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HP App Catalog apps can’t use Touch To Share (yet), but Homebrew can!

By: , 7/6/2011 4:58 pm | 35 comments

Webos Internals clued us in to a tidbit of news regarding Touch To Share and its ability to pass information between webOS 3.x phones and the TouchPad via a Tweet posted earlier today. We already know that currently only URL’s can be passed through TTS so apps and other media are left out in the cold (for now). However, WebOS Internals discovered that homebrew apps may have the ability to use TTS right now!  While HP App Catalog apps may not be able to take advantage of it due restrictions in code contained in the appinfo.json file, homebrew apps are under no such limitations.

The end result of all this is that homebrew devs will be able to write apps that allow TTS enabled devices (currently the Pre 3) to do some really cool things. What? Not sure what the full capabilities will be, but just sharing a picture between the devices would be cool enough for us.

As for official apps, we know that HP has big plans for Touch To Share so we know this kind of stuff will get in the official SDK at some point. We still have some time before the Pre 3 is released for HP to further enhance TTS to hopefully take advantage of moving media, apps, and the like. It’s just to darn cool of a technology not to do so, don’t you think?

 Source: @webosinternals

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About Jesse Mendoza

Certified Computer Geek by day, WOR contributor & radio DJ by night. Loves indie music, Toyoto FJ Cruisers, and running marathons. He still owns all of his Palm devices and will probably go to the grave with them. Follow him on Twitter @JesseJstreet
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  • Dude

    Hopefully this will become official sooner rather than later. Sharing songs between devices makes for a much cooler tech demo than just sharing websites (especially when neato! can do that just fine).

  • Dude

    Hopefully this will become official sooner rather than later. Sharing songs between devices makes for a much cooler tech demo than just sharing websites (especially when neato! can do that just fine).

  • Anonymous

    It would be cool if you can stream from one device to another.    Also, take a picture with the Pre 3 or any webOS phone and be able to see it on any device using your profile.

  • Chirurgie

    Once fully developed & put into official apps (beyond homebrew), this may be the key feature the average consumer may want that is a distinguishable feature in a tablet.

    For me, it has always been an over hyped feature of being able to share weblinks. But if cool apps or functions becomes available, this will become an exciting feature indeed

  • Otrain

    Awesome. No real need for a camera on the back of the Touchpad once tts for pics is enabled.

  • Anonymous

    once again webos internal have prevailed

  • Steven

    Yah would be cool if you could stream back and forth from devices.. Man hps sloooow against the others…ahhhh

    • Mattstouchpad

      HP has had 1 year in this game with webOS, they bought Palm 1 year to the DAY prior to launching an all new device(2 actually if you count that veer). Not bad if you ask me.

      • http://twitter.com/2254 Michael Marr

        You make it sound like they invented Palm a year ago rather than purchasing an ongoing concern.

        • Leichltierk

          considering Palm’s condition at the time of purchase, it was almost like starting from scratch!

      • Dude

        Actually, their extremely slow pace is pretty bad.

  • http://profiles.google.com/anayagamingllc Jason Buffalo

    For one thing i hope we can do with TTS is push a complete App over to another device with the same profile, 
    i sure i have some ideas with that, also one thing i know for sure is there is no constant connection with TTS, kinda sucks because i was hoping to use a Smartphone as a Controller and the Touchpad as a screen. but they do have to hurry up with the API.

    • http://twitter.com/tsaunders tsaunders

      That would be nice but I will take just the data from one app to the other.  Say Angry Birds on the phone then you can tts your game data.  Would be nice if it was stored in the cloud too.

  • http://Bungie.net TheKingOfHalo

    Great…now we just need a Pre³…

  • PalmOn

    Can someone explain to me what touch-to-share, and NFC for that matter, can do that can’t be done with the old infrared technology, which Palm dropped after the Centro? Thanks.

  • PalmOn

    Can someone explain to me what touch-to-share, and NFC for that matter, can do that can’t be done with the old infrared technology, which Palm dropped after the Centro? Thanks.

    • http://Bungie.net TheKingOfHalo

      Infrared requires you to hold the two devices in the right postition for data transfer, I guess touch-to-share is easier since all it takes is touching the two devices together. I could be wrong though. That’s just my opinion.

