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Do you want to get a jump start on developing webOS applications for the Pre?   We've got just the thing for you.  We've just updated our webOS Mojo API reference, a list of the Mojo objects, methods and properties revealed by Palm to-date in various webcasts, tutorials and books.  Although small details may change between now and the final release of the Mojo SDK, we believe that you can get a real head-start by building your application based on what is known now, with only a few small tweaks needed later should the spec change.  In fact, SeanBlader, one of our members in the forums has almost put together a complete webOS application based only on the details Palm has released so far!

It's a work-in-progress; if you see something missing, please post it here and we'll add it to the list.  Help us build a valuable resource for webOS developers who want to get an early start on their applications!

Also, check back again soon for an up-to-date list of Mojo UI Widgets and Palm CSS styles!

Gaming on webOS has been an ongoing topic, with some considering it the "achilles heel" of the Palm Pre. MyPre reported that many gaming developers were on hand for the recent iPhone OS 3.0 event, but what can webOS developers look forward to? Recently, Palm has taken steps to try and dispel some shortcomings. For example, in their latest joint Palm and Sprint webcast, they stated the first version of webOS would have casual and web-centric games. We can postulate that the connected nature of the device will accomodate some great online titles, sans the fancy 3D graphics for now.

We already know that Adobe Flash is coming to the Pre by the end of the year, and Precentral reported on how this could be Palm's "secret weapon" against the iPhone. Flash hasn't been on a Palm device since the old Sony Clie days, and the often-overlooked Tapwave Zodiac (running OS 5.2 and an ATI W4200 graphics chip) was one of the few Palm OS devices that brought gaming to the forefront.

Here's part 2 of our coverage of chapter 2 of Palm webOS by O'Reilly. This article will continue to explore new concepts and programming elements that were introduced. You may want to read through part 1 and our summary of the first official webOS tutorial if you haven't already, as this article builds on that knowledge.

Custom Application Structures

You don't have to follow the default folder structure generated when you start a new application. You can add folders within the app/views folder to suit your application's structure, as long as you specify the id and template of the scene when you push it onto the stack. Here's an example:

This chapter of Palm webOS Rough Cuts by O'Reilly covers installing the Mojo SDK, creating a new project and customizing critical application components. It begins a walkthrough of the development of an RSS reader application that utilizes many features of the webOS framework and will be developed in this and subsequent chapters of the book.

This chapter covers a lot of the same material that was presented during the first official tutorial presented during the developer webcast with Mitch Allen, so we won't repeat it here. Instead, we'll look at some of the new concepts and language elements that are introduced. If you haven't yet gone through that tutorial, we recommend you do so before continuing.

Chapter 2 starts off with Palm reinforcing that webOS is a "great environment for building applications".  They suggest that web development languages combined with access to native services and local data makes a "powerful and productive" platform that "even" Java and C/C++ developers will find fun and exciting. The development environment will also feel familiar to because there is a "robust" API for UI elements, db queries, and other system calls. The "only difference" is that the programming language is Javascript and the UI is generated with HTML and CSS. They really want to shake off the idea that webOS apps will be just "web gadgets and spinners". [From what we've seen so far, we have to agree. The majority of the best-selling apps on other platforms (aside from advanced games) could probably be built easily using the functionality we've seen so far in webOS.]

The chapter then goes in to the similarity between browser based web apps and webOS applications, but they point out one key difference: webOS applications are pretty much served from the device itself so there's no request/response life cycle between server and client for most screens (unless of course you are sending and retrieving data from a remote server).

We will go through the new information in the order it was presented in the book.

 

Investment Corner:

Bloomberg reports that Palm faced a net Q3 loss of $95M, or 89 cents a share, compared to $54.7M a year earlier. Revenue came in 71% down, at $90.6M, making it the seventh consecutive quarter of losses for Palm. The revenue drop "underscores in no uncertain terms the need for an immensely successful launch of the Pre", Jim Suava stated, an analyst for Citigroup. The forth quarter, ending in May, will be challenging and gross margins will again drop, Chief Financial Officer Douglas Jeffries said on a conference call.

