Palm Mojo Software Development Kit Available

Palm Pre Cool! The Palm Mojo Software Development Kit is now available. It looks like they have quite a few resources online too, including:

Kind of makes me wish I had gotten a Palm Pre, though I’ve heard that their App Catalog still leaves much to be desired.

Two Weeks with the iPhone 3GS

Apple iPhone 3GS It was one of those “Oh crap” moments. After a long day of work, I decided to take a dip in the hot tub under the cool evening sky. So anxious was I for that bubbly, refreshing goodness that I forgot about the BlackBerry 8800 (RIMM) in my board shorts.

Oh crap.

The next day, I went out and purchased an iPhone 3GS (AAPL). It wasn’t a quick & easy decision. I ruminated over the BlackBerry Tour, the Palm Pre, and the iPhone 3GS for quite a while. I read countless reviews and articles and opinions and comparisons about each. The reviews are generally mixed, depending on what you need and what you want in a smartphone.

As an entrepreneur, I have a pretty strict list of requirements that are mostly for business purposes. A regular phone wouldn’t suffice, so my only options are smartphones. A fair portion of my business is done while I’m away from my laptop, so my smartphone needs to double as a mini, portable laptop, basically.

Just for the record, what I need are:

  • Ability to receive and make phone calls, of course
  • Ability to type lots of potentially long emails often (a good typing experience)
  • Ability to sync up with and access my Gmail (GOOG) and Yahoo! Mail (YHOO) accounts
  • Ability to sync up with and access my Gmail Contacts
  • Ability to sync up with and access my Google Calendar
  • Ability to know where I am, look up addresses, and give me directions (GPS)
  • Ability to read RSS feeds
  • Ability to browse the web
  • Ability to set an alarm (small, but handy feature)

And my nice-to-haves are:

  • Ability to take photos
  • Ability to take video
  • Ability to play games (nice time-wasters)

I state these because your needs are almost certainly different than mine. Not all entrerpreneurs need to read RSS feeds, for instance. It all depends on what you need and what you want.

Since the iPhone 3GS has video capabilities, that tipped its scale for me. The lack of physical keyboard concerned me, but friends tell me it’s not so bad. Its plethora of apps also make it appealing. So with the iPhone I went.

That was about two weeks ago. Am I still happy with my iPhone purchase? Mostly so.

The apps are cool. No doubt about that. Useful, plentiful, colorful. They are a smorgasbord of snazz, a potpourri of power. Need something to deter you from drunk dialing your exes? There’s an app for that.

GPS and Google Maps work great on the iPhone, especially with the traffic data. Finding nearby restaurants, cheap gas stations, and wifi hotspots; publishing blog entries, tweets, and photos; reading stock quotes, RSS feeds, and news – it’s all a swish and a click away. And don’t even get me started on the awesome video capabilities. Smokin’!

I desperately miss a physical keyboard, however. My gosh do I miss one. Guess I didn’t realize how utterly useful one is. I can blaze out a long email pretty quickly with my old BlackBerry, may she rest in peace. It takes me twice as long on the iPhone.

And to compare apples to apples, after two weeks of using my BlackBerry, I was savvy with the keyboard. After two weeks of the iPhone, I’m still hunting & pecking like a n00b. With email being one of the most important capabilities that I needed, the iPhone makes me feel like I’m going backwards instead of forwards.

Does that mean I regret my decision? Naaah. I’m sure I’ll get used to this virtual keyboard in time. I’ll be keeping my eye on the BlackBerry Tour and Palm Pre though. The Pre’s app development capabilities are especially intriguing, though their App Catalog is a dial-up modem compared to Apple iTunes’ fiber optics right now.

Ultimately, I think the right phone for you is the phone that fits your criteria. The iPhone 3GS is great in some ways, bad in others — at least, for me. Same with the Palm Pre and the BlackBerry Tour, I’m sure. If you were to ask me which phone is the best for entrepreneurs, I would answer the same way most questions in life are answered: it depends. It depends on what you need and what you want.

Thankful for Understanding Significant Others

Thank goodness I have an understanding significant other who understands my hectic schedule. Being an entrepreneur isn’t easy. Living with one doesn’t sound much better.