      • Mattstouchpad

        TTS uses same technology as touchstone, coils are near the physical “home” button on touchpad. touch the back of the webos phone to the “home” button on touchpad.

        • Alec Barclay

          This is the feature that they need to license. TTS on Nikon or Canon cameras would be great. TTS to a touchpad to view. Or for pro sports photographers – TTS to their phone and send it to the office to go in the paper and up on the website in no time

          • L0c0b0b

            …or on a PRINTER!

    • L0c0b0b

      I had understood that TTS initiates and establishes a real quick Bluetooth(?) connection for a particular protocol, passes the info, and then ends the connection. NFC must be similar but more secure, too? No clue…

  • Netmarshall

    right…don’t quite get the hoopla on TTS…iphone and ipad can do this now (flick contacts, photos, docs, music, whatever) using apps like Mover…if they aren’t going to have a rear camera (or even a camera app?) HP should be supporting this out of the box not just to webos phones but any wifi capable phone.

    • Mattstouchpad

      there are numerous applications/possibilities TTS is capable of.

      • Mattstouchpad

        that “mover” app is nothing different than sending a picture via email or MMS from what I have seen. Or sending a Vcard via MMS. Look at the steps required to utilize that app, its easier to just send the email or vcard, MMS.
        Plus, TTS has its security benefits as well, Messaging and call forwarding to Touchpad require the same profile on both devices, pairing is easier with Bluetooth for the URL transfer, and the devices remember each other, obviously.

      • Mattstouchpad

        that “mover” app is nothing different than sending a picture via email or MMS from what I have seen. Or sending a Vcard via MMS. Look at the steps required to utilize that app, its easier to just send the email or vcard, MMS.
        Plus, TTS has its security benefits as well, Messaging and call forwarding to Touchpad require the same profile on both devices, pairing is easier with Bluetooth for the URL transfer, and the devices remember each other, obviously.

  • Jwdesselle

    I wish I could Touch To Share my wallet to Sprint and actually get a Pre 3!!

  • Mark

    @PalmOn. Yeah infrared is a great feature that I use all of the time. I have pretty much left WebOS because I like Palm OS5 so much better for the PIM of their native apps. Also with an IR keyboard it is almost like having true multitasking. Also I can type on my Centro keyboard and IR to my TX. I just use the Pre + now for wifi connection. One other thing I find lacking on webOS, I cannot move the cursor around the screen using the keyboard. Editing is harder.

    • Dude

      Yes you can move the cursor. Just hold the orange button and you’ll see an arrows overlay on the cursor. Then you can drag it wherever you want.

      • JWalker

        DAMN! I didn’t know that. Now it’s really easy to get ze cursor where I want it. :)

      • Mark

        But you have to drag it. Not much better than trying to touch the exact spot where you want it, and in text boxes where the top of the text is out of sight, you are out of luck.

  • Anonymous

    You guys totally missed a great opportunity to dress the TouchPad up in some MC Hammer-style pants with the caption: “You can’t touch this”.  That would have been the best article graphic ever! :-)

  • http://twitter.com/Rennnat Rennat

    How cool would it be to have a piece of music playing on your Pre3 but you want it to play on the better speakers on the TouchPad. So you just tap the Pre3 on the TouchPad and hand off the music to it and it immediately starts playing it.

  • KarlQ

    Seems to me we’re thinking too small when we want TTS to pass pictures from Pre 3. Much better would be integrated media libraries between phone, tablet, desktop, “cloud”….
    Take picture with web connected Pre and see it appear available on all platforms sharing Palm ID.
    Rules could be setup to migrate media items toward longer term storage over time, accelerated when item called up for viewing/listening/editing on a platform other than the one it is currently on.
    Rules could be set to maintain duplicates for backup / reliability.
    Use lan/wan rather than TTS or bluetooth for greater bandwidth.

  • Betty

    Great NOW if only the battery would last in my Pre esp during geomagnetic storms!

  • Anonymous

    The Nokia N9 has the best TTS I’ve ever seen. You can be playing some audio (video or music or any other audio), and you touch it to a speaker (that’s NFC enabled) and it automatically starts playing the audio on the speaker! Then to stop that and play it on the phone again, just touch again! So simple. So brilliant.