HP’s executive VP, Todd Bradley, admits that his company would like to be Microsoft’s biggest customer. But when it comes to mobile operating systems, there is no reason for Hewlett Packard to use Windows Phone 7. After all, HP did pick up a pretty good mobile OS when it purchased Palm and gained control of webOS which it plans on using for all of its smartphone needs. Developed by Palm and introduced in January 2009, webOS at the time it was introduced, seemed like a revolutionary OS with its use of cards to represent applications that could be turned off by simply flicking the card off of the screen. But the first device to use webOS, the Palm Pre, was done in by hype, too few apps, and a poor job of marketing. HP plans on improving the hardware to help spread the use of the software. In an interview, Bradley said, “Our intent is to focus those resources and really make webOS the best OS it can be.”

HP isn’t completely tossing out Windows Phone 7. The HP Slate is a tablet that originally was designed for Windows Phone 7. After the Palm acquisition, it was changed to a webOS device before switching back to Windows as a business oriented product. HP could end up making two different versions of the tablet, using Windows for the business-centric version and webOS for a model designed for the general public.

Before the Palm purchase, HP was excited about teaming with Microsoft. HP Senior VP Steve Manser had said, “We are simply very excited to be entering a new era in our Smartphone business together with Microsoft, especially as the market continues to grow and evolve. HP is working even closer with Microsoft to develop signature phones on the Windows Phone 7 Series that offer an entirely new consumer experience.” It’s funny how your thoughts can change after spending $1.2 billion, which is how much Palm cost HP to buy. Actually, when you get right down to it, HP spent all that money for webOS as there really was nothing more to Palm except for some inventory of phones, and of course, the brain power of employees.
source: PCMag

While Germany’s O2 is the only carrier to officially offer the webOS 1.4.5 upgrade to its customers, and AT&T owners will probably be the last to receive it, a self-proclaimed “Sprint employee” tells the PreCentral forum that webOS 1.4.5.1 will be available from Sprint on July 7th after most European carriers will have already made 1.4.5 available to customers. On the Palm site, it does let us know what changes to expect from this download, mostly some repairs to minor problems. On the browser, for example, if you enter text on certain web pages, the screen focus now will remain on the text being entered. The upgrade will also correct a rare problem that prevented some podcasts from downloading correctly and addresses several security issues with the software. The forum writing “Sprint employee” also dropped a few more items that the upgrade will bring to Sprint users such as fixing the e-mail so that the Sprint branded e-mail default signature is correctly branded. There will be some improvement to battery life and videos will be able to get sent via multimedia messaging. Sprint TV will have a couple of changes with an upgrade to version 3.5.4 and parental controls will be enhanced. Meanwhile, Palm has made the webOS 1.4.5 SDK available to all developers including the just out of beta PDK. The upgrade will allow 3D gaming PDK apps to be supported by the Palm Pixi.
source: PreCentralForums, Phonescoop

Palm is really trying to curry favor with app developers. As we reported, despite the recent 50% off sale at the Palm App Catalog, the developers are getting paid a full 100% of what they would normally earn on the sale of their apps. Now, Palm is getting rid of the $50 submission fee that every developer had to pay to submit an app for the catalog. Not only will the fee no longer be charged , but the company is returning the $50 that was already paid for each app. With the grand total of 2,684 apps in the catalog, that means that the manufacturer will be cutting checks totaling $134,200. Actually, the refunds will be processed through each developers PayPal account. Now the big question for the code writers-are you sufficiently motivated enough to start writing some more apps for Palm?
source: PalmDeveloperCenterBlog

The webOS mobile operating system is known for its multitasking and ease of use virtues. How about some raw power behind it? While HP is twiddling its thumbs with shareholder approvals of its Palm acquisition, some insane things are being done to one humble Palm Pre. The TI OMAP3430 processor inside that particular handset has been pushed beyond limits to juice out a full 1GHz clock speed out of it. This equals the best smartphones currently on the market, and is even more amazing when you consider the default speed is “just” 600MHz.

The brains behind the “F105 Thunderchief” project (they might as well have called it “Thunderchef”), have cooked the webOS kernel to unleash the above mentioned speeds, and they have also been kind enough to record a video of how the interface behaves at those speeds. So far, the biggest drawback to toasting your chip we can see is that the bump in raw power really seems to take a heavy toll on the battery quicker than you can say “I told you so”.
source: Engadget

Palm’s 50% off sale on almost every app in the App Catalog has paid some rewarding dividends for the company. There has been an increase in the installation of both free and paid apps (although 50% off free is still free) and so Palm has decided to extend the sale by two weeks until July 23rd. If there happens to be something you have been looking at in the App Catalog but thought it was a little too pricey, this might be the time to let the manufacturer carry you for half the cost. As we reported, even though the consumer is paying just 50% of the listed cost of the app, the developer will be getting a full 100% payout from Palm as the latter is trying to get developers to write more programs for the webOS devices. The App Catalog currently finds itself behind the Apple App Store, the Android Market, the Ovi Store and BlackBerry App World in the number of apps available, and leads only the Windows Marketplace for Mobile.

