Palm just got official with its new webOS platform, running on the new Palm Pre. According to the company, anyone who knows CSS, HTML and XML will be able to develop for the OS without having to learn any new languages -- sounds kind of like it's a jacked up browser with memory management, like Google Chrome. The UI itself is simple and touch-based, with flick scrolling through lists and gesture support that goes "beyond the screen." The launcher comes up over apps without leaving them, and you can quit apps by just swiping up -- multiple apps and windows are managed using a "deck of cards" metaphor. The Synergy sync system automatically manages your contacts -- all you have to do is log into Facebook, Google, and Outlook. You also get consolidated IM from multiple services -- so, so sweet. Typing on the keyboard brings up an instant search which pulls up apps, contacts, and even web queries. All apps have access to an Android-like popup notification system, and urgent messages pop up, causing running apps to automatically resize so you can see everything. There's also a dockable control area that any app can use for persistent controls -- Palm's using it for its music player, for example. More pics after the break!
Update: The press release is now live.
posted January 8th 2009 1:58PM
Why spend all that R&D money to develop an OS, when you don't need to?
That's right, this is Palm.
Instead of turning their PDA into a smartphone, they turned to the Blackberry for inspiration and made a whole new phone from scratch.
OK, but what about old/existing Palm customers who have been with the platform for over 10 years?
Will old Palm OS apps run on the new OS?
What about the Palm Desktop?... does the new PRE work with the old Desktop or has the Desktop been overhauled too?
Can I easily migrate all my old data onto the new device?
PS: When will Verizon get to sell it?
Yeah I wonder about backwards compatibility as well. I have a ton of apps I would miss.
Also agree about the other language support. How could one write TCPMP/Coreplayer in Javascript???
Otherwise looks pretty slick.
What happened to backwards compatibility with the original Palm OS. I thought Palm was going to make sure that users could still use their old Palm Apps.
Seems like a huge loss to no longer have access to the thousands of apps for the old Palm OS.
It would make the developers update the apps. I for one wouldn't want an ugly legacy app running on this!
Does it support Flash?
Just think about how easy it would be to make this phone a business centric, branded app phone. If I had a web platform already built at my company that connects to CRM and ERP applications already written, all I would have to do would be adjust the screen size and a few other tweaks. Much better then developing one app for the web and another for Symbian or RIMM. Rapid deployment and customization could prove healthy wins for PALM and webOS.
iPhone Clone Alert!!!
It's a cycle, haven't you been following the trends? Apple makes the Newton MessagePad, Palm makes a better PDA which kills the Newton. Fast forward, and Handspring makes the first PDA/phone combo (Treo) with hardware design and software licensed from Palm. Apple makes the iPhone which some could argue was the Treo killer. Now Palm makes a PDA/phone that has nearly all the features of the iPhone but with all the things iPhone users say they want (real keyboard, memory card support, camera flash, video recording, open SDK, etc).
That means it is now Apple's turn to make a Pre killer. The cycle will probably never end.
That name sounds pretty weird if you speak spanish... WebOS = Huevos = Eggs = slang for testicles... Etc, etc.
Not impressive enough!
I gave up on Palm after my Treo 650, owned the 1st generation all the way up to Treo650 and then iPhone came along, Thanks to Mr. Jobs.
The main problem I have with Palm is the phone kept crushing on me. I did like their software then but if is dead what would that do me??!? I will not go back to Palm!
Dude, what the hell....ANOTHER new OS? This has got to be a huge blunder on Palms part. Why not use Android or even Palm OS 2 on this thing? I predict this to be a flash in the pan...especialy if it's Sprint exclusive...I mean comeon....that's sentencing this thing to death before it's even out the door!
I seriously doubt it they made it from scratch. Probably some embedded linux distro, and they did work on the browser - used some already available renderer too.
Apps made with html, css, js aren't new - Adobe Air for example already foes this.
Wow! Palm is back! I'm wondering why Sprint though? I hate Sprint so I guess I'll have to wait for it to hit another carrier.
over the last couple years, Sprint seems to get more Palm love than anyone else. i think im going to finally ditch Verizon for them though since i have always loved Palm's direction and Sprint has (or will have soon) 3 great new Palm devices in the Treo 800w, Treo Pro, and now the Pre.
