TealOS hands-on video... with a Treo 650
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted Feb 21st 2009 7:02PM
posted Feb 21st 2009 7:02PM
So, we thought we'd fire up the old, old, old Treo 650 and see what TealOS looked like on it. The results are recorded above. The launcher actually hits a bunch of the basic webOS functionality pretty decently; swiping cards away, the wave launcher, reshuffling the deck, the transparent launcher. Of course, there's no deeper integration (like webOS's contact aggregation, etc.), and the animation is fairly jagged, but it still does an admirable job of copying the UI. The app is a nice effort from the Teal folks, one which might help you wait out the Pre launch a little, but ultimately it's window dressing more than anything else.
LoL, my mom still uses a treo 600p on sprint, soooo Ghettho.
Josh, I think you mean *skin* and not *emulator*. But yeah, this is pretty cool. Does it have the "swipe up to quit" gesture too?
Whups, just checked out the other video. Neat.
It's a Launcher. You can't skin Palm OS to do any of that. Look up ZLauncher or AppLauncher for Palm OS.
I certainly don't mean "emulator" in that it's using actual webOS components. I meant in the classic sense -- it's emulating the operation of webOS. It's definitely not a skin in any way, as JAmerican states.
If another PalmOS developer writes a min-"Synergy" application that gathers information from a bunch of Web-based calendars and displays it all together, what hath hackers wrought!?
[and as Apple with their iPhone loves to tell us "Who needs multitasking?]
Yes, it has that feature. The main difference though is the cards don't have animation if the program is running in the background (which ordinarily in PalmOS, most programs aren't.)
I applaud the developers, because what they've done is impressive.
However, PalmOS is still a dog, and needs to be put down.
Exactly, someone needs to tell these stupid phone vendors to create one or at most two different operating Systems perhaps Symbian and WinMo or maybe Android. This will make it a hell of a lot easier for those of us who just want to play some pirated mobile phone games. kthxbai
There's something charming about the Treo 650. Maybe the fact that it was the first legit smartphone around (those older PocketPCs don't count, in my book.) If I were you, Josh, I'd definitely hold on to that as long as possible for gadget history's sake.
Sony Ericsson P800 and P900.
I pull those out infront of people with iphones and they ask if they are the "New secrete such and such and that they are so sweet"
@mike
I highly doubt that (or the iphone users you talk to are dumb.. oh wait yeah)
You have got to be less spastic with your hand. It makes it look like the screen is incredibly unresponsive when I assume it's just that you can't decide on what to do next.
Thanks for the tip.
I have a greater respect for Engadget now, they use LJP. What's the betting that the Treo belongs to one of the NintendoWiiFanboy crew patiently waiting for the VC release of Earthbound?
No, it's mine.
I'm still waiting for them to fix Super Mario Kart and get the multiplayer/Wiimote support incorporated.
Alas, my dreams of Wiimote controlled Mario Kart against friends will have to wait... but at least there's FFVI and Secret of Mana to get me through Algebra.
I'd call it weak os,.,.
Yet still leaps and bounds above anything M$
This is akin to putting a Windows 7 launcher onto WinMe. lol
Charge your battery ,dude.
The response time seems a bit slower on my Treo 755p. Maybe cause I have so many apps installed or something else. When I use the regular palm launcher I type a letter and it goes to that in the list of programs. This doesn't do that, which is kind of annoying. They need to add a similar search function to the Pre. Also the gestures don't always work as expected, and you can't do the wave thing from the main screen. It just launches the list of apps instead of the wave there.
I am so underwhelmed with this. Really weak, Sony.
Haha. I have been using 1Password to login to sites and I guess it pulled my comment at the time.
Anyway, my only issue so far is the one you mentioned about typing in the first letter of an app to jump there. Hopefully in future releases.
Just letting know, there's a new version out that makes all the animations more fluid, fixes a bunch of bugs, and adds the "type first letter" function that everyone was missing until now
This is just starting... It's too early to properly judge this thing
(The power button thing on the Treo 650 also got fixed, BTW)
That's like putting lipstick on a pig.
That fits this situation much better than the "Windows 7 is just lipstick over the pig Vista argument".
not really
this is more like the whole putting an OSX skin on Windows sorta thing...
cause the underlying OS works better but the one on top is shinier
I really don't see how ignorant some people are. Vista is not the pig everyone seems to say it is. Vista was a major undertaking that INITIALLY did not get off to a good start, but after a few extra months of bug squashing, it works FLAWLESSLY. It just so happens the media gave the hit and never laid off. Pity, it is.
lol i wasnt replying to you
i agree that vista is great
can it play crysis ?
Okay that is a very 1337 thing to pull off. Impressive.
I just put the trial on my LifeDrive, and I have to say that it runs rather smooth.
I find it pretty slick, even on my 650. A few issues/comments:
1) I can't get the cell radio on once I'm in TealOS. Any tips?
2) it's weird that the green phone wakes it up from the sleep (and not the red). That'll take some time to get used to.
3) how do you turn the phone off? (It used to be the red button, but that just brings up the launcher)
That stuff is fixed now in version 1.05
Amazing work.. they made a good job on something that most would think is far from a Priority.
Josh, were you able to figure out a way to turn the display off when you're done? For example, normally when I hit the power/end call button, it turns the display off, but with TealOS, it goes to the launcher.
Option + end.
^ Great! Thanks for replying.
Tried downloading the trial for my centro... Pretty much bricked my phone, would reboot over and over, even after a hard reset and restore, the TealOS.prc was still effing up my phone. Eventually solved the problem by deleting the tealOS.prc from the backup directory....
BEWARE!
I put it on my TX. The wave launcher is actually pretty useful. I've never felt the urge to use a 3rd party launcher before, and I still don't feel the -need- to do so, but it's a nice refresh.
Lol, I just installed this on my Treo 700p (on Sprint, suckers!), and it's awesome! True, it's mostly visual but the card functionality and the wave launcher are actually pretty useful for switching between apps. Doubt I'll upgrade to the full version but it'll keep me entertained until the pre comes out. Never thought I'd be so happy to be on Sprint and out of contract >:-).
My brother uses a Palm 700wx. Would he be able to run this?
You wish this was on WM... hell i wish it was on Windows Mobile. My Treo 800w is the Bastard of the Palm family
I think by now Americans are starting to realize that the whole lip stick on a pig comment during the election really should have been directed at Uncle Barry. Disagree? Just wait...you'll come around. Still waiting for your new nationalized health care program? Keep waiting...
Perhaps the messiah...I mean Barry...should make bailout execs carry old Centros too. Wouldn't want the taxpayers footing the bill for new Palm Pres.
can't agree more.
can't not agree more
I took a brief second to visit Sk8rman's googlepages website and wasn't surprised to find that its only purpose was to serve up scores and results for foreign cricket matches. I'm going to go out on a limb here and take a guess that he clearly is not a US citizen. No surprise that he is a Barry Obama fanboy.
good job done guys :)
Cool!