Paid App Catalog expanding to Europe in March 38
Mon, 04 Jan 2010 7:20 am EST 
Well, it’s one more thing to check off the list of things about which to complain: we now know when paid webOS apps will be available outside the United States. In March 2010, folks in Europe will finally be able to buy webOS apps from Palm’s App Catalog. Here’s what Palm’s Developer Network Blog had to say about the whole thing:
“The general app catalog model is not new, but what we’re doing with it is. The Palm developer program extends the unique web orientation of the Palm webOS platform, providing developers innovative opportunities to leverage the web as a promotional channel for applications. We offer greater freedom and choice of how to get your applications to market and unparalleled control to promote and grow your business. For developers looking to make money, it’s all about speed, promotion, and reacting to customer feedback. Our platform gives you greater access to customers and faster cycle times to make higher-quality, compelling applications.”
Developers interested in participating in the European ecommerce program are encouraged to sign up now; details are available on the PDN Blog. As to when the paid App Catalog will be available in places like Canada and Mexico, we currently have no info on this, but our assumption is that the App Catalog will go fully international concurrently with the European expansion, or in a phased deployment around the same time.
Thanks to everybody that sent this in!
38 Comments
Personally I don't see why it should take all of 3 months. Unless there's something more complex than simply adding in a EU-Friendly payment system and flipping the un-beta switch for those of us on GSM Carriers, it pretty much smacks of laziness or favouritism for the US on Palm's part. There's probably some factor here I'm unaware of, since Palm do seem to be working very hard to get back on stable ground, something this will help with immensely, but until I hear conclusive proof this is going to stay fishy in my mind.
Urgh, i don't like the idea of waiting 3 months. Especially with all the Native and GPU Goodness which is supposedly coming...
I reckon March in Palm speak means March 31? :(
Hey Europe.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXVN_-8mcB4
Sorry... about yo' damn luck!
Just seemed appropriate... but seriously, Palm needs a better explanation than."a bunch of words that say "We're the best, but for us to be the best it's gonna take us a little minute to give you what you want"
well that sucks to be in Europe...March is a long way!
hmmmmm does this mean canadians get 1.3.5 in march as well?? or is it just going to be even later.. Bell if its you that is holding up paid apps as well as the update... you can have your phone back... getting tired of this.. love the phone but this is just getting stupid.
I think it might be possible that Canada might see them sooner than that and while not great news for Europe it is good news, a step forward for Palm. Just a bit of a shame how long its taking them
+1 and mine too,please!! Bloody ridiculous.My phone is a laughing stock for the iphone fanboys.
Effing finally! Homebrew is great but I hear there are some real good paid apps as well.
LOL, where?
There might be a dozen apps with some appeal and cash value. Homebrew is where they started in most cases, you've not missed much yet.
But if you're a Tampa Bay Lightning fan, you'll be in for a real thrill!!!
I'm not sure if I should be happy or disappointed to be honest. We shouldn't have had to wait this long in the first place for paid apps to be available in Europe, it should have been there right at the European launch of the Pre. And now we have to wait nearly 3 more months to PAY for apps? Does Palm hate money or what?!
I guess I should take solace from that old saying 'better late than never'. I love the webOS so much, I just don't get Palm is doing with it sometimes.
"I'm not sure if I should be happy or disappointed to be honest"
I am disappointed. but, on the other hand, I already knew, that palm is stupid!
I dont think it is 'stupid' just a lack of resources.
palm hates canadian too and not just european!lol'
Better later then never, but Palm has to step it up and release simultaneous software updates for all Pre's (GSM and CDMA) that is the biggest concern for me.
Canada please
don't bet on it!!!
Back here in France, we don't want paid apps... we just want the Pre! =/
Paid apps should be available for each new country release. And Palm should push to unify webOS versions among countries/carriers (i.e. everybody with 1.3.5)...
WHAT!!! 3 MONTH, so when are we getting the 1.3.5 update..
Um, March is TWO months away, guys.
This is awesome news!!
That is so bloody annoying. I was getting hopeful since the US App Store just came out of Beta so I thought they were making progress...but March is ridiculous.
I'm just disappointed that Palm had to follow the Apple-wannabees and go down the "you-must-sell-your-apps-through-our-store" route, because frankly, the only benefit I can see is to Palm and really stupid people. I'll admit it also helps developers who can't setup their own shopfronts but there are plenty of existing sites such as Mobihand who can help with that and know what to do with Europe and VAT.
While Palm may not rip-off developers to the same extent as Apple, the developers are still being held to ransom by Palm while it sorts the AppCatalog out according to its plans. I also find it disgraceful that MotionApps Classic can be sold worldwide from launch and yet every other developer is left in the lurch.
