By matt buchanan Palm WebOS 2.0: Now This Is MultitaskingWebOS 2.0. It's really happening, and it's coming soon. Amidst the turmoil and the headlines and the doom-dropping, Palm's been busy: WebOS 2.0 looks like it'll be better than the original in basically every way. Right now, Palm's only talking about the new developer features, but you definitely can start to get a sense of what the new user features are. It's clear they've thought deeply about how to extend the OS and make it more powerful, which is the main focus of the new developer tools and features. So, here's what's new, in a nutshell. • Stacks • Just Type • Developers can tap Synergy • Exhibition • HTML5, Javascript Services and PDK Plug-ins The new PDK architecture means devs will be able to use Palm's PDK like a true plug-in, so apps can mix web technologies and C/C++, which'll let an app be written with mostly lightweight web stuff but still run heavy duty graphics (also, Palm says, it'll be easier for devs to port apps, like from iOS). HTML5 support is a big deal for WebOS, since most apps are written with web technologies. What Palm's bringing to the table is enhanced Canvas support (including image data and gradients), web storage support (local and session storage) and geolocation support and application cache, so websites can cache stuff on the phone for offline use. Finally, Node.js is built into webOS 2.0, so devs can develop services in JavaScript, which makes the web technologies side of webOS 2.0 stronger. As part of the new webOS 2.0 APIs, it adds more background processing and other capabilities, like low-level networking and filesystem access, so even sticking with web languages to develop a webOS app, developers will have more firepower at their fingertips. Palm isn't getting into the consumer side of webOS 2.0 yet, but based on the developer stuff, which looks pretty good, it could be interesting, to say the least. It's coming out by the end of the year for current devices—now Palm just needs a pair of ass-beating new phones to ship this on. [Palm] | August 31st, 2010 Top Stories |
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