Google demos HTML5-based Maps on the Palm Pre
By Nilay Patel 
posted February 18th 2009 8:32PM
posted February 18th 2009 8:32PM
posted February 18th 2009 8:32PM
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Hopefully HTML5 being an open spec means that certain graphical operations can be hardware accelerated when possible. That's one thing I dislike about Flash on non-Windows platforms, it runs so freakin' slow!
The slowness of Flash on Linux and OSX has more to do with Adobe's lack of optimization of the code to the platforms ..
Very nice!
The shitnit
the demo looks a bit slow, dont u think?
like low fps or something
There is low FPS because its google maps and it has to load in all the tiles, I always get low FPS on google maps no matter what device I use, google earth is the only app that can do this smoothly, but then you get VERY low rez images as it loads in the tiles, iPhone maps just shows ugly grey sections when you move around until it loads, I prefer slow panning to grey tiles.
Pre news are always good news...
But why isn't the scrolling smoother? Is it because it's a web app?
since the webos is built for these types of apps i have a feeling the pre might run these kinds of things better than any other platform (even googles). going to be very interesting to see the pre sdk.
"arguably one of my favorite devices?" Wow. . .what a powerful endorsement. I wonder how many "favorite" devices there are?
Wow... his favorite device is NOT an Android device. I think that says something about the Pre and webOS.
He says the Pre is one of his favorites, he didn't say an Android device isn't one of his favorites.
All that means is it is on the list of phones he likes.
He had to say that so he doesn't lose his job at Google. Remember every Google employee got a G1 for xmas. Obviously if he had said Pre was his 'best' device, then chaos would had ensue and prolly Mr. Schmidt will feel dissed by its own employee....
Sometimes, you have to carefully choose your words just so you can play the double standard game.... :-)
Sorry, jake. Android has been one-upped and everyone knows it.
google is always is a progress however the above mentioned feature wasnt predicted in this blog post -
http://www.techreviews4u.com/2009/01/02/what-will-happen-to-google-in-2009/
One interesting thing to note from the video is how he unlocks the Palm Pre. He drags the lock icon up. This is the first time I am seeing the unlocking process in the Palm pre.
its been shown before... the way it works is you have the button thing at the bottom and a radius around it so you can slide the button in any direction as long as it ends up outside the radius the phone unlocks. its like the iphone unlock but like everything else on the pre just a little bit better in that its more forgiving if you dont drag in a straight line.
Don't understand the 'cloud' comment in the article. It doesn't really matter what the client rendering technology is - flash, silverlight, cocoa, HTML5+JScript. All of these technologies allow good use of local processing power and use of the cloud for storage and data services.
Personally, I think the Palm Pre is the next iPhone. I see the Pre winning Time magazine invention of the year award just like iPhone claimed it few years back.
No wonder some folks in Cupertino (they know themselves) feel infuriated and overwhelmed with fear of competition.
Before the lifetime members of the iPhone fanbois club blow me up, .......i better rephrase my statement....notice I did not say 'iPhone Killer'........as that's not what my comment implied....
Simply, it is one hell of a gadget that I'm shelling out some bucks for when it gets released.
Just curious,
do you actually know people at apple who are "infuriated and overwhelmed with fear of competition" or are you speculating?
I have a question, and maybe (probably) it's just ignorance talking, so perhaps someone could enlighten me:
Is anyone else a little curious about the "Cloud" used to serve up content and applications in these upcoming devices? I mean, in the old days, you were the one initiating every connection, and you decided whether you trusted those connections. With always-on Internet connections, yes, I understand a lot of the load shared by many users, and much of an individual user's personal load, can be offset onto machines elsewhere on Earth with little adverse effect (and sometimes gains) in performance or cost.
But seriously, now that there's an extra layer of obscurity, who am I supposed to just blindly trust to guarantee that the content I get from the Cloud, rather than myself, is trustworthy and genuine? Am I supposed to trust my wireless provider? Because have you ever gotten a bill? Seriously, I know better. Am I supposed to trust THEIR ISP? I don't even know who that is. The parent company?
