iPhone Dev: Limited WebOS SDK hinders serious app, game development

Saturday, July 18, 2009 1:22

palm pre back iPhone Dev: Limited WebOS SDK hinders serious app, game development The WebOS might be as easy on the eyes as it is on your fingers, but the newest mobile operating system from Palm (NSDQ: PALM) has a way to go before it can compete with the iPhone in graphics-heavy WebOS apps. The problem, apparently, is that WebOS Mojo SDK just isn’t robust enough for games or applications that rely on eye-catching graphics. There’s also a problem with slow accelerometer monitoring that limits the Palm Pre’s accelerometer support to simple tasks, like auto screen rotations.

iPhone developer Craig A. Hunter explains in a blog post that his initial excitement for the WebOS Mojo SDK’s public release was quickly tempered when he realized that graphics and accelerometer support were basically useless for “serious games,” adding that even “simpler [iPhone] apps” require more powerful graphics support. The recently launched WebOS SDK just doesn’t provide access to OpenGL graphics. Despite the Palm Pre’s hardware support for OpenGL ES, the limited WebOS SDK will keep more advanced apps from hitting the App Catalog.

Then there’s the issue of the SDK limiting accelerometer sampling rates to a drippy 4Hz (4 times per second). Hunter explains that the sampling rate might be good enough for simple screen orientation rotations, but more advanced apps that analyze vehicle dynamics or games that require tilt-control can’t make do with 4Hz accelerometer data. ” Accelerometer support in the webOS is suitable for detecting basic movement of the phone for interface rotation, but that’s about it,” says Hunter.

On the other hand, the iPhone itself was limited to basic web-apps when it first launched. Web-apps were supposed to replace the need for native applications, but without more intimate access to certain hardware, web-apps would always be limited to delivering basic information. As it stands, the WebOS Mojo SDK makes developing for the WebOS platform almost as easy as building a web page. The apps currently available in the App Catalog are impressively designed and boast solid features.

In time, Palm will probably build support for OpenGL and faster accelerometer sampling rates. Until then, we’ll have to make do with slick apps like AP Times, mobile by CitySearch and Tweed.

[Via: BusinessInsider]

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