iPhone games ported to webOS in 'a matter of days' on tap for GDC?
By Donald Melanson 
posted March 5th 2010 4:08PM
posted March 5th 2010 4:08PM
EA has already said that it was able to get 3D games up and running on webOS in a "matter of weeks" using the OS' PDK (or Plug-in Development Kit), but it looks like Palm might be ready to step things up even further at GDC next week. While any official word will have to wait until then, John Paczkowski of AllThingsD says that he's heard from sources close to the company that Palm will be now demonstrating how iPhone apps can be ported to webOS "in a matter of days," and with virtually no degradation in performance. Not much more to go on that at the moment, unfortunately, but you can be sure we'll be there at GDC to how this and anything else Palm might have in store pans out.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
@eka
Palm did that before, it was called Handspring.
@pachi72 htc hero screen 3.2, samsung moment 3.2, droid eris 3.2, palm pre 3.1.
Hopefully Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars gets ported ASAP
@elvicmic
If I can drive using the keyboard I'm all in. Using the touchscreen to drive in the iPod touch sucks.
companies are free to port any game they make the same way ea can make a Ps3 version of an xbox 360 game. There's nothing remotely illegal about this.
@leykis101
WEL-COME-TO-A-MER-I-CA!!!
@cherryboom the stupidity of most apple fanboys, never ceases to amaze me.
Consider me amazed sir.
@scobb
it's not just OpenGL ES. They also have a lot of the same stuff; same resolution, multi-touch, motion sensor etc. Most of that "matter of days" is just recoding the Objective-C in C++. For those making enhancements, Palm has the advantage of having a base level of OpenGL ES 2, with Apple you have to worry about those still on 1.1
@pachi72 No, he mentioned phones that came out around the same time the Pre did. The Droid, Nexus One, HD2, etc all came out months later.
Is this like with Palm's "can't be assed making sync software" so we'll just use iTunes?
Yeah, so now it's we can't be assed making decent development tools do here's a porting ulility.
There something to be said by NOT hiring the disgruntled ex-employee from your competitor who can only think of using your compeititors software cause they secretly want to be back there.
Rubi doesn't bode well for Palm. It's sad. He's too hung up on proving himself to Jobs.
@Cy Starkman
Ummm, do you understand software development AT ALL?
There's no "porting utility," the PDK is just a way to run C/C++ apps on the phone. iPhone apps are written in Objective-C which is a superset of C. The developer just has to remove anything Objective-C specific (which for many apps will be almost nothing) and rewrite it in C++. Additionally, both WebOS and iPhone OS use OpenGL, which is an open source standard. This is basically the equivalent of porting an app from one flavor of linux to another.
Apple DOES NOT OWN App Store apps. The developer who made the app does, and they can do as they see fit. Your argument is like saying that Sony is riding Microsoft's coattails whenever someone ports an Xbox game to the PS3. It's an absurd argument.
@Cin
Um, derrrrr. Obviously a dev can do what they want with their App.
The API calls riddled throughout your precious code, that's all just a subset of C. The UI development kit is too eh?
My point isn't code, it's the development environment. XCode, The UI kit, the interface for building the apps.
So now it's make your Pre apps using Apple's iPhone dev tools which are cheap and well made and you already use and good ol' Palm will port it over for you recoding the API calls.
So yes it is as with iTunes. Yes it is Palm saying we tried but honestly can't be assed making a decent development environment.
It's more Rubienstien tantrums about Jobs saying nah bruz go find another company to work for. This is my main concern for Palm, their lead guy isn't focused on Palm he is still focused on Apple.
Dull fight my friend.
@Cy Starkman
"The API calls riddled throughout your precious code, that's all just a subset of C. The UI development kit is too eh?
My point isn't code, it's the development environment. XCode, The UI kit, the interface for building the apps."
Did you actually read the post? They didn't say "all apps," they specifically singled out games, NONE of which use the iPhone UI toolkit. This only leaves API calls, which, in games, tend to be limited to things like user input (accelerometer, screen taps, gestures, etc). That'll basically be the only thing that changes.