I admit to being a Palm fan - I kept the faith with my Treo 680 while everyone went off and got iPhones, but I'm becoming increasingly disenchanted by the constant delays and being considered second-class by Palm because I'm GSM and / or in Europe. Frankly, the only thing that is keeping me around is homebrew and Preware, otherwise I'd be off to look at Android.
Palm users are power users, but right now I'm only firing on 2 cylinders. Palm, please upgrade me to a V8 asap.
Andrew
@AndrewP: exactly how I feel and only my pre is a bicycle!(2 legs)lol'
Until you replace your device or upgrade to the latest WebOS device. As you are setting it up, your profile downloads. Then over the next 30-60 minutes, the 1.5 Gb of apps that you have purchased over the years just install on your device. Wow, that is handy.
Ever switch PalmOS or WinMO devices? Almost as annoying as setting up a new PC.
There are many advantages for most users in a single catalog setup.
I agree entirely with Andrew here.
The App Catalog hold up coming to Europe may not be Palm's fault...maybe (everyone wants a kickback) the European Unions is getting in the way and holding things up.
I doubt we'll ever know for certain, but then why would Palm intentionally delay something when it makes since to have things moving, online, and generating revenue.
I also agree with jarobusa that Palm is not acting 'stupid' just lacks resources to make it happen sooner.
Either way, you got me...but I can imagine setting up an App Catalog for the European Union being complex.
Erm, not Europe, but Britain, Spain and Germany >-(
Can Palm, or anyone, explain to me what they gain by dribbling their devices and service out to the World, rather than allowing people to give them money WHEREVER THEY LIVE ?
Because what they lose is what they need most: Market Share.
Tons of work to do and about 1,000 people to do it with?
They do not need a great deal of people to merely allow people in countries where Palm could not get a carrier lock-in deal to merely buy a QWERTY-keyboard Pre. Rather it must require ( admittedly braindead ) people to come up with their plan to divide up the world into "Can Have" and "Can't Have" zones for their Devices and Services.
Once again Palm have shown that they have great engineers but awful marketeers.
And it seems my remark on Market Share was prescient:
http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/10022/consumer-preference-market-shar...
It is pretty stupid that it's all the way in March. =/
I feel a bit spoiled since I'm in the US.
@stonehat, Ireland too ;-) We're little but loud....
@AndrewP, Palm are not forcing developers to sell through their App Catalog. It was announced long ago that they'll also support developers selling their apps in whatever way they like, with Palm simply providing them a URL they can pass on to users to install an app.
While it's a pity it's taking so long to get paid apps in Europe, I'm hoping that by then they'll have solved the app spam problem, e.g. ****ers like Brighthouse. Perhaps collapsing all of their similar apps into a single search result, which users can expand by tapping it, would remove the incentive to make so many identical apps?
schmuck i hope your right, my fear, they have not even announced a date in canada. at least for europe its a target.
do i really need alot of paid apps, heck no. there are just a few.
from personal experiance with carriers up here in the great white north, i believe that its more the local carriers versus Palm. I could be wrong, but if it quacks like a duck, it smells like a duck, it walks like a duck, its probably more duck shiet... (read canadian mobility suppliers in place of shiet) lets hope this gets corrected, i really do not like BB products. My pre is a damn good phone, no its not my laptop, but in a pinch will do just about everything i need.
@shaneosullivan - I take your point that Palm *will* support developers who choose the URL method but right now there is not a single application that uses this method AFAIK and I don't believe that Palm is accepting applications into the AppCatalog that use this method yet. Otherwise I imagine all the homebrewers would be using it and not be relying on FileCoaster or Preware.
It would be great if Palm had adopted the URL method early on and allowed sites like Mobihand or Handango to integrate with the AppCatalog. I imagine that we would have had worldwide paid apps withing weeks of launch.
@AndrewP:totally agreed!
This announcement will lead those questioning their purchase of a Pre to turf it back and move to Apple or Android. Not having paid applications in Europe, today, is a kick in the teeth to users and provides zero incentive to anyone who was on the fence about whether to buy a Pre. Palm cannot continue to treat non-US users as second class citizens.
Seriously...Palm really needs to hire a better Dev Network blogger. Someone who doesn't lead off by saying "this isn't anything new", then creating reasons why it's "different" entirely through the use of cliches and overused marketing phrases. They could, for example, just say "We're launching our App Catalog in Europe. It took a little while because dealing with exchange rates and various local taxes and tariffs is not simple work, but we got it done. We had a lot of demand from developers to provide them tools to help them promote and sell their work, and we agreed that we couldn't launch without those tools deployed from the get go." Insert obligatory exclamation marks wherever.
March?!? Holy crap!! Ridiculous! If android handsets didn't all suck I'd so be going...
This is good news I suppose but it shouldn't take this long. I can't wait though, it should mean some really good apps coming to the palm