If you asked most people what the biggest flaw of the Palm Pre is they would immediately tell you the lack of apps in the app catalog. Of course the real problem is that while Palm promised an open development program for WebOS and the Mojo SDK, it has been nothing but extremely closed. That is starting to change.

Palm has just provided private access to the Mojo SDK for a large wave of the initial applications. Palm’s Developer Community Manager, Chuq Von Rospach, sent out an Email accepting the new round of developers into the program but before you can gain access you have to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement… at least one developer has breeched this agreement since the SDK was leaked. I won’t provide a link to the leaked SDK but anyone half proficient with Googling should be able to find it.

They sent my acceptance Email on June 26th and I’ve pasted it below for the curious:

Hi Rob,

Welcome to the Palm® Mojo™ SDK early access program! We have approved your application, and you are now able to sign on, download the SDK and start coding.

Access to the SDK and any of the information in the prerelease portal is covered by an agreement you will need to approve the first time you log onto the system. The early access program is private and the material in the SDK is considered confidential. Until we’re done developing the SDK, we will not be releasing or discussing its contents publicly. You will have access to discussion forums on the developer portal and will be able to interact with other members of the program there, but as a condition of your participation in the program, we expect that you will keep the material in the SDK and the information you learn through the program confidential.

Your username to access the system is: xxxxxxxxxxxx

For security purposes, we don’t email your password in the same message as your user name. You can request a password by going to this URL:

[URL removed for privacy/security reasons]

To get started, go to this URL:

https://prerelease.palm.com/

It will take you to a page that will get you started and help you get the software downloaded and give you access to our documentation and support forum.

Please change your password when you log in for the first time. To do so, go to the Preferences->Edit Profile->Password option found under your account name in the top banner on the page once you log in.

Please note that the “remember me” functionality in the forums is not currently working with our single sign on implementation. If you click it, you may receive an error.

The early access program is not just about getting you coding on your project, but to help us make the SDK as good as we possibly can. We need your feedback, so please get involved in the support forums and send us your bugs and suggestions; we want to know how things are going and if we can help you along the way.

Thanks for working with us, and good coding!

Chuq Von Rospach, Developer Community Manager
chuq.com
http://pdnblog.palm.com

I’m not sure whether the “leak” is fortunate or unfortunate but the important thing here is that Palm is starting to roll out the SDK to the masses. Right now Apple has the clear lead in terms of sheer application mass in their store and Android seems to be a distant 2nd but gaining ground rapidly. Palm is barely out of the gate.The exciting part is that when you put it into perspective, the race has just begun.

This whole open mobile development world is brand new and it is exciting that Palm is one of only a handful of companies embracing these core concepts. Surely with the Pre and WebOS, Palm has solidified their place in the next generation of mobile devices. That is… if the Mojo SDK continues its progress at a half decent pace. But the bottom line is that this new wave of progression is a GREAT sign.

• On June 18th they made an Open Source portal available
• On June 19th they promised to begin rolling out the SDK to thousands more acknowledging that currently it was available only to hundreds
• On June 26th they said hello to new members and almost DOUBLED the size of the developer community with access to the SDK

Who else got accepted into the program?

NOTE: The image in this article was leaked elsewhere and was not initiated by PalmWebOS.org