Currently, mobile entrepreneurs wishing to hawk their wares on the Pre (or Pixi, or unnamed webOS device of the future) use a software development kit from Palm called Mojo, a stack of Java-based tools that must be installed, studied, understood, loved, and respected before serious development can get underway. Palm sees that as a barrier of entry for web-oriented developers who want to make the leap to mobile apps, though, which is why they've crafted a new SDK called Ares that's based entirely on web technologies -- in fact, there's no install at all, apparently. Much of the interface is said to be drag-and-drop with enough JavaScript exposed to make your local .com designer feel right at home, potentially opening the app landscape to a whole new set of folks -- and considering that the App Catalog is tens of thousands of goodies behind the App Store and Android Market, they can use every loyal dev they get.

Well, things just got interesting. The very evening of the App Catalog's launch of paid apps, Palm has made a very different kind of announcement: it's going to let developers skip out on the App Catalog if they so choose. Devs will be able to submit an app to Palm, who will turn around and give them a URL for open distribution of the app over the web -- without a review process getting in the way! The App Catalog will still exist for those who want to use it of course, with a $50 entrance fee to get an app inside -- and we're guessing it'll remain the only way to distribute paid apps -- but the new URL distribution should decentralize things just a little bit. In other good news, Palm will be dropping the $99 annual developer fee for folks building open source apps, and hopefully that free ride applies to App Catalog entry as well, though now there's web distribution to make it less of a sticking point. Palm's also going to open up its analytic data to developers, and even is giving away Pres and Touchstones to the audience members of the little shindig privy to this announcement -- clearly the company is making a strong play for developers, and who doesn't like to be loved?

[Thanks, Lawrence]

And with that, Google has released the SDK for Android 1.6, a.k.a. "Donut." Developers can go nuts over the fine-tunings of it, but the takeaway for the consumer is that it allows Android devices to run on CDMA and in different resolutions and screen sizes -- should help to vary up the options currently available. Additionally, the update will add QuickSearch à la webOS for scavenging through contacts, apps, and the internet in one text field, as we saw back at Google I/O, a text-to-speech API with translation capabilities, and that revamped market we spied earlier this month. Most interesting is an one-off line that from the official developer blog that says, "you can expect to see devices running Android 1.6 as early as October." That October launch applies to quite a number of upcoming Android handsets -- Sprint Hero, Motorola CLIQ, possibly even the InstinctQ and a Verizon-bound Sholes all fit the bill quite nicely. Want to see more of the new update in action? Video of +10 adorableness after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Remember back when Sony introduced Rolly to stunned silence followed by a protracted effort to determine exactly what the hell it was, an effort that arguably continues to this very day? Yep, that's kind of where we're at right now with the Zii EGG, and nothing in the SDK documentation we've received today -- the same documentation paying developers are just now getting -- is helping us flesh that out. We can tell you that it's well-equipped -- there are proximity sensors and accelerometers on board, it's got native support for Flash Lite, voice recognition, and 3D acceleration and it'll eventually have support for Creative's X-Fi audio tech -- but really, that's like saying "the Rolly is well-equipped." What does it mean?

Here's what we do know: out of the gate, it seems the EGG will only be running Creative's homegrown Plaszma OS, though Android support is forthcoming. The Plaszma SDK is being rolled out in three phases spanning the rest of 2009, and some pretty important stuff -- Bluetooth support, for example -- won't even be available to developers until the third phase, which is a pretty strong indication that Zii-powered products intended for consumer consumption probably won't be around in time for the holidays. For the moment, there isn't any indication on when devs will have access to Android support libraries, which we think might be where Zii's true value lies, because let's be honest -- the world realistically doesn't need another target platform for mobile.

Interestingly, Creative is using Zii to actively target China-based devs that it says "may not have brands but have an insatiable appetite for ready-to-go technologies, and can adapt these technologies very quickly to new market opportunities" (in other words, KIRFers) through its "Shanzai program," a mix of prototype boards and support packages that it says will help small businesses bring products to market faster. If that means we can get the next great N97 clone running Android in record time, we're all for it. Check out the full Plaszma SDK roadmap in the gallery below.

