Palm shocks everyone at CES once again! [Update] – Full Event Video

Today we expected to hear a couple of announcements as far as new carriers and some small spec bumps. What we didn’t expect was for Palm to show us all this work they had done behind the scenes to bring 3D games, C and C++ app plugins, Flash, new hardware, new updates, new apps and more! We will cover it all for you after the break…

So Palm opens up CES talking about their current carrier partners, their app catalog reaching 1000 apps, and their how thankful they are for the developers and App Catalog growth. They also shared with us some new features and good news come out slide after slide after slide in their presentation. We will boil it all down for you in a list. This is in no particular order.

- Palm Pre and Pixi will launch in France on the carrier SFR (owned by Vodafone) in the 2nd quarter.

- Palm developer program is now open to the public for FREE. Full details here.

- Palm’s application distribution has extended to not only the App Catalog, but anywhere on the web. Here is their ‘ProjectAppetite‘ which allows you to download and install WebOS apps through the browser on your PC or phone.

- Palm has a new development tool called PDK Plugin which allows developers to develop and install C/C++ plugins to their WebOS applications. This allows for graphic intensive content and other rich features that we haven’t see before with WebOS to be implimented in existing and future apps.

- Hot Apps, Palm now has  a program called ‘Hot Apps’ that will reward developers for having a popular application. If your app has the most downloads over a certain period of time you will recieve and award directly from Palm.

- 3D gaming with the help of the new PDK Plugin. Palm partnered with EA to make games such as Need For Speed Undercover, Sim3, and Monopoly. With the new PDK Plugin they have full high graphic 3D games! This will give the iPhone a run for its money. New apps will be available today and developers can soon begin programming with the new tools. These games and tools will be available to both Pre and Pixi users.

[Yes we can finally say this video is REAL!]

- Flash 10.1 integration. Palm also demoed Flash 10.1 on the Pre. The beta ‘plugin’ will be available for download in the App Catalog “soon”. It will only work on the Pre. (most likely due to its superior hardware)

- Verizon partners with Palm to bring the first WebOS devices to Verizon. The Palm Pre Plus and the Pixi Plus. Both devices will be available on Verizon January 25th. Pricing details have not been announced. Here is what’s new in the ‘Plus’. All Pre Plus and Pixi Plus will come with the inductive back cover, the Pre now has 16 GB storage, Palm said “double internal memory”,(we are not sure if this means RAM or if they were refering to the 16GB storage, and the Pre has NO center button. The Pixi Plus will come with WiFi and your choice of color whether it be pink, green, blue, orange, or black.

- New app for Pre Plus and Pixi Plus. This new app is called ’Hot Spot’ and allows you to WiFi tether yoru phones internet to MULTIPLE DEVICES! Just like a Verizon MiFi. Right now this is only planned for the Verizon version of the Pre and Pixi.

- Video Recording, editing, and sharing. Yes you heard that right. Palm also demoed video recording on stage and showed off some new features that allow you to upload to multiple social networks including YouTube, Facebook, and also MMS if you so choose. You can edit the video to make it shorter and share it over 3G with your phone. This will be available on all WebOS devices in a future update. Yes this means the Pre and the Pixi.

- WebOS 1.4. All these features and more are expected to all be out and available in February with Palm’s upcoming release of WebOS 1.4.  Palm announced on stage that WebOS 1.4 is coming in February and will include some new features, bug fixes, tools, and video recording.

So that about sums it up. This is such a big news day for Palm and its users/developers. We will start to see more robust applications, better integration between apps with plugins, and a much wider user base. In my honest opinion, Palm revived the almost dying media attention they had in the end of 2009. Palm is now back in the spot light and has proved that they are serious about the smartphone industry and are looking to improve on the user experience as fast as possible. So are you getting a Pre or Pixi Plus?

[Update] – Full Palm CES press event video here.