VNC on the Palm Pre lets you look at your desktop from afar, but not touch it

It didn't take long for the iPhone's release for it to get a VNC client enabling remote desktop access. No surprise, then, that it's taken even less time for Palm's Pre to get similar functionality -- well, the beginnings of similar functionality, anyway. As the thrilling video after the break proves, it's possible to get today's hottest smartphone to connect to a VNC server, but rather sadly keyboard and mouse support aren't there yet. So, while you can watch all those wonderful command prompts and other windows majestically move across the screen, you can't touch a single one. Surely that'll be fixed soon, but will it be soon enough?

[GeekGirl @ Jun 17th 2009 7:36AM]

iPhone FTW!

[Prokanda @ Jun 17th 2009 8:11AM]

If you really are a woman, you're a bimbo. Unfortunately for the general view of apple users, you're the type that the anti-apple crowd automatically associate with people who buy the fruit's products.... such a shame.

[Information Central @ Jun 17th 2009 8:15AM]

Wow, spelling "WTF" backward. So witty. So clever.

[GeekGirl @ Jun 17th 2009 8:18AM]

Wow, that original....LOL

[Prokanda @ Jun 17th 2009 8:18AM]

Not to defend shim, but... FTW = "for the win". Pretty common on the 'net actually.

[Prokanda @ Jun 17th 2009 8:19AM]

Yes, because "iPhone FTW!" was so original itself. >.> :sigh:

[poke @ Jun 17th 2009 8:22AM]

I'm pretty sure the fact he said "so witty, so clever" should indicate that it was sarcasm and and he did indeed know what FTW stood for and was just poking fun.

[Prokanda @ Jun 17th 2009 8:31AM]

Not sure. Half of his posts are correcting spelling and grammar (the other half are about apple issues and glossy screens on computers). So I wouldn't put it past him to have missed some slang on the net, actually. I could be wrong though.

[nerdtalker @ Jun 17th 2009 8:58AM]

I think Prokanda's got something up his ass. The OP wasn't being a bimbo at all.

[Cameron @ Jun 17th 2009 10:28AM]

FTW-meme FTL.

[Steveorevo @ Jun 17th 2009 3:09PM]

VNC is so so, Jaadu VNC on iPhone is amazing when you have to connect to a Mac/Linux box. RDP is a way faster protocol.

NOW Jaadu RDP (formerly teleport) is FREAKIN' AMAZING! Two finger taps to right click, even teleports sound back to iPhone. If your a sys admin, its worth the entire iPhone platform by itself.

[airmanchairman @ Jun 18th 2009 5:36AM]

Don't knock Mocha VNC - from my train platform many miles away, I can reach my home PC in 3 taps, open Windows Media Centre with a Keyboard shortcut, and schedule a recording of DollHouse with 3 more taps, then enable my Sky DigiBox with 2 taps.

All in about 1 minute flat. What privileged times we live in!!

And yet, in a few years time, we'll be laughing at the notion of this being a privilege...

[Dave @ Jun 17th 2009 7:39AM]

I love how the Apple fanboys(girls) validate Palm with every post.

[Cander @ Jun 17th 2009 9:12AM]

And we love it how you anti-Apple trolls validate Apple with every post.

[apple nerd without a cause @ Jun 17th 2009 7:39AM]

Just like me with girls

[grull27 @ Jun 17th 2009 8:03AM]

That's depressing lol

[Craig @ Jun 17th 2009 7:40AM]

Heh...I thought this was a pretty straightforward tech reporting piece without trying to fan the flames of the fanboi wars until I got to the last sentence.

Nice try, but you'll have to say something like "will it be soon enough to keep the Pre from being utterly demolished by the new iPhone?" or "will it be soon enough to keep the Pre's momentum going to the pinnacle of smartphonedom?" I know you can do it.

[Dave @ Jun 17th 2009 7:45AM]

Either you are sick, or very witty.
Either way, great come back.

