpic by Laurence Toney (@lo_toney), a busy VP of Product and Marketing at Cake Financial, shows the new webOS device running a YouTube app, composing an e-mail, and compared to an iPhone in size, reports Everything Pre and a forum member on Precentral.

The photos have since been removed, but one can guess that the device is outside the hands of Palm employees, a rare occurrence. The last time the device was spotted was at a crowded public event in San Francisco and in the possession of Ludle International, a Chinese accessory manufacturer.

The device is bound to pop up here and there as time progresses, but the latest sighting raises a number of questions: For example, could lo_tony be a Pre beta tester? (we all remember Jim Van, an alleged beta tester who discussed the Pre via Twitter). Also, how does the YouTube app on the Pre perform relative to the iPhone counterpart? And did he make calls on the device, and if so what were his impressions of it? (the signal strength in the status bar looks good). It also looks to still have the original screen protector on, visible in the first pic. What do you make of the latest sighting?

While Sprint employees are well into their Palm Pre training, AT&T unveiled their own training program for the new webOS handset, albeit of a slightly different nature. Precentral reported on a leaked internal memo from AT&T to employees designed for them to bone-up with a slew of anti-Pre talking points. The iPhone provider will also be holding some in-store seminars to make sure the points stick. Looks like they're taking the Sprint exclusive smartphone seriously and bringing out the ammunition ahead of the rumored May 17 release date.

A few points are summarized below:

• The iPhone is thinner, lighter, made of metal and glass and available in black and white; The Palm Pre is available in black and plastic only.
• The iPhone has over 25,000 apps, while the Palm App Catalog is "unproven" and the Pre has a limited 3D gaming experience.
• "Touchscreen control gestures not intuitive" on the Palm Pre, while the iPhone has a "Patented multi-touch screen".
• The Pre has no GSM capability and has "limited wifi access" (cannot connect to AT&T wifi hotspots)

So the Pre is being knocked mostly for being a new, non-GSM phone. Also, putting down the Pre's touchscreen capabilities pretty much goes against the ongoing patent dispute between Palm and Apple. True, it won't work overseas, but a GSM version is coming later, maybe even on AT&T once Sprint's contract is up. Flash could also be Palm's not-so-secret weapon against the iPhone when it comes to games.

It also leaves out a lot of innovation such as synergy and cards, plus the Pre is smaller and weighs virtually the same, two grams more than the iPhone. Sure, the Pre is limited to 8GB, but the iPhone doesn't exactly qualify as ample space for media junkies, either. What do you think, would this affect on your next smartphone purchase or would someone you know be sold by the comparison?

Meanwhile, Sprint rolled out new Palm Pre web advertising today, notes EverythingPre, and should take some attention away from AT&T for now. Ads in newspapers and e-mails have already been in circulation for some time.

Rounding out our suite of webOS programming resources we've just posted a list of Mojo UI widgets that will be available for use in your applications! As Palm is still finalizing the Mojo toolkit the list is still subject to change, but there are a few examples you can look at and implement in your applications now. Along with our webOS Mojo API reference and list of the built-in Mojo CSS styles, you can get started on your webOS application even if you haven't been accepted into the Mojo SDK early access program.

Note: With the recent release of chapter 3 of Palm webOS there are a few updates to the API reference and CSS style list that will be posted over the next couple days.

Palm's webOS handset continues to make the celebrity rounds, recently in the hands of Howard Stern, Jimmy Fallon, and passed among film stars at this year's IFC Spirit Awards (although U2 and Stern both ended up with RIM). The LA Examiner reports that Angelina Jolie is the latest superstar to sport the Palm Pre (rumored to release May 17), while working on the set of her latest movie, Salt. Apparently she is a gadget fan, often visiting sites such as Brighthand, Gizmodo, and Engadget, and was able to secure an early evaluation unit from Sprint. One of the production assistants was able to have a chat with her, and reports:

"I asked her how she likes the phone...she went on about it for two minutes. She basically said she likes the software better than the iPhone, she likes the thumboard for texting (although the keys aren't big enough), and thinks the screen is beautiful but can be too easily scratched."

We're hoping she'll let Brad try it out for a second opinion. But besides the smaller centro-like keys (still widely preferred over a soft keyboard) and non-scratch resistant screen (also noted at a recent Pre appearance in China), celebrities seem to be giving universal praise for the Pre. But will that be enough for Palm? Douglas McIntyre, an analyst for 24/7 Wall Street thinks not. In a recent article titled "Twelve Major Brands That Will Disappear", Palm appears as #10 on a list of companies that will vanish by 2010.

"Palm has been at death's door for some time", he states. Even though prospects have improved recently with the annoucement of the Pre, recent studies indicate that almost no iPhone or Blackberry users would be willing to make the switch.

Sprint is continuing to roll out the ads featuring the Palm Pre, most recently PalmWebOS received an e-mail declaring the new webOS handset "All the rage" (see below, left). The e-mail invites recipients to share the hype via Facebook, Twitter, or "whatever". The previous e-mail that Sprint sent out focused on mobile applications. But will it be enough to keep Sprint users hyped up about the Pre?

In another marketing move, Gearlog reports that a pricey new print ad for Sprint has appeared on the back cover of the Wall Street Journal (see above, right). The Pre was previously featured in the Sunday New York Times. The large, colored ad reportedly cost $264,000 to publish, and is designed along the same vein as Sprint's latest TV commercials, featuring a slew of statistics and a blue bird associated with Twitter. The ad comes exactly a month before the rumored May 17 release date (with shipments expected to arrive a day before).

With a recent appearance of two Pre phones at a public event in San Francisco, more people have been the lookout for the device outside the confines of Palm employees. PalmInfocenter reported on couple of photos showing the Pre alongside an iPhone and Palm Centro. The interesting part is that the photos were from Ludle International, an electronics accessory manufacturer in China. Because the screen is black, it's possible that the phone is a dummy unit, but with manufacturing being ramped up, it isn't unreasonable to consider that other companies have received working units.

The photographer states that the plastic screen is more susceptible to scratches than the iPhone, reports BGR, and the back, although a fingerprint magnet, is less susceptible to scratches. Let's hope he didn't put a set of keys to the Pre intentionally to test that theory! In any case, better put aside some spare change for a screen protector.

So with all the commercials and hype, will the Pre be all it's cut out to be? Discussion after the break.

For those wondering how to capture screenshots on the Pre, MobileCrunch has the 1-step tutorial. Simply hold the Orange, Sym, and P keys and you have yourself an instant screenshot!

This could come in quite handy when e-mailing friends or coworkers using the synergy feature, whether to show them what you're up to, or just for bragging rights. Used with the camera and a photo editing app or one that adds fun effects to photos (of which the iPhone has no shortage), this feature could open up a lot of possibilities.

Also, Sprint is continuing to push the Pre marketing campaign with a new commercial. It is styled similarly to their first commercial to feature the Pre, continuing an upbeat, tech-centric feel. Pandora, who are one of the Pre launch partners gets a plug, with the commercial depicting thousands "streaming Pandora on a bus". Worth a look.