[Thanks, Joe]

Now that Samsung's standardized on the TouchWiz interface across its entire touchscreen line -- dumbphone and smartphone alike -- they've created a fertile playground that offers developers the opportunity to reach a good chunk of the world's second largest phone manufacturer's devices. A dedicated software development kit for TouchWiz is now available direct from Samsung, and since your average code monkey doesn't necessarily have access to fifteen different phones running multiple versions of every platform Sammy supports, they're also offering up their Virtual Device Lab that'll let devs test their wares on everything the company has on tap. For distribution, Samsung will have a number of channels available: its Application Store, a new Widget Gallery that'll premiere on Verizon's Omnia II launching later this year, and -- perhaps most tantalizingly for developers -- the possibility of inclusion right in the frickin' ROM if Samsung really loves what you've done. Considering that you're targeting S60, WinMo, and a wealth of proprietary OS devices in one fell swoop, this could end up being a huge distribution channel.

Palm's webOS has never been a platform to stir the interest of the casual gamer. While there are many advantages to being built around HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, those tools don't excite game developers who need direct access to advanced graphics hardware to render animations smoothly. Unfortunately, as described by Craig A. Hunter, a self proclaimed "pretty dedicated iPhone developer" who's been poking around the WebOS SDK, Palm does not provide the environment to develop serious games or the kind of sophisticated apps users now expect from their handhelds. Chief among his concerns is lack of OpenGL access despite the hardware supporting it. Palm also limits devs to a 4Hz sampling of raw accelerometer data, far short of the 20Hz minimum required for games utilizing tilt control. In his summation:

With such amazing software capabilities flourishing on the iPhone, Palm can't afford to wait a year while they make the transition from web apps to native apps in their SDK. Palm might have had a chance against the 2007 Apple SDK, but not the 2009 version. Not even close. With this limitation, webOS will not be taken seriously by consumers who place importance on games or sophisticated third party apps.

Of course Palm, now with its deep Apple roots isn't blind to the issue. In fact, the kids at PreCentral have uncovered a Palm job listing from June 29th seeking Game Frameworks Engineers who will "design, implement, debug, and optimize frameworks for game development." So while the beta release of the webOS SDK might be limited, we'll key on the word beta for now. Remember, Super Monkey Ball wasn't built in a day -- it took a bit more than 365 of them before being offered after the launch of the original iPhone.

Read -- Craig A. Hunter
Read -- Palm game engineer listing

Success! For all you developers hankering to get in on the webOS and Pre action (or at least see the action), your wishes have come true. Today Palm announced on its corporate blog that it would be making the Mojo SDK beta and accompanying documentation available to anyone who is interested... effective immediately. Furthermore, the company says it will begin taking submissions for new applications in the fall -- so if you're planning on getting something in, it's time to start cranking. For those of you haven't already torrented the previously available leak of the kit (or just want some real docs), this news should be music to your ears... er, eyes. Well what are you waiting for? Get downloading!

Read - Palm blog post
Read - Palm's developer site

Sony already announced its intentions to bring more developers to the PSP platform at the big E3 gaming show last month. And the move to simplify its development tools was seen as a hint of new PSP applications beyond games. Now Develop has laid bare Sony's PSP development strategy as explained by Zeno Colaço, Sony's head of developer relations. According to Zeno, over 50 studios are working on "new kinds of games and applications" that will be sold via a "specially-branded separate area" of the PlayStation Store accessible by PSP and PSPgo owners. In effect, Sony is going after the kind of "snackable content" made popular by Apple's App Store -- inexpensive games and apps that can be downloaded in less than a minute for immediate gratification -- according to Subatomic Studio's Ash Monif. In fact, Subatomic, best known for its massive App Store hit, Fieldrunners, is developing a PSP-exclusive version of its tower defense game. Unlike Apple, however, Sony is charging for its PSP SDK in a bid to keep things, uh hem, "professional," as Zeno calls it.

[Thanks, Calvin H.]

