The fine folks over at Engadget have received a fresh batch of webOS 2.0 emulator screenshots, and while there’s not a whole lot we haven’t seen before, there is some new hotness in there. For example, the new “Classic” clock theme is very hot (and evolved from the hidden “analog black” in the current versions of webOS). It also looks like we have a few more alarm preferences – including ascending alarm volume and customizable snooze duration.

There’s also our first glimpse inside Text Assist, and it’s just as we suspected. Firstly there’s the ability to have webOS “learn” words, which means there’s going to be more active spellchecking in place. There’s also the slightly more exciting (at least to this blogger) “shortcuts,” wherein you gain the ability to quickly generate longer and more complicated text snippets with just the entry of a few characters.

Source: Engadget

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

A note for developers: if you submit an app to the App Catalog that you built with the webOS 2.0 SDK, it’ll be denied. Problem is, Palm’s not quite accepting those apps just yet – they’ll only take apps for currently-released version of webOS. Developer Geoff Gauchet noticed this when he submitted an update to Neato. Gauchet hadn’t baked any webOS 2.0 features into Neato, he’d merely packaged it up with the 2.0 SDK. With the app rejected, Gauchett thought it best to (1) fix it and (2) let the rest of the developer community know how it’s done. And so, we’ll point you over to Zhephree.com for the directions so you don’t have to go an install the webOS 1.4.5 SDK too.

Source: Zhephree.com

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

We’ve been speculating about how Palm would pull off a tablet or other keyboard-lacking device, and that of course would require some manner of virtual keyboard. While Palm clearly didn’t announce any sort of addition to webOS with the reveal of 2.0 earlier this week, that doesn’t mean that it couldn’t happen. In fact, an anonymous tipster pointed out to us that the /etc/palm/luna.conf file in the webOS 2.0 SDK contains not just a reference to a virtual keyboard, but subsection all to itself titled [VirtualKeyboard]. There’s one value in that subsection, VirtualKeyboardEnabled=false, and right now the SDK doesn’t have any files that would be enabled by changing that value to true. But this is still a sign that Palm is indeed prepping a keyboardless slate device, and we won’t see it until webOS 2.0 hits. Or maybe 2.0 will bring the virtual keyboard to devices like the Pre…

UPDATE: Due to this leak, Palm has decided to suspend processing of new applications to the Early Access Program. Developers up to this point only needed to be registered with the Palm Developer Center and have an app in the App Catalog for apply for access. According to webOSdev on Twitter, Palm is currently reevaluating their restrictions on access to early releases of the SDK (developers are required to sign an NDA) and may reopen admission to the Early Access Program in the future. For the sake of all developers, we hope that happens soon.

UPDATE 2: Palm has reopened developer admissions, saying on Twitter "We’re accepting early access admissions again. No reason to make everyone pay the price here."

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

We’ve covered the new features (that we know about) coming in webOS 2.0 from a user-perspective with a side of development. But the real focus of today’s announcement is the webOS 2.0 Beta SDK availability. This new SDK is a Big Deal for two reasons:

• webOS is even more compatible with web-technology
• It’s easier than ever to create differentiating features that can only happen on webOS 2.0

The former is a big deal for bringing more developers into the fold. The latter is a big deal for any developers who want to see webOS succeed. Read on for our thoughts on what opportunities for cool apps and features can be found in the new APIs coming with webOS 2.0.

read more

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>