What regulations, ethical practices etc have been put in place to certify and guarantee all the data I get when I'm gathering data from the "Cloud" (aka unknown, potentially North Korean nuclear missile silo torrents for all I know)?
My best advice to you is to not live your life online. The cloud is not there to protect your privacy, it is there to enhance your online experience.
It looks so thin. Like HTC HD hammered in the face.
sdfsdf
Word.
what? timmy's trapped in a well?!?!?!
It's certainly interesting, but for apps like google maps the problem is not the hardware of the device it's the network connection, and how fast servers can push that information. Despite all the wonderful things about google maps, it's still sometimes gets choppy when redrawing the view as you zoom in or scroll around - and that's on desktop with fast cable connection. So in short, so far I don't see, how palm pre's version of google maps would be better than iphone's one.I guess it's not exactly what he said, but I think it was implied.
Oh oh, I saw some pinching action there.
Apple, ATTACK!!!
I worry for Palm.
They certainly blew away expectations, they changed the game from out of nowhere with the new OS, but will they sell enough devices considering the current and near-future economic situation?
Two thumbs up for Palm... and one finger from the palm of a certain group of people for that, I'm sure :P
I already looked up all the nearest sprint stores around me so on launch day I know where to go.
Yeah, even in the current economy, computers are important enough to drop dollars on. New TVs, video cameras, things of that nature to subside, but not computers.
Well, in December, their stock was at $1.40. Now its over $8. I think Palm is definitely safe for now. And if this phone lives up to its expectations, we'll see a company return from the dead just like Apple did.
Waiting on a 3G version \o\.
Palm Pre news is always good news it seems, and I love what it can do.
Hmmm,
almost 2 years ago everybody was complaining that Apple pushed "web" apps as the main development platform for iPhone, as they where to limiting. They are the main contributor, and are pushing html5 forward .... so I guess they where wright after all, leading the way ones again.
Some posts back Google shows another HTML5 web app on the iPhone, and in my opinion it is as smooth and fast as on the pre, in fact if you open multiple pages in Safari, you get the "pre" multitasking/navigation feeling ;-)
(let the low ranking begin)
This is sorta funny. You know you're going to be low ranked because you know you're wrong. Troll.
Wrong?
It is because Apple didn't include flash and pushed webkit and html5 as an alternative you see devices from google and Palm ... the way they are today ... And I just find it to be funny that now everybody goes nuts on how cool all of a sudden web apps are ...
The low ranking is because nowadays it is tres Chiques to critique Apple/Users ...
Yeah, Apple was so sucessful with their web apps that they had to pull the plug based on the dissatisfaction they caused. Do people that use this argument stop and think "Hm, why is it that when Apple did this, people complained but they're ok with Palm doing it?"
No? They're just trolls? Makes sense then.
The iPhone was not focused on web and synergy like the Pre is. The iPhone's web apps were not intuitive and required that you had reception to run. Have spotty reception? The iPhone's web apps would run slow.
The Pre's web apps are stored on the device, html is simply the blood flowing through their veins. I cannot see how Apple gets credit here. They tried something like this, failed horribly and had to abandon it.
@vdb:
There's a huge difference between WebOS web apps, and iPhone's web apps.
WebOS web apps are stored on the phone and can run offline. iPhone's could not.
And if you want to use french words, it's spelled "très chic".
@Bokal
yes, they can, look at the google demo, web apps can be stored on the iphone and work offline without network connection
anyway the point I'm making is that web apps are all the rage now,
2 years ago they where condemned, because lack of performance for games or good multimedia capabilities etc ...
I thought the highlight of this post is a HTML5-based map on a mobile device? Rather than the device itself? Anyway, it is really cool to learn that HTML can now use to display such complicated map! Cool!
GIVE IT TO ME
Vic called the Pre "arguably one of my favorite devices."
Arguably? If you say it's your favorite device, I believe you. Who's going to argue that, yourself?