source: EverythingPre

With the final details being ironed out between Palm and HP, some are still questioning whether or not the long time smartphone maker would even have an inkling of making another webOS powered handset in the near future. As we moved pass the anniversary of the Palm Pre’s launch with Sprint, Palm’s handset offerings are starting to look a bit stale when we see other contemporary handsets outshine the luster that once accompanied the Pre. During a developers webinar hosted by AT&T, there was a Palm rep that let slip out some interesting news regarding their plans for future devices. One would’ve imagined that HP would be in control and use their strength to bring about a handset quickly to the market, however, it would seem as though there is going to be a substantial gap between now and the time we see any new hardware come out. When asked if there were plans to release new devices this year, a Palm representative at the webinar said, “I’m not allowed to talk about future roadmaps, especially because we’re in the process of being acquired by HP, so I can’t say. But yes we have a road map. We are working on future devices. And [a] new version of the OS. So I think, you’re going to find the next year very exciting.” Naturally there would be a lot of people filled with excitement over this, but their choice of saying ‘the next year,” can dash some hopes seeing that it could be roughly a twelve month time frame before something is seen. Thankfully it doesn’t mean just one single handset is in the works as they mentioned specifically that they’re working on future devices.
via PreCentral

Beginning to intermediate webOS developers are getting a jump start courtesy of AT&T, which has secured Josh Marinacci from Palm’s Developer Relations, for a webinar scheduled to air on 6/17, 10-11am PST. What’s more, the attendees of “An Introduction to Palm webOS” are being enticed with a raffle for an AT&T smartphone.

So anybody who wants to further their webOS development skills, or learn how to port their applications to the platform, can head over to the AT&T Developer Program website and signup. How many gadgets will webOS end up powering after Palm’s acquisition by HP, is anybody’s guess, but there is a decent chance of it getting to more and more devices.
source: PreCentral

Ever wondered what smartphone users are searching for from their handsets? Chitika Research has got you covered with a study revealing the top five search queries from each mobile OS. The sample was based on more than a million impressions across its advertising network in the past week. If we leave out common searches like  “Father’s Day 2010”, “NBA Finals 2010”, “Oil spill” and “50 Cent Skinny”, some interesting differences emerge.

First off, Palm users seem to want back in vogue, as 2 of their top 5 searches are “HTC EVO” or “Sprint iPhone”. That’s not to say Palm users want them apples by all means, it rather looks like they just want out. On the other hand, Apple owners already have the mojo, but they still love to remind themselves they are part of the clan – iPhone and iPad users have often searched for “iPhone 4G” or “WWDC 2010”. And just as every self-respecting community, Apple users want to stay in touch with its main events.

The study finishes by listing the Android and BlackBerry top 5 searhes. By the looks of it, BlackBerry users stray from the everyday grind with the “funny sayings” search. Now, is that the most fun you can have with a BlackBerry, or what? It’s sad that the number 5 search from Android handsets is “Unemployment extension”, but that’s why they went with a free OS, after all, smart move.
source: Chitika Research

In an effort to continue providing webOS users the best experience, Facebook Beta version 1.2.5 for the platform is now available for the taking and fixes some issues that sometimes plague users. Naturally the arrival of notifications kept users well-informed as they casually run other apps on the platform, but for some odd reason, some users complained about problems regarding viewing photos from notifications. Thankfully the update addresses that issue and includes support to tag photos, like them, and the ability to comment them as well. Needless to say that the update may not be ground breaking, but it surely shows the commitment in fine tuning the app to provide users a simple and versatile mobile solution for their Facebook fix.
source: Facebook via PreCentral

Things can really get shaken up for HP after their CEO, Mark Hurd, decided to say some controversial words surrounding their recent buyout of Palm. He was heard saying, “We didn’t buy Palm to be in the smartphone business.” Rather than building up the foundation created by webOS, it looks like HP decided to go after Palm for simply their intellectual property. Thankfully things started to cool off a day after those remarks were made as HP’s PR came out to say that the company is still committed to webOS. Naturally one would believe that the beliefs and positions of a company can be found in the mood of their CEO – which for HP looked to be distant from having any relationship in branching out webOS. However, HP’ public relations team came out with a statement simply saying, “When we look at the market, we see an array of interconnected devices, including tablets, printers, and of course, smartphones. We believe webOS can become the backbone for many of HP’s small form factor devices, and we expect to expand webOS’s footprint beyond just the smartphone market, all while leveraging our financial strength, scale, and global reach to grow in smartphones.”
via BGR