May 28th, 2009
Palm webOS touts iTunes sync, Twitter search, App Catalog
Palm announced today at The Wall Street Journal’s D: All Things Digital conference never-before revealed features of the its webOS platform, including “media sync,” the integration of Twitter in universal search, and a beta version of its App Catalog.
The new features will be ready in time for the $199 Pre smartphone’s June 6 launch.
Palm Media Sync
Palm says its “Media Sync” synchronizes seamlessly with iTunes, allowing the user to transfer DRM-free music, photos and videos to a webOS device (such as the Palm Pre).
The feature allows the Pre to act as a mass storage drive, letting the user “side-load” media content. Once connected to a computer using the USB cable, the smartphone will appear as a drive on the computer desktop. The user can drag and drop music, photos or video files onto a Pre, or drag files from a Pre to the computer.
Twitter in Universal Search
Palm also announced that Twitter search is integrated into the webOS “universal search,” which aggregates searches across multiple applications. Universal search uses Twitter’s search service to sort through real-time current events and news, the company says, and you don’t have to be a Twitter user to search the microblogging service.
App Catalog
Finally, a beta version of the App Catalog will be available on Pre at launch and will feature applications from developers such as AP News, Citysearch, Fandango (which was first shown in a video several weeks ago), Pandora and uLocate, the company says.
One example is Fandango’s webOS application, which uses “Palm Synergy” and Pre’s location-based services to find theaters nearby, allow the user to watch trailers, buy tickets, add showtimes to a calendar and get directions. Another app is Pandora, a music streaming service that can run in the background while the user uses other applications.
Andrew J. Nusca is an associate editor for ZDNet and SmartPlanet.
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