Developer Spotlight: Dr. Alan Teh 11

Join us as we talk to developers large and small in the webOS community. This week: Dr. Alan Teh, better known as PalmDoc. Are you a developer interested in getting spotlighted? Hit us up!

Name: Alan Teh (sitting, bottom left) with the core members of Mobilefest, a Malaysian mobile tech enthusiast group.

Company: Palmdoc.net

Location: Subang Jaya, Malaysia

webOS Apps: A few dozen medical apps, including MediPDA, OncoPDA, DrugView, Eponyms, ICD-9, ICD-10, Shots2011, Pubmedplus, and eMed, plus several non-medical apps like Beeb News, LeetSpeak, The Star Online, Straits Times, Stock Exhibition, and Our Daily Bread.

Current device: Palm Pre2

Tell us about yourself. Really, we want to know.

I am a physician by training and my field is Haematology and Bone marrow transplantation. I guess I am an atypical physician who is more into coding for relaxation than golf. I love being able to create apps as it gives me a sense of achievement and control over what I have on my mobile device. Sharing my medical apps with others who might actually find them useful is also gratifying to me having worked for many years as a medical educator. My other loves in life aside from gadgets are my family (wife and son) and SciFi (and that’s how it’s spelled not SyFy!). Unashamedly a Trekker and love all those Star Trek apps on webOS!

What in your background led you to develop for webOS?

Why do you continue to develop for webOS?

I code for the device I use. At the moment it is the Palm Pre 2 (which is a much appreciated gift from HP). The developer Pre 2 was very timely, as I had two Palm Pres (obtained with some difficulty) which died due to screen problems. HP still does not sell webOS devices officially in the Asia-Pacific (Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, etc.) which is a great pity. This region is a huge market with great potential, where people buy and change phones like their underwear (well not quite, but close) and an individual owning 3 or 4 phones is not uncommon. As long as I own a webOS phone I shall continue developing for it as it is fantastically easy with Ares but if the Pre 2 dies on me and I can’t buy any webOS phone then things might change.

The greatest incentive for me to write apps is when I encounter the need for some functionality missing in my phone. It may or may not be medical e.g. BeebNews was written out of a desire for a BBC news app.

Do you do any development for other platforms?

I do not. I do own an iPhone 4 and HTC Desire which I acquired to experience other platforms. I gave Android’s App Inventor a spin and it is like a toy compared with Ares which is a zillion times better. HP must realise that with Ares they have a killer development tool.

What’s your take on the current state of webOS development?

It’s obviously in a state of flux and will be until the Enyo framework is ready. In the meantime I see no harm in coding in Ares/Mojo as long as the current and future phones support Mojo. It will be a pity if HP kills Mojo support prematurely as there are already a substantial number of good Mojo apps which may not be so quickly updated to run in Enyo but I don’t think HP will do this so soon.

Where do you see webOS development going in the future? In particular, how do you see Enyo and devices like the TouchPad running webOS 3.0 affecting your development?

I would certainly consider developing for the TouchPad but only if I can get my hands on a real device. This means HP must get a move on and sell devices in the Asia Pacific.

Actual devices are not only the thing missing right now but the state of the App Catalog leaves much to be desired. I strongly feel HP should get rid of app geo-restriction. I can’t understand the logic of geo-restriction even if a Developer wants to give away the app via promo codes! I can purchase my iOS apps in Malaysia and I wonder why HP (the “global” company that it is) can’t open the App Catalog in the Asia Pacific and make app purchase possible for this region.

Given the chance, what’s the one thing you would change about the webOS development process?

Speed up Ares development. HP should make the transition from Mojo to Enyo as painless as possible. I think there is a huge untapped potential in physician coders who would love to try their hand at developing their own medical apps and Ares provides the easiest and yet powerful development path.

What are you working on right now?

I just completed a Hippocratic Oath app and Our Daily Bread. I have plans to work on another medical app (ABG) in the “coming weeks.”

Thank you so much for your time. Any parting thoughts for the webOS community?

Keep the faith guys. I think HP will pull through during this difficult transition period. They have a great product in webOS and they only need to provide (and sell) good hardware to go with it. Oh yeah, and go truly global.