The happiness and excitement of getting a new device – the HP Touchpad 16GB will be coming to the JAMM labs soon.  I’m be trading in my non-business use iPad to test out the HP Touchpad.  Very few can say no to a $350 WebOS device that’s brand new in the box which I just bought from Datavis.com through eBay.  Being an HP Gold Champion, I have already had the opportunity to briefly play with one at the various training events which HP sponsors.  My first impressions were nothing short of being impressed.  I think that WebOS truly can be a contender against iOS and Android.  To see the device truly be successful though will be developer support.  If you have that, you’ll make it big.  However if you don’t, you’ll be toast.  Stay tuned for our unboxing which should be sometime later this week or early next week!

Astraware® and Sandlot Games® are excited to announce they are bringing the highly-acclaimed adventure trading game, Tradewinds® 2, to Palm® Pre™ and Pre Plus smartphones.  Based on the PC game of the same name, Tradewinds 2 is an adventure trading game set in the Caribbean. Players are invited to navigate a fascinating new world and discover uncharted ports teeming with friends and foes alike. They can be a master commander, defeating pirates and plundering their vast hordes of booty, or they can play it safe by trading exotic island goods, gradually amassing untold wealth, power and influence.

“We’re delighted to work with Sandlot to bring Tradewinds 2 to webOS smartphones,” said Howard Tomlinson, CEO of Astraware. “Many long-time Palm users will know and love the Tradewinds games and we’re sure they’ll love the hours of in-depth game play, trading in goods, battling pirates and completing missions”.

Tradewinds 2 is available now for Palm Pre and Pre Plus running webOS 1.4.5 from the App Catalog on device. For more information about the game, visit http://www.astraware.com/webos/tradewinds2.

Astraware® is excited to announce the release of 2 new titles for the Palm® Pre™ and Pre Plus.

“It’s great to be launching these extra titles for the Pre,” said David Oakley, CTO of Astraware, “and the great feedback and interest we’ve had from the webOS community makes it exciting to be so connected with our userbase and their requests.”

Astraware Casino, already Astraware’s best-seller across a range of smartphone platforms, features 11 of the most popular casino games in 1 easy-to-use pack including Texas Hold ‘Em Poker, Craps, Roulette, Slots, and Blackjack. The game includes instructions on how to play each game and has a fun awards system – the Souvenir Suitcase – with awards unlockable in each of the games!

Police Range is a fun target practice range where players can put their skill and accuracy to the test as they train on 2 different types of police practice range – Crime Alley and Target Practice. Online high score leaderboards add to the challenge as players compete against their friends and other players worldwide.

Both games, built using Palm’s PDK, require the 1.4.5 webOS upgrade to be able to run. Astraware Casino and Police Range are available now, priced $2.99, from Palm’s App Catalog on device.

I have to admit, when the HP-Palm merger was announced earlier this year, I was not optimistic.  Frankly, I have long thought that the card metaphor developed by Palm and used by the WebOS interface is pretty much the best thing to happen to mobile devices.  It just makes sense.  It may not be the best supported platform, but it was the most well designed and most user accessible mobile platform.  So, I was quite dismayed when HP and Palm merged, as I saw the end of the line for WebOS approaching like a speeding train.  I was, therefore, stunned yesterday, to learn that not only will HP continue to support WebOS devices, but that they have even been developing a major upgrade for all WebOS devices, the WebOS 2.0 firmware, which is expected to be available for over the air download by the end of this year.

Not a lot of consumer-level details are available right now, but there is quite a bit of developer information, which gives you a glimpse into what you might expect from the new WebOS.  Here is what we know:

• Stacks: Not only will you be able to create cards in the new interface, but you will also be able to stack or group related cards together, making it easier and more convenient to scroll through your open cards.
• Synergey: Palm’s Synergy Sync is one of my favorite features of WebOS.  It takes contacts from numerous accounts and merges them into a single list.  Now, developers will be able to access this Synergy information as well, allowing far more powerful synergy apps to be made available.
• Exhibition: This will allow information, including streaming stock tips, weather, or even RSS feeds to be displayed on the screen while the device is docked with the Touchstone charger.
• HTML 5 tools
• Node.js support, allowing enhanced Java-based apps
• and plenty more developer tools.

Frankly, I am really looking forward to this update, especially the stacked cards and integrated Synergy Sync.  If you are excited about this as I appear to be, head on over to Palm’s website for all the latest information. 

Wanna know what’s new with Astraware?  Astraware has been writing for WebOS and is now pleased to announce Astraware Sudoku and OddBlob. 

Both games are live on the Palm App Catalog now and for a limited time only are priced at $2.99 (regular price $4.99).

From the press release:

Astraware has a long and successful history of working closely with Palm. Zap!2000 was the first color game released for Palm OS and for several years Palm smartphones offered at least one Astraware game bundled along with it. Now that Palm has released their PDK development kit, which allows developers greater access to some of the core functions of webOS, Astraware is able to continue that relationship by bringing some of their best-selling games to the platform.

Astraware Sudoku is a multi-award-winning version of the worldwide smash puzzle game. It is packed with features that avid Sudoku players love, including the unique Puzzle of the Day feature, which sees in excess of 20,000 users regularly downloading the daily puzzles and uploading their times on the global leader board. First released for smartphones earlier this year, OddBlob is a cute puzzle-arcade game entirely created from modeling clay, and featuring online leader boards for players to post their high scores in both Strategy and Panic modes.

“We’re delighted to be re-establishing our long-term relationship with Palm, and supporting the new platform with a range of great casual games,” said Howard Tomlinson, CEO of Astraware. “Our experience at supporting well-featured devices in a range of sizes and resolutions has helped us to make our first webOS games a pleasure to play, and we look forward to bringing many more titles to the platform.”

Astraware intends to bring a number of their own-IP games to the webOS platform as well as working with their premium licensor partners to add to the range of quality casual games available in the Palm App Catalog.

“Palm has a rich history with Astraware, and we’re excited to see that relationship continue with the webOS platform,” said Ben Galbraith, director of Developer Marketing, Palm, Inc. “Astraware’s popular titles are a welcome addition to the breadth and quality of webOS games in the Palm App Catalog.”

Congrats Astraware on the new releases!  I still enjoy Astraware Sudoku on my Windows Mobile devices – now Palm users won’t be left out on a most excellent game.