Palm is coping with dwindling sales of its older models in anticipation of the new webOS Pre. "It appears the Pre launch will not be in the May quarter," predicts Tavis McCourt, analyst with Morgan Keegan & Co. ITExaminer reports that Palm has lost $640.7M since the beginning of the 2009 fiscal year. Regardless, the latest financial move by Palm that brought in almost $84M gave the company "enough headroom" to launch the Pre.

UPDATE: Palm CEO Ed Colligan responded to the financial reports, stating the Pre was still on target for the "second quarter."

Palm webOS:

CEO Ed Colligan envisions an entire product line built on webOS, ZDNET reports him stating yesterday. During a conference call, he promised a "roadmap of smartphones and an application ecosystem built on the company's new webOS. In short, webOS is bigger than just the Pre base, even though they stated in a recent webinar that there were no plans to license webOS to third parties. In addition, the software on the Palm Pre was being "polished up and certified from Sprint", with manufacturing already being ramped up.

Responding with optimism, Colligan said his company was well positioned to launch the new device on time, despite the Treo Pro being delayed several times before finally launched on March 15. Palm is working hard with developers to get applications ready at launch, and recently released Chapter 2 of the webOS developer's guide, part of a continuing effort to energize developers for the new platform.

The PDN Blog reports the second chapter of Palm webOS: Developing Applications in JavaScript using the Palm Mojo Framework was released today, written by Palm Software CTO Mitch Allen and available from O'Reilly through Safari Books.

The book is an official guide to building native JavaScript applications for Palm webOS, by principle architect Mitch Allen and the Palm webOS development team. It provides a complete tutorial on developing webOS applications, including the necessary design principles, architecture, UI, tools, and services. If you're familiar with HTML, CSS, and Javascript, you're ready to build applications for webOS devices and the Palm Pre.

Chapter 2 is titled "Application Basics", and shows the reader how to create their first application, discussing many of the underlying philosophies of programming in Mojo and webOS. It goes into more webOS coding details than the material covered so far:

In this chapter, you’ll learn how to build a basic webOS application starting with the installation of the SDK. You’ll create a new application project, customize the critical application components and develop the first parts of the News application, which will be used throughout the book as our sample app. Along the way, we will go into detail on how to use the framework and apply the different APIs, widgets and styles.

A full summary of the chapter will be posted later tonight. In the meantime, you can catch up with our Chapter 1 summary, check out the first official webOS / Mojo SDK tutorial summarizing the material covered in the O'Reilly developer webcast, watch HD video of the webinar, or head over to the webOS tutorials section to get started.

Pre fans can soon look forward to free software updates, much like the upcoming iPhone 3.0 software has been garnishing attention for recently. PalmWebOS.org reports on a set of "confidential" documents that details how the company will handle accounting for the Palm Pre and other webOS revenue.

The slides state that all revenue and expenses for the Palm Pre will be distributed across 24 months, thereby spreading out the 2-year contract/device cost evenly over that time. Revenue from other Palm OS products such as the Centro and Treo will be recognized immediately. Apple already has a similar system in place for the iPhone. 

The new webOS handset, confirmed as arriving in Q2 in recent leaked Sprint documents, now looks to be moving ever-so-closer to a release date. Digitimes reports that Taiwan-based Chi Mei Communication Systems (CMCS) is set to undertake OEM assembly of the Palm Pre.

CMCS was acquired by the Foxconn Technology Group in 2005, who already have mobile phone manufacturing contracts with Nokia, Motorola, and Siemens. The source also states CMCS is likely to source handset FPCBs from fellow suppliers, including Career Technology, Ichia Technologies and Flexium Interconnect.

Production could start as early as this month. The main question now is whether CMCS can keep up with demand for the webOS device. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse recently stated in an interview that "it's going to be in shortage no matter when we launch it", although he added that production needs to be at a reasonable level before launch.