Palm Pre launching with Google Search, Google Maps, and YouTube

As mobile technology geeks, we're really excited to see a new smartphone launch from our friends at Palm. Palm Pre phone's webOS works great with Google Search, Google Maps, and YouTube, which are built into the device. You can also easily sync your Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Contacts to Palm Pre.

We're big fans of Palm Pre phone's universal search feature. Just start typing a query from the home screen (no need to launch the browser). If your query doesn’t match any contact info or the name of an application on your phone, you’ll be prompted to search either the web with Google, local places on Google Maps, articles on Wikipedia, or Twitter.



What's neat about launching Google Maps in this way is that it will use your location to conduct a search for nearby businesses and points of interest (if you choose to allow Location Services, of course). Similar to some other mobile phones, Google Maps is built into Palm Pre phone's operating system -- you'll notice a Google Maps icon amongst the phone's built-in applications. However, the implementation of Google Maps on Palm Pre is actually very different from how we built Maps on platforms like Android or BlackBerry. Palm is calling its operating system webOS for good reason -- all applications running on webOS leverage a WebKit-based rendering engine for content, which made it easy to port Google Maps to the platform. You can use familiar Google Maps features such as My Location, local search, driving directions, and traffic.



Palm Pre also includes a YouTube application that Palm built using Palm’s Native application MoJo SDK, and much like a web app, it uses HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. YouTube on Palm Pre makes it easy to watch your favorite videos. When you play a video, it auto-rotates to landscape orientation to take full advantage of the phone's screen.



Palm Pre wouldn't be complete without productivity functions and we're happy to report that Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Contacts work well on the device. Simply enter your account name and password and Palm Pre will sync your email, calendar events, and contacts to the device. Palm Pre supports the IMAP IDLE protocol so you can enjoy push Gmail.

This is just the beginning for Google applications on Palm Pre. The good news is that since our applications are built using web standards along with Palm's MoJo SDK, we can iterate quickly and provide new functionality, often without requiring you to install anything new. We look forward to rolling out new features for our mobile applications at a rapid clip.

Update 6/8/09, 05:04pm - If you're interested in learning how to set up your Pre with your Gmail, Google Mail or Google Apps for Your Domain account, please visit our help center to learn more.

Posted by by Stefan Haustein and Mat Balez

Introducing the orkut Mobile App

About a year ago, we introduced the orkut mobile site to help everyone on orkut stay in touch on the go with scraps, status updates, and photo viewing. Shortly after that, we optimized the orkut mobile experience for S60 phones, allowing photo uploads and click-to-call features. Now, we're excited to introduce the first downloadable orkut mobile app, with even more features to keep you connected to your orkut friends and phone contacts.

The orkut Mobile App, available for most Java-enabled devices, offers some fun new ways to interact:

- Take a photo on your phone and upload it right to your orkut album.
- Share photos with orkut friends or SMS the photos to phone contacts not yet on orkut.
- Call or SMS any of your orkut friends or phone contacts without leaving the app.
- View scraps, updates from friends, and photo albums in offline mode.

    

 

Of course, you'll still have all the features of orkut mobile at your fingertips, including writing/reading scraps, updating your status, searching for users, viewing/accepting friend requests, and more!

To install the beta version of the app, visit m.google.com/orkut on your phone. While the app is free to download and use, your mobile provider's regular data charges will apply. Check out more details in our help center, and feel free to leave feedback about your orkut mobile experience in the orkut Help Forum.

Hope to see you in orkut soon, and don't forget to keep your orkut profile updated with your mobile number!

Posted by Robin Norvell, Google Mobile Consumer Operations

Exhibition Seminars and Talks

In addition to the conference sessions, workshops and tutorials, there are many short practical and application specific seminars and talks happening this year on the exhibition floor. The largest is the MicroApps which will have its own forum area at the front of the exhibition hall and will be presenting the technology behind commercial products and their capabilities. It is being run by Agilent and has a good number of test and measurement talks along with others being presented by participating companies.

M/A-COM Technology Solutions is running 10 minute Tech Talks in their booth (2214) covering various subjects such as PIN diodes and switches, Frac-N synthesizers, amplifiers and other design tips.

Peregrine (booth 1822) is also doing a daily series of seminars about their unique products and technologies that come out of their UltraCMOS RFIC process. Their antenna tuning technology using digitally tunable capacitors looks very interesting.

Join Sonnet Software�s experts at Booth #1002 for free 20 minute in-booth, hands-on classes to learn about Sonnet Suites Version 12, including Sonnet Lite and Sonnet�s seamless integration to AWR�s Microwave Office, Agilent�s ADS and Cadence Virtuoso. All participants will receive a free copy of Sonnet LitePlus (a $495 value).

I am sure there are more we have not heard about yet. Let us know if your company is doing any seminars or talks at the exhibition this year.