Is there any information on whether or not it works with Exchange, and if so how?
I call BS on the "not having to learn a new language". If you're developing an app with your only tools being HTML, CSS, and XML, all your business code has to be in XML because HTML/CSS are for display logic, and it's not like there's some variant of XML to write applications with. XML is a format for storing data, and obviously the exact format is predetermined by Palm or else you'd have to effectively write your own interpreter as well. HTML (or XHTML) is a type of XML, and it's not like "knowing" XML means you automatically can write flawless HTML.
I don't think anyone said anything about XML...it's HTML, CSS and *JavaScript*.
i dig it. will be looking forward to getting one of these unlocked toput on tmo:)
I'm pleased Palm stopped producing the ugliest phones on the market
@ Vadi
your post, and you, are a perfect example to someone who has 100% know knowledge about what they are talking about. I am literally baffled by you and your exclusive use of the retard gene.
Looks nice, but i'll wait for the emmulator to run it on my Tilt....
After I get Android to tun on my Tilt....
After I get the iPhone os to run on my Tilt...
After I get WM7 on my Tilt...
I recently went on a business roadtrip with a friend who had a brand-new IPod Touch he gently bragged--at the beginning of our journey--was so *much* better than my not-even-a-year-old Palm TX. Without fail, I was able to download and send email, update a blog and check the news from every two-bit, podunk town across six western states, while he was left wondering if he even *had* email literally 98% of the time.
And my TX had the same usefullness and functionality in Amsterdam and Berlin. I *like* my TX. It's far more useful than a phone with a screen the size of an ant's butt.
Today, it is obvious that *all* Palm development and the vast majority of--if not all--third-party development for my Palm TX--which recently celebrated it's FIRST birthday in our home--has just come to a screeching halt. I know now that I will never see a decent browser for it, (Opera comes close--no cigar).
Palm has stated they have no plans to continue their PDA line. It's rather like parents kicking a child out of the house because they had a new baby.
For the past year or so, Palm has stated the new operating system--then codenamed "Nova"--would support legacy applications from Palm OS 5. It doesn't. Seems to me they were less than ingenuous--I can't believe it was simply, somehow, a sudden *surprise* to them that there is no legacy support. Perhaps they didn't want potential--and current--customers gravitating to competitor's products?
If you have been a Palm customer in the past and you buy their new product, you will have to pony up big bucks to replace all your old applications with software that does pretty-much the same thing in their new gadget. Dastardly. You *still* won't have Graffiti, though. The new Palm Web OS does not feature Graffiti--one of the most useful features of the former Palm OS.
Don't hold your breath waiting for Palm to come up with any additional, breathtaking apps or simple, reasonable improvements for their new OS. They have a history of sitting on their hands about such things. They have, for example, consistently refused to release an SDHC card driver for PalmOS 5--leaving it up to an unassociated third-party to finally get around to doing so--and there is every reason to believe they will hold their new customers in equal contempt.
I expect to be using my TX for years yet, despite the fact that Palm has just thrown me--a recent customer--to the wolves in favor of profit. I will keep in mind they have done this once now, and Palm has given me no reason to believe other than they will do it again to millions of customers down the road if it suits their purposes to do so. They have shown they cannot be trusted. They have shown that they care nothing for the consumers who--collectively--spend millions of hard-earned dollars on Palm's products and third-party software *for* those products.
I, therefore, will never again do business with Palm. I will use smoke signals or semaphore flags first. Fool me once...
The bottom line is: it's all about the "bottom line." After the Palm Web OS announcement, Palm stock soared a whopping 35%.
Palm--indeed most corporations--feel no loyalty to, nor regard for their millions of customers. They answer only to their stockholders and don't give a fig about anyone else.
If everyone felt the way I do, voiced their disapproval, and took the same actions, corporations would never treat the public so.
If you agree, write Palm a quick email expressing your disapproval. If you don't agree, you are, alas, part of the problem.