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HP Announces webOS Weekly App Hack

By: , 10/4/2011 5:42 pm | 29 comments

Want proof that webOS is not dead – at least not in HP’s eyes?  HP announced a new mini-hackaton type thing today called the webOS Weekly App Hack, a weekly contest for developers.  For the next few weeks and usually on Wednesday, HP’s developer blog will post a weekly theme and a bit of code to get developers’ “creative juices flowing”.

Developers will have one week to develop an app based on that theme/code.  Entries must be submitted to the App Catalog no later than 11:59PM PST, 7 days after the theme is started (If it comes out on Wednesday, it’ll be due by 11:59pm the following Tuesday night).

It is important to note that along with an App Catalog submission, developers must also email apphack _at_ palm _dot_ com their app redirect link and any extra information they want to share.  This must also be done by 11:59pm.

The following Friday, the developer Relations team will announce the winner of the App Hack.  Winners will get a blog post deidicated to them, their app, and for the first week of the Hack, a 32 GB Touchpad.

You can read the full blog post below or at our source link.  This announcement clearly shows that HP is doing everything they can to push webOS development forward, except of course providing a hardware platform to push it forward on.  All we’ll say is if the first couple of weeks of the App Hack are themed around printer applications, we’ll be less than enthusiastic [Ha! -Ed].

Looking for an opportunity to flex your webOS skills on a new app, but need a bit of inspiration to get your creative juices flowing? We’ve got the answer for you. For the next few weeks, we’re going to hold weekly, virtual, mini-hackathons around some cool aspects of webOS development you may not be familiar with yet.

Interested? Here’s how it works:

1) We announce the theme of the Weekly App Hack on the Developer Relations blog and post a bit of relevant code to help you do something fun and interesting with webOS. This will usually be on a Wednesday.

2) Start coding! You will have one week from the day we post the App Hack theme to develop your app and submit it to the App Catalog. This will be due 11:59pm California time on the following Tuesday (if the hackathon started on Wednesday). We will be accepting both new apps as well as incorporation of the theme into existing apps as an improvement.

3) Once you have submitted your app to the app catalog, send an email to [email protected] with your app redirect link and any extra description you want to share with us. This will also be due 11:59pm California time on the following Tuesday (if the hackathon started on Wednesday). Don’t worry, we’ll post the due date and time along with the theme on the Developer Relations blog. Note that you must send us this email for your app to be considered for the hackathon.

4) By the end of the day on Friday, the Developer Relations team will announce the winning app (along with honorable mentions and other entrants).

We have started the webOS Weekly App Hack to encourage our fantastic developer community to think out of the box and develop in some fun and exciting new directions, and to give you a head start by presenting you with new code to work with. We look forward to seeing what comes out of the webOS Weekly App Hack!

Source: HP Developer Blog

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About Adam Doud

Family Man, @DeadTechnology, webOS Ambassador, Geocacher, Baseball/Hockey Fan, All around geek with unrequited love for webOS. Treo 650 -> Centro -> PrePlus -> Pre2 -> Veer -> Pre2 -> Morris, the Panda-Veer -> Andre the Pre3 Co-host to the ChicagowebOSMeetup group - @ChiwebOSMeetup
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  • Fred Marcano

    Best of Luck to our mighty webOS devs everywhere. This proves the great spirit behind this awesome OS. As long as HP continues to support webOS, it will improve it’s chances of acquiring a partner for the hardware. Continued Success webOS.

  • http://sorli.com sorli

    Interesting and I like it. 

    Anyone else notice Gun Bros from Glu Mobile in the catalog now.   Nice and thanks Glu Mobile!  Sorli…

    • Malette

      I agree and it’s a great game.

  • Anonymous

    Proof? Looks more like HP trying some tricks to get app development back up again, which would naturally go down for a dead platform.

    • Dutch

      Ok, your WebOS is dead thing is getting tired. Perhaps it will die, but so long as there are people actively updating and modifying it then it still technically lives (see definitions of dead vs. living anguages). Besides, there are no ‘tricks’ to bring life to something dead. Your point is fair. WebOS may have little chance of surviving, but stop it with the hystrionics and hyperbole.

      • Dutch

        That would be ‘languages’.

      • Anonymous

        I actually googled ‘anguages’. So there.

        • Dutch

          And? Do tell…

    • http://www.facebook.com/GLAzedFAith Joshua Tewell

      Obvious troll is obvious and unnecessary post is unnecessary

      • Guest

        Alright, you can deny seeing HP trying their darndest to spur app development for what it really is.

        • Dutch

          Dude, do even read the posts? No one is ‘denying’ anything. All that was being said was stop repeating the same tired line, particularly when it lacks authenticity as a metaphor. People are allowed to have views critical of WebOS, just be factual, accountable, and reasonably mature. If you need to antagonize others you really should take up residence in a politically-themed forum.

  • Malette

    This is awesome as I’m sure some of our great developers out there may still be waiting for their chance to get ahold of a touchpad. I look forward to supporting new apps in the catalog and best of luck. WebOS lives, it may be injured right now, but I’ll say it again: webOS is not dead.

  • http://twitter.com/JackJacobs_ Jack Jacobs

    If you are a developer and can port over an ioS app at a cost of $10k it seems like a no brainer.  Sell ten thousand copies through webOS at $5 a piece and make a net $25k once HP takes their cut. Not a bad ROI.

    • http://sorli.com sorli

      Interesting take, but does anyone really believe software porting from IOS to webOS costs $10K bones?   Now I know that is what the developers want to charge, but there’s alot of “Scotty Factor” in those numbers.  Either way, it makes since to me and I love webOS!  Sorli…

  • Abe

    Gah!! Once again my head explodes into confusion…. HP supports the software side of webOS but without hardware to utilize the software?  o,O mad confused…

    • MicahR

      It makes sense when you are trying to sell an ecosystem that you want it to appear alive and well. I’m all for HP keeping momentum with webOS developers.

      • Abe

        I’m all for webOS having momentum and that it keeps growing, except, without hardware for consumers… its difficult to keep the momentum stable and steady… o.O…

        • Dutch

          So true.

  • IamEvilHomer

    I guess it is tp and my pre 3 forATT that I got from ebay. I think that will get me 2 years or so. Come on webos.

    After watchig the Apple hype. Would it be great to have 1/3 of the support on Webos and hood hardware

  • PalmOn

    It’s just mad, mad I tell you.

  • Wahoogirl

    Argh! I want a (Verizon) Pre 3!!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_H7DYR4B3UGUCNY3DJP5CWYPQ4Q Ken

    As a developer I don’t see this as something I’ll get involved in. I have a day job. WebOS programming has been my hobby for the last year. I did 4 apps in that time. I can’t throw something together in a week. And if I could, I doubt it would be a quality app. As a user I’m pulling for WebOS and welcome anything that keeps it alive. But seriously, with no clear plan for future devices, developing for WebOS is a waste of my time.

    • Anonymous

      I’m in the same boat as Ken.  What bother’s me though is that with only a week to work on projects, it’s only going result in a lot of similar, simple (buggy?) programs.  Sounds like HP is trying to inflate their app catalog numbers… quantity over quality.

  • Td

    Yay, iphone coming to sprint! Now I have something to replace my pre- to tide me over for the next three years while HP and Webos get their s*** straight…or don’t.

  • Rob C.

    webOS is dead. Move on.

    • Dutch

      Hello Kettle? This is Pot. You’re black.

    • Pdadude

      Hell No!

    • Jmelgaard

      You first loser.

  • Martin Harborne

    Scrabble for WebOS please