It’s only been a few days since Palm opened the proverbial flood gates of Apps with the launch of their new web distribution program at CES this year, and a lively ecosystem is already beginning to sprout up around it: We have our own App Catalog viewer in glorious beta form here at PreCentral, we know that Preware will soon be able to tap in to the app feeds provided by Palm, and now the very first on-device web only app viewer has gone live in the official App Catalog. AppScoop! (free) allows for the viewing of all of the non-reviewed web only applications (all 17 of them, at this point). Tapping on one of the listed apps allows you to read descriptions, view thumbnails, and even install the application directly to your phone just like Palm’s own ProjectAppetite demo allows you to do.
It’s pretty impressive to see an application like this appear in Palm’s official app store, and I think that the rollout of their distribution program in earnest hasn’t been on the radar of the media as much as it should be thus far – it’s a pretty big deal indeed.
So yesterday might have been a 
Obviously we’re going to be the types to tell you that the Palm Pre is one of – if not the – best smartphones of 2009. This is PreCentral, after all. But we’re not alone in out praise of the first webOS phone, as it has landed on several of those year-end “best of” lists that every website is obligated to put out. Since we only have two phones to choose from, our best webOS smartphones of 2009 list would be awfully short, so instead we’re going to give you an overview of how the Pre has landed on best of lists elsewhere on the web. We’ve got the round-up, waiting for you after the break.