[GeekGirl @ Jun 17th 2009 8:02AM]

Sad that the reviews were crap on the day it launched. I have other phones other then my 2 iphones, gen 1 and 2, will buy gen 3 Friday, but have not found a phone to come close to the iphone, still waiting......

[Prokanda @ Jun 17th 2009 8:09AM]

...and pretending to be a woman on the net, and blocking your profile so people can't read all of the needless posts that I leave on reviews/stories where you've left a comment having nothing to do with said review/story.

The iphone wasn't perfect the first time around either. Far from it.. and palm included some things that apple will finally be including on their phones.... TOMORROW.

I'm going to buy a 3Gs... but who knows what might happen with the storm 3 or the pre 2... hell, the first pre just got out the door. Did you have an amazing app store overnight? did apple's ipod have all the music it has now and all of the features like video, games, genius, a unified scroll wheel, etc. right out of the door? no.

Grow up.

[Daniel @ Jun 17th 2009 1:13PM]

Actually too bad for you fanboy/man pre reviews were really good, palm stock is qaaay up, sales are way up and once the sdk is out it will continue to grow. Sorry to disappoint you but the pre is better than the iphone, I replaced my first and 2nd gen iphone and the pre is much better... Sorry I didn't say with the iphone because apple has 50,000 flashlights and fart apps.

[Prokanda @ Jun 17th 2009 8:12AM]

I don't think getting this far (not to mention the other topics about what's already been done with the pre in the last few days) is too bad for a device being out for what... less than 2 weeks?

C'mon palm (and inventive programmers)... make it the killer device that palm was lacking for years.

[GeekGirl @ Jun 17th 2009 8:15AM]

Dude I think they pierced your brain when they were aiming for your ear.

[Prokanda @ Jun 17th 2009 8:21AM]

and I think that all your brains are in your moobs. (moobs =/= girl, by the way)

[Information Central @ Jun 17th 2009 8:14AM]

Here's a clue, lamers: Don't post VIDEOS of things that are much better described with a couple of STILL PICTURES.

Gee, which would I rather do: Look at a couple of high-quality stills and skim an article to get the gist, or sit through yet another shitty "video" that's poorly shot, edited, and compressed.

[nebj00la @ Jun 17th 2009 10:37AM]

Here's a hint, if you don't like watching videos... don't read the article... Thanks for trolling, have a nice day.

[Miles @ Jun 17th 2009 8:41AM]

Posting this from my iPhone via VNC using Jaadu VNC.
How does it feel to know my VNC experence is seemless with multi-touch gestures?

[JZ @ Jun 17th 2009 8:49AM]

Absolutely fascinating...

I hope Palm soonish will start releasing their mobile world wide, that would be far more interesting then a silly client which 99% of the market doesnt know.

[JamesR @ Jun 17th 2009 8:54AM]

Why not just use your browser?

Pre's been out a week. What VNC app were you using, seemlessly with multitouch, a week after the iPhone's lunch? Oh wait, Apple still had it all locked down.

[poke @ Jun 17th 2009 8:54AM]

Why make trouble for yourself? Can you not post straight from safari or do you just like being smug?

[huh @ Jun 17th 2009 9:02AM]

I'm just trying to imagine that experience. First I thought about how annoying it is to use on screen keyboard keys, then I remembered that half the screen would be obscured by the on screen keyboard. Sounds like a real victory there.

Just a note, the G1/Dream is a complete mobile computer. The iPhone is a popsicle.

[Miles @ Jun 17th 2009 9:25AM]

@huh
Keyboard is only up when I command it to be up, noob.
Also I have the power of gestures at my finger tips.
I can zoom out and see most of my two screens and then with a simple tap of three fingers I zoom in 1:1
If I need more space to work with I pinch out, otherwise I can pinch in to get a better view.
Need to scroll down in Safari? Two finger drag does the same thing as the scroll wheel.
Oh hey, I want to put this image up on my site. Let me drag the image from Finder using Tap Tap Drag and put it into Cyberduck to upload to my server.
Need to right click? Not often, but when I do I can just tap with two fingers to bring up a context menu.
I fail to see how this is a popsicle.
I hope you like fiddling around with your Pre and it's keyboard to do things that I can do with intutive and simple gestures.

