Palm: WebOS PDK released as public beta; ready for games!

The handset manufacturer and mobile WebOS editor has announced the public beta release of their PDK (Plug-In Development Kit) for WebOS. This should allow for accelerated development of complex applications, notably games.

WebOS, the Palm platform unveiled in January 2009, continues to evolve and become more open to developers. After the SDK (development kit) allowing for the creation of applications using Web technologies like CSS, XHTML and JavaScript, now its the PDK (Plug-In Development Kit) which has been made available in the form of a public beta to all developers.

This will allow modules to be created in the C and C++ languages, with it then being possible to merge these through the SDK so that the applications will be WebOS compatible. The interest in the PDK is that it will provide access to new possibilities, notably 3D graphics, allowing the creation and transplant of complex mobile games to the system, while also bringing the WebOS platform in line with other mobile operating systems.


The large mobile editors present on WebOS
Some editors have been provided with a preliminary version of the PDK, opening up the development of the first game transports of well known licenses, and other leading games like Asphalt 5 from Gameloft, Glyder 2 by Glu Mobile, Need for Speed Undercover from EA Mobile and X-Plane (a 3D aerial simulation) from Laminar Research.

A dozen releases were presented during the CES 2010 show with more than 20 titles from the largest editors now being available on WebOS, with interest being shown proving to be greater than what has been seen on their own mobile applications portal.

This should help increase interest in the Palm Pré and Pixi Smartphone’s, with the first of these to come with WebOS to soon be made available in France by the carrier SFR who have launched a mobile applications development competition for the occasion.