I know some colleagues whose significant others that aren’t as understanding and patient. Or perhaps just fed up and frustrated that they see so little of their partner. Being an entrepreneur isn’t a 9-to-5 job, after all. It’s more like a lifestyle. And it isn’t for everyone.

My schedule has been more hectic than usual. Sometimes I love it (the thrill and energy of it all can be intoxicating), sometimes, not so much. And through it all, my significant other has been there, being supportive and helpful.

So here’s to understanding significant others! We entrepreneurs couldn’t do it without you! Thank you.

Props to ReadWriteWeb

ReadWriteWeb I often check out Techmeme for my popular technology news. Then I’m off to Google Reader for further news.

A new realization struck me today. Every time I dig deeper into a story on Techmeme, I click on ReadWriteWeb’s related entries to get more detail. Once upon a time, Iwould turn to TechCrunch for story details & commentary. Now it’s RWW.

I’m not quite sure when RWW replaced TC, but I enjoy their longer posts, thoughtful insights, and occasional personal commentary. While I don’t always agree with their writers, it’s nice to see that personal flavor in there. They cover all the same popular topics that TC, Mashable, GigaOM, and all those guys do, but sometimes I like a longer, more in-depth article than a quick 2-paragraph “Wham, Bam, Thank you Ma’am” kind of post.

So here’s my very non-RWW, “Wham, Bam, Thank you Ma’am” post to give props to RWW’s founder Richard MacManus and his team of writers. Nice job guys!

Buy Low, Sell High

You know what I love about this recession? The low prices. I’m seeing sales and discounts everywhere. It’s much easier to haggle and get a good bargain nowadays. Even a lot of stocks are arguably undervalued right now.

One stock I’ve been tracking is Berkshire Hathaway’s Class B shares (BRK-B). As of this post, it’s floating around $2,830.50/share. I like Buffett’s school of thought. His Class A shares are above the amount I’m willing to invest right now, but Class B is totally doable. With his track record, BRK-B is sure to swing back up again. Same for many other great stocks. (Buy low, sell high!)

Of course, this presupposes that you have the means to be buying right now. A lot of people don’t. If are one of the lucky few who can, take a look at the prices you’re seeing on Craigslist and eBay (EBAY). Some people are unloading lots of high-value products at low prices. An enterprising individual with a discerning eye and a bit of capital could easily scoop up some of these items and sell them at a higher price when the market rebounds. Know what I’m sayin? (Buy low, sell high!)

This recession also means low prices from vendors. Small business owners should definitely advantage of this. Negotiate with your vendors on lower prices, favorable payment plans, and/or lower interest rates. Many businesses are open to negotiation right now. All you have to do is ask. (Buy low, sell high!)

Isn’t this a great time to be an entrepreneur? Ah yes, it sure is.

Photo by: timparkinson

Whatever, I Want a Facebook Username

Facebook Count me in as one of the super-geeky obsessives abuzz over the upcoming Facebook Usernames. And just several precious hours away!

I’ve even got it on my Google Calendar. heh.

There is some contention over these Facebook Usernames though, most notably by Chris Messina. He argues, and rightfully so, that usernames as URLs can be problematic. There is a limited universe of possible usernames out there, so collisions are inevitable. I know I’m not the only Mike Lee drooling over getting “facebook.com/mikelee”, for instance.

It is also going to spark a land-grab (username-grab?) for a vanity URL, unless you are a journalist. But this is nothing new. A similar thing happened on Twitter and other social media tools. And with domain names.

Imagine all the hair Messina’s pulled out over these cases. His bathtub drain must be all clogged up.

Personally, I think only a relatively small number of people in the world care about this. Geeks like me, for instance. And purported “social media experts” (FYI: calling yourself that is a sure sign that you are NOT an expert).

I also wonder how today’s youth views usernames. Anecdotally, I’ve heard that teens may have anywhere from 2-5 email addresses, instant messenging accounts, and social network accounts at any given time. I don’t think they place the same premium we old geeks do on usernames.

