Palm Pre Prepared For The Spotlight?
June 18th, 2009 by Bryan BarlettaOn Saturday, June 6th, the Palm Pre launched nationwide after roughly two years of development. Two years isn’t a whole lot of time when you think about the fact that they not only created a new device, but a new operating system and app store at the same time. The device has a sharp design (literally and figuratively), a stunning user interface, and a lot of potential to grow into a competitive platform in the smartphone market.
On May 29th, 2009, 9 days before the device officially launched nationwide, the Palm Pre App Catalog went live with 4 apps (Classic, Sudoku, Today Show, and WHERE). By launch day (6/6/09), this number grew to 18 apps total and then jumped to 30 at the end of the first week (6/12/09), and has remained unchanged since. Compared to the other app stores we’ve seen so far, this number is a mere fraction on what we’ve experienced at launch, but there are a few factors that paint a picture as to why this isn’t an issue.
Palm has been very selective about who they have offered their development SDK to prior to it’s expected public release later this summer. This decision stems from the fact that originally, Palm had no plans to launch their App Catalog on day one. Somewhere along the line, they changed their mind and went forward with a beta version of the App Catalog, which many would agree is much better than launching without one. Those previously developing for PalmOS were approached directly by Palm with the WebOS SDK. This offered Palm more of a launch filter than any other app store has witnessed. Also noteworthy is that aside from Palm’s App Catalog, the only other app store to have a simultaneous launch alongside the first device running its operating system is the Android Market, which launched with just over 60 apps in late October, 2008.
Digging deeper into Palm’s App Catalog actually provides quite a bit of information. The first thing to note is that the entire store and all of the apps in the store are in beta except for one app (Classic by MotionApps). The App Catalog clearly lists this with a banner over the top right corner of the screen and so far, only the app Classic has had a version number of 1 and higher, the rest have been variations of 0.9 or lower.
The most distinctive piece of information we see is that the App Catalog lists actual downloads, which no other market currently does (see the Chart below). Apple’s App Store listed downloads only for a couple of hours post-launch before they were made unavailable. Android Market provides “buckets” of download ranges which, at the low end are helpful, but at the upper end vary widely (e.g. 50K - 250K, >250K).
For developers, the greatest appeal of working with WebOS has been the promise of a platform that is simple and easy to develop for. With the limited time the select developers have had access to the SDK, the fact that the App Catalog houses two developers (out of 28 total) that each currently offer two apps definitely gives that impression. What appears to be the issue at this point, and one of the major hold ups behind releasing a public SDK, is the App Catalog itself.
Currently in the App Catalog, when a developer updates an app, their release date changes to the date they released the update along with removing all traces of the original date. This allows for any developer to release an update and reposition themselves at the top of the Most Recent category and the top of whatever other categories they belong to when sorting by date. After all the gaming we’ve seen take place in the App Store, this issue, coupled with a lack of payment system in the store itself, are two of the major reasons why the App Catalog isn’t ready to handle the volume of submissions that a public SDK would bring. While releasing the SDK to the public and barring submissions/approval to the store may sound like a smart alternative to some, Palm has clearly thought things through and decided to go with their current selective approach.
The excitement for the Palm Pre has only grown since we first heard word of it. Now, nearly two weeks after launch with the hype winding down, you have to wonder, did Palm miss their window of opportunity with their App Catalog, or do they have something up their sleeve?
Tags: Android Market, app catalog, app store, beta, palm, pre, sdk, webos
June 18th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
[...] it could have been — initially, Palm wasn’t planning to launch with an app store at all, according to Medialets. But that would have been a really bad move. The smartphone wars today are at least partially being [...]
June 18th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
[...] than it could have been — initially, Palm wasn’t planning to launch with an app store at all, according to Medialets. But that would have been a really bad move. The smartphone wars today are at least partially being [...]
June 18th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
[...] it could have been — initially, Palm wasn’t planning to launch with an app store at all, according to Medialets. But that would have been a really bad move. The smartphone wars today are at least partially being [...]
June 18th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
[...] than it could have been — initially, Palm wasn’t planning to launch with an app store at all, according to Medialets. But that would have been a really bad move. The smartphone wars today are at least partially being [...]
June 19th, 2009 at 1:32 am
[...] still has a very small App Store: Some 30 apps, which have been downloaded about 670,000 times, according to Medialets, a NYC-based mobile advertising and analytics [...]
June 19th, 2009 at 1:45 am
[...] it could have been — initially, Palm wasn’t planning to launch with an app store at all, according to Medialets. But that would have been a really bad move. The smartphone wars today are at least partially being [...]
June 19th, 2009 at 3:07 am
[...] it could have been — initially, Palm wasn’t planning to launch with an app store at all, according to Medialets. But that would have been a really bad move. The smartphone wars today are at least partially being [...]
