Palm releases webOS PDK Beta! 81
Palm has released their Plug-in Development Kit Beta for developers to allow them to create rich, 3D games and other native linux apps for webOS. The PDK is available now at the Developer Center.
Palm looks to be making a pretty big push with this - they've released at the Game Developer's Conference and are pushing that they are offering great gaming experiences on multiple carriers:
"Palm webOS is the go-to platform for great games on two of the three leading carrier networks," said Katie Mitic, senior vice president, Product Marketing, Palm, Inc. "We have both the developer tools and the hardware necessary for a world-class gaming experience, and an impressive portfolio of webOS game titles from top-notch developers to show for it."
Full press release after the break. So, developers: how's it look? Legend79 emailed us to note that Palm has chosen to use Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL) for hardware access - which to us looks like yet another way to enable easy porting.
SAN FRANCISCO, Mar 09, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Game Developers Conference (GDC) - Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ:PALM) today announced that a public beta version of the Palm(R) webOS(TM) Plug-in Development Kit (PDK) is now available at the Palm Developer Center (developer.palm.com). Palm is demonstrating new games from early PDK developers in its booth at GDC (No. 2016).
The PDK complements the Palm webOS Software Development Kit (SDK), letting developers use C and C++ alongside the web technologies that power the SDK and mix them seamlessly within a single app. The PDK enables new functionality, including immersive 3D graphics, and gives developers who have built games for other platforms an easy way to bring their titles to the webOS platform. Developers can download the beta PDK and start developing today, but distribution of games built with the beta PDK will require functionality provided in an upcoming Palm webOS update.
"Palm webOS is the go-to platform for great games on two of the three leading carrier networks," said Katie Mitic, senior vice president, Product Marketing, Palm, Inc. "We have both the developer tools and the hardware necessary for a world-class gaming experience, and an impressive portfolio of webOS game titles from top-notch developers to show for it."
At CES in January, Palm introduced 12 games built by four leading developers with early access to the PDK:
"Asphalt 5" (Gameloft)
"Brain Challenge(R)" (Gameloft)
"Glyder 2" (Glu Mobile)
"Let's Golf!" (Gameloft)
"MONOPOLY" (EA Mobile(TM))
"Need for Speed(TM) Undercover" (EA Mobile)
"SCRABBLE" (EA Mobile)
"Sudoku" (EA Mobile)
"Tetris(R)" (EA Mobile)
"The Oregon Trail" (Gameloft)
"The Sims(TM) 3" (EA Mobile)
"X-Plane" (Laminar Research)
Since then, more than 20 exciting webOS titles have been launched by these early-access developers:
"Apollo" (Laminar Research)
"Assassin's Creed(TM) - Altair's Chronicles" (Gameloft)
"Brothers In Arms(R): Hour of Heroes" (Gameloft)
"Castle of Magic" (Gameloft)
"Deer Hunter 3D" (Glu Mobile)
"Dungeon Hunter" (Gameloft)
"Earthworm Jim" (Gameloft)
"Gangstar: West Coast Hustle" (Gameloft)
"Giant Fighting Robots" (Laminar Research)
"Guitar Hero 5 Mobile" (Glu Mobile)
"Hero of Sparta" (Gameloft)
"Real Soccer 2010" (Gameloft)
"Real Tennis" (Gameloft)
"World Series of Poker: Hold'em Legend" (Glu Mobile)
"X-Plane Airliner" (Laminar Research)
"X-Plane Carrier" (Laminar Research)
"X-Plane Extreme" (Laminar Research)
"X-Plane Glider" (Laminar Research)
"X-Plane Helicopter" (Laminar Research)
"X-Plane Racing" (Laminar Research)
"X-Plane Space Shuttle" (Laminar Research)
"The Palm webOS PDK is extremely powerful and far-reaching, as evidenced by the number of titles we've been able to bring to the webOS platform in a very short time," said Baudouin Corman, vice president of publishing, Americas, Gameloft. "It's quite difficult to make a great phone that's also an outstanding gaming platform; Palm has been successful delivering both."