Confirming the theory that one day soon everything will have an app store of some kind, Verizon has launched its Widget Bazaar for FiOS TV, dedicated to bringing new interactive experiences to FiOS TV subscribers, starting with Facebook, Twitter, and ESPN Fantasy Football. Don't expect to tap out 140 character missives via remote for now, at launch viewers can only view tweets, not post them or log in to their own accounts, although updating Facebook status and personalized ESPN Fantasy Football info is available. Verizon has promised to publish its SDK to enable "open development" (limited to a select group of developers of course) which should bring many free & for-pay apps to join the current (free) offerings by year-end. Also made official is the addition of searching and viewing video from blip.tv, Dailymotion and Veoh, plus the long awaited ability to stream personal videos from a connected PC, available free of charge to Home Media DVR customers. No word yet on what codecs the updated Home Media Manager software will support for transcoding to MPEG-2 and streaming to the set-top box so keep those MKVs holstered for now and check a few screens of the apps in action in our gallery or a quick video walkthrough embedded after the break.

Update: Verizon let us know it will support FLV, WMV, MPEG-1, AVI, MPG, PM4/M4V, 3GP/3G2

Unless you have a developer account with Apple, don't bother plugging your iPhone into iTunes -- we promise you're not going to have access to it -- but devs can now get their grubby paws on beta 2 of iPhone OS 3.1. We'll let you know if we see anything crazy, like usable Gmail, true background applications, or a notification UI that doesn't make you want to throw the phone against a very hard surface at high velocity.

Update: Looks like Apple has closed the door on hacks that enable tethering in this release -- at least for AT&T according to early reports.

Update 2: We've just been informed that beta 2 also introduces what appears to be a public API for manipulating live video. Devs are still testing the capabilities but it could open the door for augmented reality applications like Layar to come to the iPhone 3GS.

A day earlier than expected, Microsoft has launched its third edition of Silverlight and its SDK. As Ars Technica notes, some of the bigger improvements on the user side are GPU hardware acceleration and new codec support including H.264, AAC, and MPEG-4. If you're looking to give it a spin, there's a Smooth Streaming demo available that, as the name suggests, does a pretty good job of streaming HD video with little stutter, even when skipping around. If you've got Firefox 2, Internet Explorer 6, Safari 3 or anything fresher, hit up the read link to get the update.

[Via Ars Technica]

Read - Download Page
Read - Smooth Streaming demo

Your fancy new iPhone OS 3.0 starting to look a bit long in the tooth? Heads up, Apple's now sending out the beta OS 3.1 and its SDK to the developer community to finagle with. We're still looking to see what's been changed here, so for now, if you're someone who needs the Latest and Greatest and happens to have the right access, download away!

Update: Still tinkering, but we've seen a new "Save a Copy" option for 3G S video editing that lets you retain the original film while saving an edited clip (picture after the break, thanks Kevin), as well as some reports of MMS being activated, but it seems to stall before actually being sent out over AT&T's network.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Palm has done its darnedest to keep the riffraff away from webOS development while it finishes up its Mojo SDK for webOS development, but the floodgates have finally opened with an opportune leak of Mojo to Torrent-vill. Naturally, Palm will still be locking out unapproved developers from releasing their creations to the App Catalog for the time being, but this should hopefully give the everyman a chance to hone apps in anticipation of a day of approval -- and should really beef up the homebrew community in the meantime. The other good news is that Palm is actually adding developers to its "early access program" at a fairly rapid pace, announcing that it doubled its membership this week, and plans to double it again next week. It's all coming together.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: The original leak was strictly Windows-style, but PreThinking notes that it's available for Mac now as well.

There have been no shortage of custom apps hitting the Pre already, including a number of old favorites, but all have required a little bit of roto-rooting ahead of time to lay the groundwork for such non-authorized code. That might change in the very near future thanks to the work of a trio of dedicated deviant coders going by the handles xorg, simplyflipflops, and Shaya Potter. Over the span of just a few days they managed to figure out how to package and sign custom apps in such a way that anything can be installed on a completely stock phone -- the only catch is they're waiting to see what Palm has to say about it before they release a full how-to. Since the company has its own plans of making most developers wait at least a few months before setting them free we can't imagine the response is going to be: "This is totally awesome, please tell the world our secrets." But, we'd be happy to be wrong.

[Thanks, Bo]