Our New and Updated webOS apps
Over last weekend two of our pending apps were pushed to the webOS catalog. One of the apps is an update to an app we've had in the catalog for sometime now, How's Charlie. The updated included a new icon and new RSS error scene. Our other app, Klingon App Launcher, is new to the webOS catalog. It is similar to our LCARS Launcher app but, as the name suggests, is themed to mimic the interface from the fictional species in the Star Trek television show and movies.
All of the apps mentioned above are free of charge and accessible on webOS devices with OS version 1.4.5 & above.
You can Download the apps with the following links:
Klingon App Launcher
How's Charlie?
Disclaimer: STAR TREK and related marks are trademarks of CBS. These apps are for entertainment purposes only. No infringement is intended. CBS does not endorse, sponsor, and is not affiliated with these applications.
webOS News and Speculation
It has been awhile since I last wrote about webOS. Over the last few months the fate of our beloved mobile operating system has been up in the air. On December 9th, we learned that HP will be giving webOS a stay of execution... in the form of making the operating system an open source project. What does that mean exactly? Not entirely sure. The type of licensing HP will pick is still unclear. Android, for example, is an open source project under the Apache License. The Apache License allows companies to make changes to the OS without having to provide code of their changes. This allows these companies to keep their enhancements to themselves, perhaps giving them an edge over other versions of the OS. If HP does pick this license it may draw phone manufacturers, giving them another alternative to using Android.
It is unclear how HP will be able to make money off of this decision. Google itself doesn't make money from Android licensing fees to third parties or app sales. Google makes their money from mobile advertisements in Apps. Could HP create or purchase their own mobile advertisement platform to compete with Google's AdMob or Apple's iAds, or is it too late?
HP has said that they do not plan to build any phones in the future, but plan to develop a new tablet (The TouchPad 2?) in the near future.
Saving the Enterprise
On Thursday webOS fans received news they were hoping would never come. HP announced that they were discontinuing hardware development on any future webOS devices. Its a day that we all feared would be coming. From the very start of webOS, it was met with poor marketing and poor management... almost doomed to fail. Almost?
As you may or may not know, I'm a fanatic of another franchise that appeared to be on its deathbed but rose from the ashes. Star Trek started in 1966 and after 2 years was almost canceled but was saved for a third year by die hard fans. Strangely enough, it gained popularity during reruns. After a few successful spinoffs series and movies the franchise again became stale and prospects looked grim.
During this lull, loyal fans created series quality webisodes that kept fans engaged while official productions were discontinued for years. One day there was a beacon of hope. Fresh new faces and a basic reimaging of the original series (keeping the core principles of what made it great) gave Star Trek a whole new outlook. Not only did it appeal to the old fans but brought in a whole new generation.
I realize a motion picture is different than a mobile OS platform, but they are both businesses looking to be successful. Although sad news, the future of webOS could (if managed correctly) be brighter than the original launch in June 2009.
What should HP do? I think HP should open up the source code for webOS and allow programmers to create unofficial builds of the OS. This is similar to how Paramount Pictures allows fanfiction as long as money isn't made from its property. Secondly, after a short break HP should rebrand webOS and give it a fresh new look. This rebranding can be as extreme as renaming the OS and giving it an immediately identifiable symbol. iOS has the Apple logo to stand by and Android has the cute green robot. webOS has nothing that it can be identified with, making it fade quickly in and out of people's minds (unless you count those 'Borg Queen' ads).
Parallels between Star Trek and webOS can easily be made in my mind. With smart management, webOS will be able to match up to it's Star Wars-like counterparts.
Browser Based Typing Tutor
It is rare to find great free online tools for teaching children, but today is your lucky day. While looking for ways to engage young children in learning to type, I found a flash based typing tutor that was actual fun to use. The good folks at BBC Schools have created Dance Mat Typing. It is full of color and fun animated characters. The only downsides to this tool is it requires internet access and does not record individual progress. If you plan on utilizing the site you should plan on remembering which lessons your student or child have already completed. That is just a small price to pay for an awesome and free educational tool.
Spotify: First Impressions
Spotify, the music service which has been popular in Europe, has finally arrived in the States. For those of you that don't know, Spotify is a service that allows you to stream music to your computer via a desktop client (free with advertisements) or to your mobile device (paid premium account). What separates this service from other streaming music providers, such as Pandora, is that you can search the Spotify database for specific songs and artist.
The desktop client is laid out nicely and is easy to navigate. It should be intuitive to anyone who has used music clients, like iTunes, in the past. After searching for music or artists, you
can easily create playlists that are saved within the client. The free account has visual and audio ads which is a small price to pay for access to Spotify's vast catalog of over 15 million songs. You can also find and play the music stored on your local machine from the same interface.
Initially, I was skeptical of the service, expecting that it would be another Pandora or Slacker Radio. After using Spotify for a week I have quickly changed my mind and it may become my primary music service of choice.
Currently, the free version of Spotify is invite only in the United States. You can apply now for an invite or skip the invite and pay for one of the premium accounts.
Wallpapers are GO!
This week we introduced a new section to our site. For the last few months we have been hard at work creating a variety of wallpapers designed for various HP webOS devices. Many of these wallpapers have been featured on webOS community sites such as webOSroundup. Over the next few weeks we will be posting the files available as a free download here.
If anyone has an idea for a wallpaper design, please feel free to leave it in the comments section of this post.
Static on your webOS device?
I am an avid webOS user and supporter. Although I don't make phone calls often, when I need to make or receive a call I expect my phone to complete the task with no fuss. This unfortunately isn't the case with my refurbed Palm Pre I received from Sprint a few months ago. What is the problem? Overwhelming static that makes using the phone impossible. What is interesting about the issue is that it only seems to affect voice and not data usage. Let us do a rundown of the issue and the steps I've taken that seem to "fix" the problem when it occurs.
Issue:
- During a phone call static interrupts
- Static after a phone number is dialed
- Static upon answering a call
- Static doesn't go away
Steps to solve:
- Turn on airplane mode
- Open Phone App
- Call a contact as you usually would
- Select "Turn Off" from the Airplane Mode popup dialog
After following the steps above the phone should connect you to the person you dialed with no static. I have personally done this 2 to 3 times since I discovered this method in December and it has worked every time. I don't guarantee that this will solve your issue, but what do you have to lose?
Check Out Phaseruptor for webOS
Another Star Trek app for webOS made it's debut to Palm's official app catalog last month. Phaseruptor, wraps two energy weapons from the Star Trek universe into one... The Federation Phaser and the Klingon Distruptor. We, Novacharter.com, developed the phaser and distruptor graphics for this app, but all the hard work was done by qurgh at www.wizage.net who did all the coding.
The Klingon distruptor has two settings while the Federation phaser has several power settings. This app is Free and avalible for download in the webOS app catalog here.
Phaser
gh
No More Dirpy
The web service www.dirpy.com which we covered a few months ago in our article Audio Rippers & Intellectual Property is no more. It is an unfortunate end to a well designed and useful service.
Free No More: Font Capture
In a previous post I praised the online tool Font Capture. Since that post, it has changed it's name to YourFonts and it's price. The once free service now costs $9.95. Of course, for the quality and usefulness of this product the asking price is quite reasonable. It saddens me that the product is no longer free, but if you are looking for a cheap font creator, YourFonts is still one of your best options.
Do you create your own fonts? If so, what do you use? Let us know!
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