Palm Frees Up webOS Development

Per Wigren writes in with news that Palm has just announced a number of changes to its webOS development platform that should really be welcomed by developers — especially after the chilly reception that Palm seemed to be giving to open source in recent days. OSnews notes that "This moves the webOS much closer to Android territory." Quoting TechCrunch: "The first is that they're allowing developers to fully distribute their apps via the web. What this means is that developers can simply submit their apps to Palm, and Palm will return to them a URL that they can then blog, tweet, do whatever they want to share it. When a person then clicks on that URL they can easily install the app, bypassing any kind of store. And while Palm is providing the URL, it is not going to be reviewing the apps in any way — a clear dig at Apple's approval process. The next announcement is that Palm is waiving the $99 yearly fee it normally charges to developers to make webOS apps if those apps are going to be open source."

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I think once the HTC Hero comes out....

[TheBigDuck]

... the Palm will be squeezed out again. I think Palm had a great product 10 years ago, but seem to be a day late and a dollar short when it comes to new technology. The Pre LOOKS good, but after using it, you kinda get the feeling it could have been done better. I think once users start getting the HTC Hero (Android) phone, Palm will be an also-ran. Developers will move to the Android market. Just my opinion.

Re:I think once the HTC Hero comes out....

[StreetStealth]

Have you used the Hero? You might be disappointed: [engadget.com]

The Hero represents a valiant effort from HTC -- though unfortunately, the company appears to have bitten off more than its last-generation hardware can chew. If this build of Android were to be loaded atop the guts of a 3GS or Pre, the performance would likely be astounding, but fused with the two-year old architecture of previous devices, it's mostly disappointing.

As for whatever succeeds the Hero, that might actually be able to run HTC's UI layer well enough to really give Palm and Apple a run for their money.