Perhaps a username to them is like underwear – a new one is fresh and exciting, but a bit stiff. After a while, it becomes nice and comfortable. Over time, it gets old, stained, and full of holes. So you (hopefully) toss it out. Then you get a new pair and start the process all over again. Natch.

iPhone 3GS: The Next Handheld Gaming Platform?

I wonder if this is the start of something new. Apple (AAPL)’s newly announced iPhone 3GS will have OpenGL ES 2.0 support, a 600 MHz processor and 256 MB of RAM.

Contrast that to Sony’s (SNE) latest PSP 3000: a 333 MHz processor and 64 MB of RAM. I’m not sure how it compares to OpenGL ES 2.0, anyone know? I’m also not entirely sure if these are the right specs to be comparing; if I’m wrong, please let me know.

To be honest, I’m not much of a gamer. I’ve never owned a PSP, Nintendo (NTDOY.PK) GameBoy or anything like that. But I know the handheld gaming market is huge. If Apple enters as a viable competitor, Sony and Nintendo are going to have some interesting times ahead.

I know, I know. The iPhone is much different than a traditional handheld gaming console with its buttons and controls, but perhaps game manufacturers will find a niche that works with a touch screen. Who knows?

There’s some evidence of this already. id Software and Escalation Studios recently announced Doom Resurrection for the iPhone. (BFG FTW!) No word yet on how you play the game – I assume you tap the screen to shoot the monsters? Looks interesting though.

Doom 3

John Carmack, co-founder and CTO of id Software had this to say about developing on the iPhone 3G (NOTE: not the 3GS):

I love the iPhone. It’s a real game platform, not a tiny little toy.

If you look at it in raw hardware horsepower, the iPhone should be better in performance than the Nintendo DS and the PlayStation Portable. But the truth is, you can’t exploit it all because of software inefficiencies.

I wonder how he’ll feel once he ports Doom Resurrection onto the 3GS. Carmack also mentioned that he will be speaking with Apple about improving the iPhone for game development. If Apple takes his advice and starts discussions with other game developers, well…

Methinks the future of the iPhone 3GS as a handheld gaming platform looks bright! (SPISPOPD lives!)

Developing for Palm webOS

palm pre The tech world is abuzz with the Palm Pre.

But what about developing for Palm’s webOS? I haven’t seen as much news about that platform yet. For web software developers like my agency and I, that’s what we really want to hear about.

Google Search (GOOG) to the rescue. A quick search netted me some useful information. I’ve collected it together here to offer a pre-view (har!) of developing for webOS.

Palm Pre webOS Technologies for Developers

webOS is comprised of the following developer-relevant technologies:

  • Operating system based on Linux 2.6
    • Device services (telephone, touch-screen, address book, etc)
  • UI System Manager
    • WebKit layout engine
    • DOM Level 2 event model and custom events
    • HTML5 and local storage capabilities
    • Custom DOM elements with an “x-mojo-element” attribute
    • CSS
    • JavaScript
    • Mojo Application Framework, an MVC, JavaScript-based framework
    • Prototype JavaScript library
    • Other UI services (navigation, event management, local and web searches, etc)
  • webOS Services
    • Service APIs with access to hardware capabilities (GPS, camera, audio/video player, etc) using JSON

Want to see some sample code? webOShelp.net has some. It will give you a glimpse at a sample app, though it’s difficult to do much without an emulator. According to Palm, an emulator will be coming out with the Palm Mojo SDK, along with an Eclipse-based IDE.

A great technical overview is also available at the Palm Developer Network. They posted the first chapter of the upcoming book Palm webOS: Developing Applications in JavaScript Using the Palm Mojo Framework. Much of the info I gathered was from this free chapter.

Pandora Internet Radio’s Chief Technical Officer Tom Conrad also gave an interview about their experience developing their Palm webOS app. There are some useful insights there too.

And finally – and thankfully, Palm has declared that they will not have the same restrictions in their App Catalog as Apple does for their iTunes Store. No funky and inconsistent approval processes, just lots of apps. They’ll police the catalog a bit to weed out the most egregious offenders, but that’s about it (so they say). Cool beans.

P.S. I may be attending preDevCamp at either San Francisco or Los Angeles. Interested in going too?