[PedoJokerBear (aka Deeznuts) @ Jun 17th 2009 9:33AM]

youre such an idiot.

[GB @ Jun 17th 2009 9:34AM]

Why are you posting this via VNC again?

[Miles @ Jun 17th 2009 9:35AM]

I posted the initial comment via VNC, dood.

[GB @ Jun 17th 2009 10:35AM]

Uhmmm... And why did you post THAT via VNC, DOOD?

[Miles @ Jun 17th 2009 10:41AM]

Because I was afk at the time.

[Benson @ Jun 17th 2009 11:04AM]

Yeah, but the point is, you could be reading/posting on engadget using the iPhone's wonderful browser instead of pushing it through VNC. Or is this one of those lame no-multitasking issues where VNC closes if you switch to the web browser?

[dmglouis @ Jun 17th 2009 11:43AM]

CTFO dude, we get it, you can use VNC on iPhone that's been out hella longer than the Pre.

[CJ @ Jun 17th 2009 9:22AM]

Not sure what all the iPhone fanbois vs Palm fanbois is all about.

The facts:
iPhone is a great phone which has several years worth of apps under it's belt.
Pre is a great phone which has 2 weeks worth of apps under it's belt prior to an official SDK release.

Frankly, Palm has done more in it's first 2 weeks than Apple did in it's first 2 weeks but yet the iPhone has had 2 years of extra development which still puts it ahead overall of the Pre. But the fact that the Pre has VNC in the works prior to the SDK is awesome! Either way, they are both great phones and are forcing each other to step it up. This is good for EVERYONE regardless of your fanboi preference.

Personally I got a Pre because Sprint > AT&T but if both phones were on all providers it would be a tough decision. In 6 months I'd suspect (read: hope) that both phones are on relatively equal footing regarding apps. This would challenge other phone companies to step up to the challenge of making a killer phone.

[larryryan0824 @ Jun 17th 2009 9:57AM]

When the iPhone came out, making apps for a phone was brand new. I mean I know windows mobile had apps but it wasn't a big thing like apple has turned it into now. So if the pre came out first it would be the same way. There are a lot more programmers for phones now, since how popular it got, and how good the phones have got. So no the Pre is not doing better. How about the iPhone 1st gen to the palm pre launch sales? Yea so the iPhone has done more than they have.

Oh apple multi-touch patent? I think so. The pre only has multi-touch beacsue apple has some of their animation patents. If I were apple I would have made up my own animations for 3.0 and sued palm. That's right single touch Palm pre. Would be so good anymore would it?

Palm needs itunes for their music, because it is a bigt plus for people that are looking into that phone. Apple is going to shut them out pretty soon, so no more itunes for the pre.

Anyway all I am saying is the Pre would not be what it is if the iPhone never came out. And that the Pre is not doing better than the 1st gen iPhone which cost 3x as much.

[CJ @ Jun 17th 2009 10:18AM]

@larryryan0824
You are talking about the business of the Pre vs iPhone not whether the product is better or not. And regarding patents, Palm has MANY more patents that the iPhone is violating. How about the patent that auto-dims the screen based on surrounding light. Yup, Palm owns that. And there are many others. But unless you are an investor, the business model shouldn't matter. In fact, if Palm was forced out because of patent issues, then I'd be even more upset because it hinders innovation.

Apple makes a quality closed system. The Pre is bringing a quality system that is proving to be much more open than Apple's.

And I totally agree that the iPhone revolutionized the phone industry. Nobody is doubting that. Does that immediately make Pre a crappy phone? No.

You need to get off your high horse that Apple is the end all be all of everything that is holy. The iPhone is definitely a great phone, but Apple NEEDS some competition. It's good for consumers. So far they have had little to no competition. The Pre is a GREAT device. It pushes the envelope. It forces Apple to continue innovating.

