Hungry to consequence the sire, most programmers have been creation apps for a dual leading mobile platforms: Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android OS. But the couple of developers contend they feel luckier playing with a loser: Palm.

“I done a little of a crappiest apps for a Pre, as well as Palm is giving me $1,000 for any,” software programmer Pete Ma (right) bragged to Wired.com final week during the developer conference, adding which each of his five apps took less than an hour to formula.

Ma submitted 5 apps to Palm’s Hot Apps plea, the competition written to capture developers to the partially petite WebOS height portion apps to Pre and Pixi business. The inducement? A $1 million esteem pool rewarding up to 221 apps formed upon their ranking. The top-ranked app will win $100,000, a next 20 apps will consequence the $20,000 prerogative, as well as a successive 200 apps will win $1,000 any. Currently, a top-ranked app in a foe is Pandora, the renowned music-streaming use. Ma says his apps have been in a running for a smallest of a awards.

Though many credit Palm for pioneering a smartphone, a association has struggled in a mobile space for a past couple of years. And as an app height, Palm’s WebOS hardly registers. Apple’s iPhone now leads the app race with the massive 200,000 apps, and Google’s Android height follows with 50,000 apps. Palm’s WebOS App Catalog, by comparison, serves about 2,800 apps.

A Palm spokesman estimates which there have been more than 1 million WebOS users sum. That series is mild compared to a 90 million iPhone OS users (iPhone, iPod Touch as well as iPad business. Meanwhile, Google says 100,000 Android phones have been activated each day.

Given Palm’s not as big patron bottom, it’s doubtful we’ll listen to unusual success stories where WebOS developers beget six-figure incomes with the hot-selling app. By contrast, a couple of lucky iPhone App Store developers have struck it abounding. However, HP’s merger of Palm may lay a grounds for the bigger customer bottom, that could in the future lead to more critical mix. An HP exec not long ago pronounced the association is operative upon the WebOS-based inscription due out in October.

Before a height gets bigger, Ma encourages developers to get an early begin upon WebOS, when there’s reduction foe. In fact, Ma laughed during a admittedly bad peculiarity of his apps. One app called Fantasy Chat, the jokey module to chat with the drudge, is ranked series 211, putting Ma in range to win $1,000. Another app, Playboy Covers, now ranked 240, is upon track to win Ma money by subsequent week. Three alternative apps will expected strike a tip 221 shortly as good, according to Ma’s estimations, formed upon normal downloads.

The money prizes have been usually the proxy inducement, as the competition ends June 30, though Ma pronounced a discerning escalation of his apps in a WebOS App Catalog have been the covenant to a potential to attain in the store with fewer competitors.

“People should give WebOS the possibility,” Ma pronounced. “It’s the good height if they’re not in downloads upon possibly Android or iPhone. Nobody was downloading my Android app.”

A Palm deputy pronounced a purpose of a Hot Apps plea was not only to enlarge prominence of a WebOS height, though additionally to lift recognition of the stretchable collection which Palm developers can make use of. For e.g., the Palm’s Plug-in Development Kit allows people who have already coded iPhone apps with C++ to simply pier their apps over to WebOS. So even if coders have been already invested in the iPhone OS height, they can have the elementary tweak to their app as well as share it with a WebOS assembly as good.

Palm offers the 70-percent cut to developers for any app sale — a same as a App Store’s indication. Also, developers have a preference in between portion their apps by a central WebOS App Catalog, that involves undergoing an capitulation process identical to a App Store’s, or they can self-publish their apps upon a web.

“What we’re anticipating to do is give developers the preference in how they develop as well as a preference in how they discharge their application,” the orator pronounced.

The Los Angeles Times offers the headlines app for WebOS, and developer Ken Schwencke said he enjoyed a simplicity of a height. However, he pronounced he was heedful of investing some-more in the WebOS app in the near tenure, notwithstanding HP’s tentative merger of Palm.

“I’m vehement to see what HP has in store for WebOS, though overtly, I’m discreet about spending some-more growth time upon a app right right away since a doubt surrounding WebOS’s destiny,” Schwencke pronounced. “I’d contend if you’re building the apartment of apps on alternative platforms, it’s value it — if nothing else for a bearing and a great will it will beget with users.”

Photo of Palm Pre and Palm Pixi: Jim Merithew/Wired.com. Photo of Pete Ma pleasantness Pete Ma.