Palm Pre News: First Independent App, Secret Konami Code

You have to wait until a phone gets into the hands of everyday people before we learn all the gritty details about it. And of course, the phone has to be available to DIY enthusiasts before you start seeing mods and independently produced apps. Just days after the Palm Pre was released, we're starting to see all of that.



First, a blast from the past. When the ROM for the WebOS system was leaked, some clever guys found that the Palm Pre actually responds to the famous Konami Code. Typing "upupdowndownleftrightleftrightbastart" in the launcher screen will bring up a hidden app called the "Developer Mode Enabler."

The hidden app is used to connect a Pre to a maching running the Mojo SDK for WebOS, so a lot of developers will be using it. See it in the video at the end of this post.

Speaking of apps, the leaked ROM has also resulted in the first homemade app (one not made by the developer). It's nothing spectacular, only noteworthy for being the first. It simply says "Hello World!" when activated (seen in first image at beginning of the post). However, it does herald the coming of thousands (presumably) of other independently produced apps when the WebOS SDK is officially released. This is just the beginning, folks.



For more on the Pre and its competitors, see the smartphone review site. If you just want more tech news, stick with the blog:

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