

WebOS 2.0 Developer Beta - mikecane
http://developer.palm.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2107

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m0nastic
I am kind of excited in seeing node.js used in a mobile platform. There are a
lot of things about WebOS that I really like.

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acon
Looks really nice. Let's hope they get some hardware out the door. I have
lusted after a webOS device since they first revealed it, but I still haven't
seen one in real life. Looks like they haven't made their way over here to
Sweden.

I actually think webOS's card metaphor is the nicest and most understandable
of all the current mobile OSes. The update to the platform looks nice,
especially the PDK for games and other computationally intensive applications.

Now just get me some hardware. A tablet would be nice and a phone even nicer.

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vyrotek
So, what exactly is the state of Palm and the WebOS. Is the dev community
still growing? Is anyone actually making apps? Are people even able to buy the
phones still?

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m0nastic
Larger companies seem to be taking a wait-and-see approach. I suspect after
the HP acquisition announcement, things probably look a little more up. The
community itself is definitely still growing (One of the few brightspots in
the way Palm launched WebOS was the way they handle their community)

There are a growing number of apps (although growing at a much slower rate
than some other platforms), and there is at least some sentiment that because
of the small amount of competition and the quality of the development
platform, that it's a good idea to release a WebOS app.

And yes, Sprint, Verizon, and ATT are all selling the phones in the U.S. Most
likely there'll be new hardware in a couple months.

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mmorris
Glad to see them continuing to move forwards. Hopefully HP will do some big
things, but we'll have to wait and see. In any case, the more competition in
smartphone platforms/OSs, the better.

It does look like they're adding some nice touches (just based on the limited
information here). I like the Touchstone charger, so letting developers detect
when the device is on it should be nice. Definitely Node.js is a good addition
too.

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cemerick
There's a lot of reasons why Palm didn't make it as an independent company,
and as much as hipster-geeks enjoy the web standards love and other hackery,
WebOS is one of those reasons.

I'm a geek, but when it comes to mobile stuff I'm fundamentally a consumer,
and I feel very burned having used a Pre for the past 14 months or so: poor
performance, bone-headed development priorities (#1 being the iTunes
"integration" snafu), no meaningful updates, long-standing unresolved bugs,
and an impoverished marketplace.

I'm sure the platform will do good for HP, but I can't imagine ever bothering
with it again. Yup, I'm biased, sorry, but only by my experience. I'm enjoying
my iPad, and will enjoy an Android device in the next couple of months.

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masklinn
> poor performance, bone-headed development priorities (#1 being the iTunes
> "integration" snafu), no meaningful updates, long-standing unresolved bugs,
> and an impoverished marketplace.

And all of that is heartbreaking considering the potential in webOS and the
things it thinks (if not does) right.

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davidmurphy
I know. SO much potential, wasted by such bad execution after launch.

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joshu
How well does v8 (in node.js) work on ARM?

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newman314
Pretty well. It's no slouch in sunspider benchmarks, particularly if you
overclock.

10s @ 1Ghz so comparable to an iPhone.

