Developers await Palm Pre SDK

The much-anticipated Palm Pre smartphone will be available from Sprint on June 6, but Palm has remained quiet about when the software development kit will be generally available for the device.

Palm is accepting applications from developers to test-drive the SDK, said Leslie Letts, Palm representative. But she did not know how many developers actually have had access. "We've always said as we get closer to availability, we'd share more detains on when the SDK would be public," Letts said Tuesday.

[ In an effort to create mobile app dev unity, The Eclipse Foundation unveiled Pulsar, a multi-vendor development platform. ]

But a couple of developers interviewed said they have been unable to get it.

"Basically, we started a Palm Pre users group down here, and unfortunately, Palm hasn't been very forthcoming in getting us a lot of details on where the SDK is going," said Charles Taylor, of the Southern California Palm preMongers user group.

"We need the SDK so we know what we have access to on the phone," such as database and GPS capabilities, Taylor said.

Without the kit, Taylor said he has been developing for Pre using HTML 5-compliant browsers. HTML 5 backing is specification featured in Pre. Taylor said he also has been working with early drafts of a book on Palm Pre's webOS to get acquainted with the device.

Previously available only to a select group of partners, the kit was to be provided to a broader set of partners as part of an April 1 announcement.  But Taylor said he has signed up for the early access program for the SDK and heard nothing from Palm. "Whoever's gotten it that must be a very select group," he said. Taylor said access to the phone itself has been restricted, too.

"[Shipment of the device] is less than a month out, a few weeks now, and we still haven't gotten any word on when the SDK is going to be available or what development environments will be available for the SDK," Taylor said. He said he is developing an application for Pre that would use GPS and track parking spaces in the Los Angeles area.

In explaining the limited access, the Palm Developer Network Web site said the company was still working on developer resources.

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