More information about the beta PDK is available at the Palm Developer Center (developer.palm.com). More information about games for Palm webOS is available at www.palm.com/applications.
81 Comments
GO Palm GO!
+1
I don't get it, why will a new update be required for PDK apps to be distributed if there are already PDK apps in the catalog now... This along with the poor sell through of the Pre would be a reason for Devs to not hurry with ports and new apps...
Wrong! Porting apps to webos (for eg. iPhone games) is easy. So why don't?
Why don't?
BUILD QUALITY (TM)!!!!!!
It isn't just about the in game experience IT IS WHAT YOU ARE HOLDING! And if it rattles, its cracked, it creaks, it is flimsy, plastiquie, the experience is DIMINISHED!
Try driving a Ferrari with unbalanced wheels, or a good looking chick/guy with Hepatitis!
Go home - nobody loves you.
?? iPhone titles like NFSU, monopoly,avatar, assassins, asphalt 5, brothers in arms, brain challange and much more are working perfect on webos... Where is your point?
Shut up Troll.
Go home troll!
I wasn't aware you could drive a good looking chick/guy with hepatitis.
Regardless of the Pre's problems, I can't imagine why any developer who enjoys making money would choose not to port an application to the Pre from the iPhone if it really is made that simple.
"IT IS WHAT YOU ARE HOLDING! And if it rattles, its cracked, it creaks, it is flimsy, plastiquie, the experience is DIMINISHED!"
Just shake it twice and zip up.
The fact that you dont like what you have in your hand is as unimportant to to us as your repetitive, selfish OFF-TOPIC-AGAIN rant.
I've had my Pre 9 months and I don't have any of those issues. Regardless, it's irrelevant now that Sprint has the new build of the Pre. Most of those are non-issues for new purchasers.
Day 4 owner myself, it's not perfect and neither am I, but it works. What ever build issues there were, that train left the station a long time ago. If the riders were not happy, they got off. It's a complex design, it will always have minor issues and as long as Palm takes care of us,... Next issue please!
i think I think you missed what i was saying. It say's we'll have to wait for another webOS update in order for devs to distribute PDK apps in the catalog. My question is this: if we already have PDK apps in the catalog, why do we have to wait for an update to get the new apps.
My concern is this: we have no idea when this required update will be. So as a dev, i might be put off by the uncertainty.
There will be an update on 31. of March (PAID APPS YEAH!).
But okay sorry I missed what you wanted to say. I don't understand this too. But as a dev it's always good to have your app ready when time comes. So yes they should hurry ;).
are you sure thats a WebOS update? That sounds more like a server side update, that will allow non-US users access to the paid-app feeds.
Yay! Bring me DoodleJump! But in all seriousness, this is a great move for palm. Now we have an easy way to make apps, and a way to make native apps that can rival iPhone apps. Good for you Palm. We're all rooting for you.
My wife loves this game on her iPhone.
yeah
Could it be that they forgot to publish the download link on the developer site?
Yea, I also don't understand why "distribution of games built with the beta PDK will require functionality provided in an upcoming Palm webOS update."... how is this PDK different than the one used to create the 32 games listed in the article?
perhaps they added microphone support to new version?
Doesn't look like it. Although we do have File Access and Network Access. Having those two are BIG.
On palm's developer blog page it says that the update will be here before the first half of the year. I really hope we don't have to wait until June to get the next update and these ported games.
Excellent news!!!
From the PDK page - interesting points
However, we are hard at work delivering similar capabilities to all webOS applications. While we are not yet ready to announce our specific SDK plans in this area, we are closely tracking the rapid evolution of browser capabilities based on emerging standards, such as WebGL, CSS Transforms, and O3D for 3D graphics, and we are enormously excited about their potential to revolutionize the web.
That's been there for quite a while now, since CES infact. But interesting nonetheless.
Games are all well and good, but what about porting over the great Productivity apps that iPhone has, or better yet, does the PDK allow for development of better Native webOS apps? Other than that, LET'S GO PALM!!