June 19th, 2009 at 11:00 am
“On Saturday, June 6th, the Palm Pre launched nationwide after roughly two years of development. Two years isn’t a whole lot of time when you think about the fact that they not only created a new device, but a new operating system and app store”
A couple of points of clarification: the OS wasn’t created in two years. It was the basis of the Foleo’s OS and has been under development since at least ‘05 (plus its based on a standard Linux disty not a full build). Second, I believe the device was created in under 2 years and more like 15-18 months. That is slightly notable but most mobile device cycles are 18 months. Finally, the app store is just a retread of the app store Palm always had on older devices which was created and run by a third party (suspect its the same). It wasn’t called an AppStore then, didn’t have the buzz nor the support of Palm so it was not well known. I suspect Palm didn’t focus on this and left it to linger to their eCommerce team (who always owned this store) to just refresh for WebOS. This was a mistake and they know it. Rumors are they’re now scrambling to get it together but lack of SDK is a big limit. Its more appropriate to compare this not to the iPhone app store launch but the launch of the original iPhone which didn’t have an AppStore.
June 20th, 2009 at 5:24 am
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June 20th, 2009 at 6:01 am
[...] wurden seit dem Verkaufsstart am 17. Juni 2009 bereits knapp 700.000 Apps heruntergeladen. Laut Medialets wurden seit dem Pre-Launch bereits 666.511 Palm-Pre-App-Downloads [...]
June 20th, 2009 at 6:20 am
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[...] appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Jun 2009 05:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Author: Donald Melanson [...]
June 20th, 2009 at 6:59 am
[...] medialets Related PostsWHERE for Palm Pre Now Available at App Catalog The Palm Pre is now slowly getting its [...]
June 20th, 2009 at 7:09 am
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[...] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Leave a comment Related Posts, VideoNo Related Posts Loading… @import url(“http://www.google.com/uds/css/gsearch.css”); window._uds_vbw_donotrepair = true; @import url(“http://www.google.com/uds/solutions/videobar/gsvideobar.css”); .playerInnerBox_gsvb .player_gsvb { width : 320px; height : 260px; } function LoadVideoBar() { var videoBar; var options = { largeResultSet : !true, horizontal : true, autoExecuteList : { cycleTime : GSvideoBar.CYCLE_TIME_MEDIUM, cycleMode : GSvideoBar.CYCLE_MODE_LINEAR, executeList : ["technology","iphone","windows","netbook","game","ps3"] } } videoBar = new GSvideoBar(document.getElementById(“videoBar-bar”), GSvideoBar.PLAYER_ROOT_FLOATING, options); } // arrange for this function to be called during body.onload // event processing GSearch.setOnLoadCallback(LoadVideoBar); [...]
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June 20th, 2009 at 8:45 am
[...] mal la cosa para Palm hasta el momento.[Vía Mobile-review][Artículo en inglés]Read | Permalink | Email [...]
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June 20th, 2009 at 8:49 am
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[...] mal la cosa para Palm hasta el momento.[Vía Mobile-review][Artículo en inglés]Read | Permalink | Email [...]
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[...] mal la cosa para Palm hasta el momento.[Vía Mobile-review][Artículo en inglés]Read | Permalink | Email [...]
June 20th, 2009 at 8:56 am
[...] mal la cosa para Palm hasta el momento.[Vía Mobile-review][Artículo en inglés]Read | Permalink | Email [...]
June 20th, 2009 at 9:00 am
[...] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Tags: Filed Under: Gadgets [...]
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June 20th, 2009 at 9:51 am
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June 20th, 2009 at 11:03 am
[...] Medialets is reporting that as of June 17th, a mere 11 days after its launch, Palm Pre users have downloaded well over 650,000 apps. Now hurry up and expand that App Catalog, Palm! [...]
June 20th, 2009 at 11:11 am
[...] Nears 700,000 App Downloads in Less Than Two Weeks [App Catalog] Jun.20, 2009 in Uncategorized Medialets is reporting that as of June 17th, a mere 11 days after its launch, Palm Pre users have downloaded [...]
June 20th, 2009 at 11:20 am
[...] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Leave a comment Loading… @import url(“http://www.google.com/uds/css/gsearch.css”); window._uds_vbw_donotrepair = true; @import url(“http://www.google.com/uds/solutions/videobar/gsvideobar.css”); .playerInnerBox_gsvb .player_gsvb { width : 320px; height : 260px; } function LoadVideoBar() { var videoBar; var options = { largeResultSet : !true, horizontal : true, autoExecuteList : { cycleTime : GSvideoBar.CYCLE_TIME_MEDIUM, cycleMode : GSvideoBar.CYCLE_MODE_LINEAR, executeList : ["ytchannel:gamevideostrailers","ytchannel:SheepSqueal","ytchannel:SMGTUK","ytchannel:cobracody"] } } videoBar = new GSvideoBar(document.getElementById(“videoBar-bar”), GSvideoBar.PLAYER_ROOT_FLOATING, options); } // arrange for this function to be called during body.onload // event processing GSearch.setOnLoadCallback(LoadVideoBar); Related Posts and VideosNo Related Post No comments yet. [...]
June 20th, 2009 at 11:23 am
[...] Medialets is reporting that as of June 17th, a mere 11 days after its launch, Palm Pre users have downloaded well over 650,000 apps. Now hurry up and expand that App Catalog, Palm! [...]
