www.webOShelp.net

Similar to a large family reunion, many generations gathered to fill a long banquet table; both young and old, big and small. Except this time the guests weren't people, but a huge lineup of now "legacy" Palm OS devices. The HKPUG (Hong Kong PDA User Group) has posted photos from a Palm OS farewell party with nearly every Palm OS device on the table, including the Pilot 1000, Handspring and Sony CLIÉ lines, Treo, Centro; even the Palm OS wristwatch made an appearance (almost all were in good working order).

The handheld and smartphone line started with the Pilot line in 1996, and have been instrumental in shaping many devices that came after. Palm cofounder and CEO Ed Colligan stated last month that the 12-year-old Palm OS platform would be discontinued to make room for the webOS platform and Palm Pre. Read on for photos and video from the event.

Boy Genius has scored a comprehensive set of "Proprietary and Confidential" Sprint documents that give us a few more juicy details on the webOS Palm Pre (previously they got their hands on leaked EOL documents). The roadmap of at least 30 slides reveals the entire lineup for the first three quarters of 2009, including new handsets from many brands and platforms including the HTC Willow, Blackberry Niagara, and of course the Palm Pre (listed as the "Palm P100").

In terms of release date, we have narrowed it down to Q2 rather than just "first half of 2009" (most recently stated in the latest webcast). It's not much to go on, but we can probably let go of March hopes and expect a more likely release date in June, when the device is ready and supply can meet demand (see the latest interview with Sprint CEO Dan Hesse).

More Pre details:

• The webOS platform codename is "Linux Palm Neutron OS"
• Dedicated RAM is listed as 256MB
• Video is listed as "30FPS TBD", which hints at possible video recording support at launch
• Battery is listed as 1150 mAh (first official word on cell capacity)
• Sprint TV supported, Sprint NFL support TBD
  

webOS skill level: Beginner
Technologies covered: Ajax
Prerequisite knowledge: Advanced-level HTML, CSS, and Javascript

Ajax and webOS

First off: What is Ajax? From wikipedia:

Ajax...is a group of interrelated web development techniques used to create interactive web applications or rich Internet applications. With Ajax, web applications can retrieve data from the server asynchronously in the background without interfering with the display and behavior of the existing page.

Basically, if your goal is to create an interactive web page that makes use of remote data (information that does not reside on the user's local device) and responds to user input without reloading a new page, you want to use Ajax. But what does this mean for webOS developers?

So far, Palm has not specifically provided any best practices when it comes to transferring data to and from remote servers. Will there be a custom Mojo function for this? Maybe...however, Palm is really stressing that webOS applications are based on the Ajax programming paradigm so it is also quite possible that remote data transfer will be done via existing Ajax functionality built in to JavaScript or the Prototype JavaScript framework that will be bundled with webOS devices. This tutorial will get you up to speed on these methods.

jkOnTheRun: Web on Palm Pre runs faster - Looks like Roger McNamee's smack talk last week about the Pre "running rings around the iPhone on the web" could have a little beef to them. jkOnTheRun posted a video from the recent webcast of the Pre loading a complex website, www.big12sports.com, which is best suited for a powerful desktop browser. The Pre fully rendered the site in just 8 seconds, while the iPhone took about 30 seconds to load the same site. Whether it's simply a result of blazing fast hardware, browser or just an efficient caching ability, the Pre looks to be headed for a win over the iPhone in web performance.

Wired: iPhone 3.0 on the way - The Pre may be front and center in smartphone news, but Apple isn't letting them hog the spotlight completely. Apple is giving the iPhone a facelift soon, bringing out version 3.0 and a new version of the SDK. The updates will be revealed at Apple's Cupertino campus next tuesday. "The fact that Apple is hosting an event for the iPhone OS 3.0 shows that it will likely involve meaningful changes to the iPhone feature set," said Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Muster.

Looks like the only people who may find this Friday the 13th scary are Palm's competitors. Today, RBC analyst Mike Abramsky upgraded his rating for the handset manufacturer to outperform, raising his target from $5 to $12 (previously raised from $3.50). Abramsky said there is room for competition in the smartphone market, and the Pre has advantages in form factor, cloud integration, and available developer base.

"Palm is developed end-to-end smartphone software and hardware, providing a superior user experience, which we believe can offer a compelling alternative to iPhone...Rather than a one product Hail Mary, we see webOS as a platform, spawning a family of devices addressing a broader market opportunity".

It's clear that Abramsky sees webOS expanding to additional devices beyond smartphones (earlier, we discussed netbook possibilities), and assuming in the not-so-distant future. This is despite the fact that in the recent webcast, it was stated that there were currently no plans to license webOS to third parties. He thinks Palm could sell 2.6 million webOS devices by May 2010, up 62% to 4.1 million by the 2011 fiscal year.

Today, Palm and Sprint held a joint webcast, or "webinar" in which some questions were answered, but many remained a mystery. There was a 20 minute presentation, followed by 20 minutes of Q&A. Although much of the presentation was a recap of the CES and subsequent material, we always welcome a good talk on webOS and the Palm Pre.

Below is a summary of what was revealed (if we missed anything, you can comment below):

Hosts: The webcast was hosted by David Owens, Director of Consumer Acquisition for Sprint; and Matt Crowley, Product Line Manager for Palm.

Release Date: No new details; still "the first half of 2009".

Sprint/Pricing Plans: Device price is still undisclosed, but several service plans on Sprint were discussed, as well as other Sprint-specific elements:

• Individuals: Choice of 450 minutes ($69.99), 900 minutes ($89.99) or unlimited plans ($99.99).
• Families: Choice of 1500 minutes ($129.99), 3000 minutes ($169.99) or unlimited plans ($189.99).
• Business customers: Ability to pool minutes together using an unlimited plan.

Earlier, the webOS Pre spread to the official portals of 18 countries. Following up today, Palm Infocenter reports that Telefonica's Movistar will be offering the Palm Pre exclusively in Spain, UK, and Latin America. The Spanish newspaper Expansión (translated page), among others, reports that Telefonica will offer the Pre in Spain "before summer", and will have exclusive rights to the Pre in many Latin America countries.

O2, a subsidiary brand of Telefonica, is to exclusively market the Pre in the UK. If they get it first it comes as a bit of a surprise, as Vodafone were reportedly in negotiations with Palm last week to carry the new handset, and a Vodafone SIM card was spotted in a GSM Pre at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona.

Roughly translated, the article states:

Telefonica distributed exclusively in Spain, UK and Latin America the new model of the mobile manufacturer [Palm], after a long battle with its British rival. The telecommunications operator has closed an agreement with Palm to market the latest exclusive mobile Palm Pre...which has been described as the anti-iPhone of the manufacturer.

Palm has yet to officially comment on any other carriers besides Sprint, who are rumored to be exclusive for the Pre in the US until 2010.

Superstars U2 with frontman Bono recently stated that their upcoming 360 Tour would be sponsored by Research In Motion's BlackBerry. The tour, which kicks off late June in Barcelona, is scheduled right around the projected launch date of the new webOS Pre device. This comes as a surprise because Bono is a partner and cofounder of Elevation Partners, who own close to 40% in the popular handset manufacturer. This also fizzles out a good marketing possibility in promoting the media capabilities of the new device.

Roger McNamee, another cofounder of Elevation, has not yet commented on the move. He was recently in the news for having his iPhone jabs and bold praise for the Pre shot down by Palm themselves.