If you can take practically every linux program and port it webOS - only making a new user interface - yes - that should lead to better productivity apps :) - go developers go!!!
Anyone find the download page for the PDK? If you have, please post it here.
Doesn't seem to be up yet. Additionally I wonder how this will change the app market. Can you make normal apps with the PDK or is it limited to games only?
Online now: http://developer.palm.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1...
New things brought on by Palm can only do good. The PDK will open up a new "emersive" layer of webOS to developers (not just games) who want that extra edge on their apps. I hope by the end of today @ GDC:
+ unveils new device OR info of.
+ announce Flash Beta in App Cat.
+ Palm stock rises above $7.
+ announce 3D games (new) in App Cat.
+ 'wows' developers in 1hr PDK session.
+ announce details of AT&T and Tmobile expansion.
...come on Palm, today is 1 of 2 days (other is end of March) to make every doubter (analysts n others) shut the f*(k up and to never underestimate the true master AND innovator of the smartphone era!
webOS > iPhone OS, Symbian, RIM, WinMo, Android
You named it, it is called positivity. Thank you very much.
UPDATE: Crap...Palm has their 1hr PDK session on Friday @ 3pm PST...so we're gonna have wait til then to see if they're gonna bring about the goods I've mentioned. Still, the anticipation is overwhelming =)
Docs to Go...Dataviz...they are making it easier for you to accomplish...please, take a look at this...try harder, port it over...something?
Still moving and keeping positive! I like that Palm is still pushing and that their confidence is helping developers continue to press on as well.
Bonus.
I am excited and eager to see whats in store for webOS. I do agree that they need to release a new phone with better build quality, but webOS is simply one of the best mobile OS' out there right now, hands down. It makes me laugh when people try to hate. One thing that makes any OS great is the ability to customize, and its there in webOS. I think the PDK will allow developers to create the latest and greatest apps, as well as port over some iphone greats. I think I'll start to develop some things now to.
How can iPhone apps be ported? They are written in Objective C. The PDK only does C & C++ it seems.
Most people write their code in C or C++ and then just compile it for objective C.
How do you "compile" C code into Objective C? To compile means "make an executable" (or a DLL).
I've never heard of this before. Could you point me to a link on this process?
Objective C is ( basically ) just a superset of plain old C. The GNU compiler ( gcc ) can compile ANY Objective C code. If the code is calling binary libraries that exist only on Apple systems you will have to provide a library that exposes the same call on your target system.
For games this is rather straight forward. You could code your entire program in Objective C ( or C or C++ or Fortran or Eiffel or anything that gcc handles ) and call SDL for your GUI. The game developers are probably just replacing iPhone specific GUI elements with SDL elements. Which in the long term would be really really smart. Why? Because SDL runs on the iPhone.
This is exactly how QT got ported. QT is in C++ plus some extras.
To sum up: ANYTHING in Linux that can use SDL for UI that is written in any language supported by GCC can be ported to the Pre.
bravo for that :)
Hm, first I was a bit annoyed because there was no download link for me. As I'm from europe, I thought they would do the 'US vs. rest of the world'-thing again.
But now it seems as if their site is just plain down - I do get a 404.
Palm's developer center page has just been updated with a new link to the PDK download:
http://developer.palm.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1...
was just gonna say that, I went to developer.palm.com and clicked PDK icon, and it takes you to area to download. Go Palm! Go WebOS!
I love how the outlet in the PDK image looks shocked.
yea, kinda like saying Ohhh Noooooo! like dat gay guy from family guy, lol!!!
great ! I should learn how to code in c++ ...
@Palmparcha,well,we all know that the built quality is not the best,but playing games on the pre is way better.The Pre has a very high resolution screen,so rgardless of how small it is,the detailed & graphics is just as inpressive as the iphone version.Also,since u start critising the Pre because of bulit quality,why don't you return it back & get your self an Android,Droid,Nexus One,or even the iphone.You see,i have just listed you some good choices.So,if u don't like the Pre OR CRITISING the Pre,return it,or shut the F*#%*up! ported games or apps from the iphone catalog is very easy.Developers will ports their games to webOS,regardless of the users base.If doing so,doesn't require any more time,than just days &less money porting,webOS is the choice of doing so.Android phones are not compatible,that's why they wouldn't release their games on there.It will take alot of resource,time,& money to port those games on Android,because of their different number of software update,which will make no sense.
