Guide: Coming (Back) to webOS in 2014, Part 1

** PLEASE NOTE: Following the closure of the HP app catalogue, instructions in this article involving the HP servers are no longer relevant and have been crossed out. **


So, you’ve decided to get yourself a “new” webOS-powered smartphone (or dig one out of the closet)! Let me be the first to welcome you to the family. We have suffered some blows recently, with HP finally shutting down app catalog purchases as of November 1, 2014, and closing down the Palm Profile servers as of April 15, 2015. But all of the devices and other services will continue to work, and many developers are making their apps available through homebrew channels.

We believe this is still the most intuitive and easiest to use mobile platform, and we still have the greatest community dedicated to keeping it that way!

This guide is the first in a series of guides that will help you get started with your new webOS smartphone, as there have been a few changes to the ecosystem since the official manuals were written. This guide focuses on getting your webOS smartphone activated and ready to use. Later guides will cover optimizing your device, available apps, and some interesting things that you can do which were never covered by the official documentation.

Continue reading Guide: Coming (Back) to webOS in 2014, Part 1

HP to Shut Down Catalog and Cloud Services

Mark your calendars for January 15th, 2015. It’s the day that HP will officially end the HP App Catalog and cloud services for webOS. How do I know? They put up a banner here. That’s it. No tweet. No blog. Just a banner and a FAQ.

This doesn’t mean you can’t continue to use your webOS phone after that date. In preparation for the shutdown, here are a few things to do:

Continue reading HP to Shut Down Catalog and Cloud Services

News Crumbs – 11th October 2014

Knocking back Antoccinos is best with a few pastries so there are some crumbs to sweep out:

  • Another nod to the simplicity of LG’s TV interface with a recognition from the Red Dot Design Award at IFA.
  • RSS Reader app, Feedspider seeks translation help. Can you translate 112 strings of text into Bengali, Breton, Italian, Portuguese or Tamil?
  • It seems forum user, 1whocs has got the Android on Veer project working. Instructions are here.
  • Grabber5.0 has identified another minor issue with gmail. Check your settings.
  • Hedami has released an update for location-based reminder app, Geostrings.
  • Retro-styled puzzle adventure game, Aquaventure has an update.
  • Both the apps above were released on the forums as app catalogue approval appears to have become extremely slow…
  • Finally, October 20th sees an HTML5 developer conference featuring an appearance from Enyo’s Roy Sutton discussing JavaScript on TV.

That’s it until the next toaster notification!

Chicago WebOS Meetup September 28th, 2014

Main image: From left: Sara, Chad, Keith and Marc. (Not pictured – George)

Here is a report from George Mari:

“Just for some background, we have been having our Chicago WebOS Meetup at the same local restaurant, Moretti’s in Schaumburg, IL, every 6 to 8 weeks, since August of 2011. Well, OK, some of the Meetups have been at other restaurants, but the vast majority have been here. I don’t remember what our record attendance was in the past, but I’ve been at several meetups where we’ve had at least 12 people. More recently the numbers have been down to about 4 or 6.

We usually order some food and drinks, and just talk about what’s been going on in the world of webOS, which sometimes in the past, was way too much to fit into one night of discussion!
Continue reading Chicago WebOS Meetup September 28th, 2014

Next LuneOS stable release available: Antoccino

Without further delay, you can find the newest LuneOS stable builds here.  This release is code-named Antoccino and is the second stable release following our initial release named Affogato. Yes, there are other devices in the build folder which are available, however, the Nexus 4 and HP TouchPad are still the only two devices officially supported at this time. Test the other builds AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Please note that the installation instructions for the TouchPad have changed.  You must recreate the partition LuneOS requires for installation. We recommend using the webOS app, Tailor, because it is the easiest method. This is in preparation for a forthcoming semi-automated installation procedure. We’ll discuss those details when the product is ready for testing but for now just follow the guide.

We’ve made quite a few changes and will release the full changelog soon you can read the major ones here.

As a reminder, there are three things we need and want from you as a tester:

1. Sign up for the bug tracker

2. Get involved and

3. Join the mailing list

Don’t forget to contact us with any questions and feel free to join the discussion on the webOS Nation forums. Also, continue spreading the word!

Image: http://www.wallpaperpics.net

webOS News, Tips, and Tricks