I'm a big fan of the iPhone. I own an iPod Touch and love it. If AT&T didn't suck so badly in my area, I'd even consider an iPhone. I'm not saying that the Pre is intrinsically better or worse than the iPhone but it's on par enough to provide some heavy competition.

[McPOW @ Jun 17th 2009 2:58PM]

"When the iPhone came out, making apps for a phone was brand new."

Ladies and Gentlemen: the reality distortion field.

[engadget @ Jun 17th 2009 9:24AM]

I'm running PalmVNC under the Classic emulator.. it works just as well as it did on my Centro.. keyboard included! I can connect to my computers over Wi-Fi or EVDO and control them.

[nebj00la @ Jun 17th 2009 10:37AM]

Verified! Thanks for the tip!

[engadget @ Jun 17th 2009 11:05AM]

..oh and it runs faster all the way around (PamVNC on Classic)

[Frank @ Jun 17th 2009 10:39AM]

@tim FYI, Android has a VNC Viewer too and AFAIK you can interact with your PC.

[bpedman @ Jun 17th 2009 10:54AM]

how about VNC into the Pre?

[Bad Wolf @ Jun 17th 2009 11:17AM]

"When the iPhone came out, making apps for a phone was brand new. I mean I know windows mobile had apps but it wasn't a big thing like apple has turned it into now. So if the pre came out first it would be the same way. There are a lot more programmers for phones now, since how popular it got, and how good the phones have got. So no the Pre is not doing better. How about the iPhone 1st gen to the palm pre launch sales? Yea so the iPhone has done more than they have.

Oh apple multi-touch patent? I think so. The pre only has multi-touch beacsue apple has some of their animation patents. If I were apple I would have made up my own animations for 3.0 and sued palm. That's right single touch Palm pre. Would be so good anymore would it?

Palm needs itunes for their music, because it is a bigt plus for people that are looking into that phone. Apple is going to shut them out pretty soon, so no more itunes for the pre.

Anyway all I am saying is the Pre would not be what it is if the iPhone never came out. And that the Pre is not doing better than the 1st gen iPhone which cost 3x as much."- larryryan0824

Dude really agreed that the pre may be benifiting from some of the Iphone concepts, but remember that palm has beem touch screen prety much from the word go and was the first smart phone. So saying that the pre wouldent have come out without the Iphone comming first is totally wrong if apple hadent come along and taken the idea that palm started with a touch screen and improving it then palm probably would have gotten here eventually. My issues with the Iphone are simple for total service unlimited everything it runs you about 150 and you are stuck with At&t thats a blower also I cant stand Itunes and the only real way to load music or video to your phone is with a proprietary piece of crap like itunes that is really all I have against the Iphone palm nolonger makes you install the palm desktop and this is good lets hope mr Jobs can see the light and remove the shackles for the Iphone. by the way I am a tech lover not a anti apple trol or a microsoft lover tech is beautyful in its purest form.

[Justin @ Jun 17th 2009 11:36AM]

VNC on the Pre prior to the SDK launch is great in my opinion!! I really hope that after the SDK is released the dev support really stands behind the OS. I would love to see an app environment that is on par with Apple and Android.

It seems as though everytime something new and fresh gets introduced (in this case webOS and the Pre) there has to be a holy war with the Apple Fanboys.

I personally love the iPhone and would be hard pressed if they brought one to Sprint on which device to make my daily. That being said frankly a true fanboy would recognize that having a new fresh device is good for innovation. Thusly it would push Apple away from doing another refresher of the device already on the market, in other words the competition offered by Palm would push Apple away from releasing the 3GS2 on the next cycle of new devices. Personally I have been a Palm fanboy for years, dating back to handspring devices and the ever loved palm pilots, and I am perfectly fine with being the number two in mind share in the smartphone market. Mind share if maintained will lead to market share. I'm sure Palm is not trying to top Apple, just as say Mahalo or Bing would not be trying to top Google. All in all the Pre and webOS if nothing else for the Apple fanboys should be a step towards better innovation and should be welcomed. Competition is a great thing, the Holy War is really just comparing devices that essentially do the same thing. Give it up and be grateful.