Can we use the PDK in the palm emulator, or do we need the device ?
The docs I have read show building for run outside both device and emulator (at least with the Windows Toolchain and Visual Studio). They also show building to the device, which sends the app over via SSH it looks like. I haven't seen builds to the Emulator. However, I haven't read much yet.
No one for Linux yet :'(
WebOS Internals has created a Linux version - we call it the WIDK. It's a true superset of the PDK.
-- Rod
Don't wait for it. I downloaded the Windows version of the PDK to check out how it works. Result: It's just a loose bundle of some free software (Cross-Compiler-toolchain, standard Eclipse, some stuff from the Palm SDK, ...) Maybe the real benefit of the Windows and Mac version is the sample project (For Visual Studio on Windows and most likely XCode on Mac). So I think a linux version would simply be a tarball containing the same stuff plus a sample app with a Makefile. I think the WIDK is currently the better alternative with its standard scractchbox based build system. So in my opinion it makes no sense to wait for the official PDK for Linux.
Confusing.
It seems like I'm repeatedly reading articles, here, about the brand new, awesome PDK finally being released.
Obviously others seem to get it so maybe it's about my level of (mis) understanding.
You have probably read article about Games USING the PDK that were released. This is the first time every developer has access to start developing with the Palm PDK. It had previously only been shared with a few established game companies.
Would be great if somehow this could lead to GDialPro being able to work again.
Of course. We get WebOS updates every 6 weeks or so.
I noticed. Many of us were not allowed to contribute to the discussions, due to NDA.
Great, can someone make a "game" out of the calendar app, or at least add some color!! Please!
PLEASE- someone tell me- is there an SIP/VOIP app on the way now? Desperately need one. :) Thanks in advance!
lemmings would be awesome for palm :D
gogogo gadget palm
Final Fantasy 1 & 2 PLEASE!!!
this means we can now have apps like Qik, Skype, Shazaam, etc...? maybe maybe torrent downloads?, all this would awesome to have this kind of apps, or a file explorer kind of like the one is already out, "internalz", but much better build?
Yeah I took a quick look at the docs and couldn't see a mic API. But it's possible it's hidden in there somewhere (SDL?).
I'm sure it is hidden somewhere in there, the new camera app can do video and audio, so yeah developers could easily find it once they have the full version of the PDK and not the beta.... I think.
It's not.
From a Palm employee in the PDK forum.
"Neither microphone input or Bluetooth profiles are exposed in the current version of the PDK."
The original Bejeweled and other astraware games!!
pocketguitar!!!
light saber!!!
the pre now smashes the iphone....
So will this mean more powerful regular apps, too? Or does this only mean more 3D games?
i m quite sure it means both
Now that the PDK is finally available to the public, there should be NO REASON that PopCap doesn't have Bejeweled Blitz ported from iPhone to Pre in the next week. -- I have a feeling I'm going to be very disappointed...
This is nice and all, but I would rather have the battery life issue resolved before jumping into "rich 3D games" as my Pre drains rather quickly with just normal use. That does not include a session of gaming. I can only imagine.
Is this a WebOS update or a Palm Pre specific update? I searched the release notes and was unable to find any reference to either Pixi or Pre; everything was strictly WebOS centric. I hope Palm marketing clarifies their regarding what runs on what and why.
its pixie too!! At least per engadget
http://forums.precentral.net/palm-pixi/235631-pixi-pdk-according-palm.html
I have to admit, i'm happy that this is out, but i'm also extremely disappointed in the fact that this will not work completely on 64bit windows systems. I am able to compile the applications for use on the desktop but i am unable to build them for the device and i'm very sad, as i bought this computer just for that purpose. I guess i'm going to have to wait for a pdk update before i can do anything with it :(