June 20th, 2009 at 11:35 am
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June 20th, 2009 at 11:40 am
[...] Medialets is reporting that as of June 17th, a mere 11 days after its launch, Palm Pre users have downloaded well over 650,000 apps. Now hurry up and expand that App Catalog, Palm! [...]
June 20th, 2009 at 11:41 am
[...] Medialets is reporting that as of June 17th, a mere 11 days after its launch, Palm Pre users have downloaded well over 650,000 apps. Now hurry up and expand that App Catalog, Palm! [...]
June 20th, 2009 at 11:56 am
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June 20th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
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June 20th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
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June 20th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
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June 20th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
[...] Medialets is reporting that as of June 17th, a mere 11 days after its launch, Palm Pre users have downloaded well over 650,000 apps. Now hurry up and expand that App Catalog, Palm! [...]
June 20th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
This is an awesome figure. Wouldn’t have expected so many people to download such a small variety of apps in such a short space of time.
June 20th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
[...] Según Medialets, al 17 de junio se habían descargado [...]
June 20th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
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June 20th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
[...] Read [Medialets] [...]
June 20th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
[...] sitio de análisis de plataformas móviles, Medialets informa que desde el de su lanzamiento (el 6 de junio) hasta el 17 de junio, los usuarios del Palm [...]
June 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
[...] Medialets is reporting that as of June 17th, a mere 11 days after its launch, Palm Pre users have downloaded well over 650,000 apps. Now hurry up and expand that App Catalog, Palm! [...]
June 21st, 2009 at 1:10 am
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June 21st, 2009 at 6:56 am
[...] Medialets is reporting that as of June 17th, a mere 11 days after its launch, Palm Pre users have downloaded well over 650,000 apps. [...]
June 21st, 2009 at 7:02 am
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June 21st, 2009 at 8:24 am
[...] Medialets is reporting that as of June 17th, a mere 11 days after its launch, Palm Pre users have downloaded well over 650,000 apps. [...]
June 21st, 2009 at 9:22 am
[...] Medialets heeft bekend gemaakt dat er tot nu toe (in twee weken!) ruim 660.000 apps zijn gewonload uit de appstore. Als je bedenkt dat er maar 3o apps in staan is dit een zeer groot aantal. Met de bekendmaking dat er meer ontwikkelaars worden toegelaten tot het ‘early development program’ en dat de SDK eind deze zomer uitkomt kan het alleen maar meer worden. [...]
June 21st, 2009 at 1:43 pm
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June 21st, 2009 at 2:22 pm
[...] provided by Medialets, a mobile analytics specialist, shows that take-up of Pre applications was closing in on 700,000 [...]
June 21st, 2009 at 7:06 pm
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June 22nd, 2009 at 12:44 am
Palm Pre roundup : App Catalog downloads, webOS 1.0.3 update…
The Palm Pre has been chugging along since its introduction, although it’s been a bit overshadowed by the iPhone OS 3.0 and iPhone 3G S announcements. Let’s do a quick roundup of news about Palm and the Palm Pre. No, we still don’t …
June 22nd, 2009 at 12:55 am
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June 22nd, 2009 at 1:00 am
[...] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Tags: 30 Mark, 511, Cellphones, Conclusions, Debut, Downloads, Graph, Nbsp, Palm Apps [...]
June 22nd, 2009 at 2:51 am
[...] on 21 June 2009 According to Medialets, there were more than 650,000 apps download from Palm’s App Catalog, which means Pre users [...]
June 22nd, 2009 at 3:51 am
[...] Fonte [...]
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:30 am
[...] http://www.medialets.com/ [...]
June 22nd, 2009 at 8:26 pm
[...] the judgment behind withholding the WebOS SDK from the general public, and to day I find this article from Medialets. It’s an explanation of the Palm strategy to date concerning their App Catalog and includes [...]
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:31 pm
[...] le nombre d’applications risquent d’exploser tout comme les téléchargements. Source Categories: Actualités [...]
June 23rd, 2009 at 3:24 pm
[...] con un catálogo amplio, a Palm no le está yendo nada mal con su tienda de aplicaciones. Según Medialets, al 17 de junio se habían descargado 666.511 veces las 30 aplicaciones que había …, a menos de 15 días de su lanzamiento ya tiene más de 30 aplicaciones en su catálogo y que han [...]
June 24th, 2009 at 9:51 am
[...] been over 700.000 aplication downloads from the Palm Pre App Catalog, or so it has been claimed by Medialets. It si surely not as impressive as iPhone`s one billion downloaded aplications but if you consider [...]
June 24th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
[...] are hard to come by, so we’re going to grab whatever we can. In the great news departments, medialets dug into App Catalog numbers and found [via Engadget Mobile] that as of a week ago, there have been around 700,000 downloads of webOS apps [...]
June 24th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
[...] Segundo uma pesquisa da Medialets, empresa especializada em análises de dispositivos móveis, os donos do Palm Pre estão obcecados por novos aplicativos. Embora o catálogo de aplicativos disponibilizado para os consumidores seja bem restrito — com apenas 30 opções diferentes (e todas gratuitas) —, a empresa já contabilizou mais de um milhão de downloads. [...]