And seriously, it's far from riding Apple's coattails just because it's easy to port from one to the other. It's not like Apple went Microsoft's route and used their own entirely proprietary system (XNA & DirectX). They used a variation of C and OpenGL. You might as well argue Safari is riding on IE's coattails for being able to load the same web pages.
@Cin Correction: they did just use the generic phrase "apps" several times, so it's rather unclear currently, but most likely devs would have to transfer over their UI references to Palm's UI toolkit, since WebOS doesn't support any of Apple's calls.
Palm is amazing. My pre is one of the best purchases I have ever made.
Is there anything palm can't do?
That's why I hate this company
@thanhpluv
... You hate them for using C++ and OpenGL? Because that's why it's easy to port, since the iPhone uses a superset of C...
@thanhpluv
Hi, my name is Programming Languages. Have we met? I don't think so.
@leykis101 Try 2008.
@leykis101
The iphone didn't even have apps in June 2007. Come on, it wasn't that long ago, did you forget already?
@leykis101
Errr, WebOS has well over 300 games, including full 3D games like Need for Speed Underground, The Sims, the Assassin's Creed iPhone game, X-Plane, I could go on... And the OS and hardware have been out for... 9 months? That's pretty impressive...
Hooray! Another 'gaming' platform! They're all competitors to PSP and the DS! Lets get a response from Sony and Nintendo on what they are going to do about the new Juggernaut in the portable gaming space!!
/scarcasm
@Marrec
Dear Scarcasm,
Uh, I guess you haven't heard of the DSi, Nintendo's pathetic attempt to get in the iPhone/iPod touch downloadable gaming space...
Careful you don't trip over 2008.
@Wesscoast
You can't seriously be suggesting that Apple invented digital distribution, or are you possibly saying that they were the first to move it into the hand held world... in either case, you would be wrong.
Or maybe you haven't heard of the iPhone/iPod, Apples pathetic attempt to get in the DS/DSi touch screen gaming space?
Bravo Palm. This is a smart move, I just feel it's too late.
I was one of the ones who sent this in :)
I see this as deviously brilliant from Palm.
People have been clamoring for a native development solution for webOS and Palm has delivered that while tapping into a huge, already existing app pool. Better still, not only is this app pool their competitor's, but the decision to do so is infinitely defensible from multiple angles.
The C family of code is a standard choice, as is OpenGL. Palm doesn't have to look away and whistle when someone points out that the iPhone has the same setup. It's a natural choice.
Palm is making it easier for Devs to develop for multiple platforms, which no one can think is a bad thing. Even if this works swimmingly for Palm, the iPhone will still be the major draw for a long time to come. iPhone sales will still be what puts the meat on the table, but easy webOS porting will be some delicious gravy. Also, if iPhone is still the primary target it makes perfect sense for the Dev to use Apple's toolset. Further, the converting mechanism, what ever it is, will be just one part of the Palm's PDK.
That Palm is also courting the Flash development community next week makes for some interesting developments for Palm. I'm buying some stock first thing Monday morning.
Doesn't matter. It's much easier to program for the Xbox than the PS2, yet devs are flocking the PS2 due to its marketshare. Big game companies want to make money, and spend as little money as possible. Which platform that offers the most potential buyers? WebOS? Nope.
WebOS is a really nice OS, the only one imo that does task switching right. But at this rate, it's going nowhere, which is unfortunate.
@pika2000
You're absolutely right, but the ease of porting still makes it worthwhile. Older titles that have run their course on iPhone OS can be given an encore on webOS.
So far Gameloft's efforts have netted them $412016.81 by my calculations. 30% of that is Palm's, minus $900 in App Cat fees, leaving them with $287511.77 for apps that were already done. Not bad.
Palm will get sued into oblivion if the port games to the palm pre. Apple will crush them. Sounds like they are getting desperate for apps.
@purge68
moron
@purge68
Palm's not porting anything, Gameloft, EA, et all are. And they have every right to. Apple's not using a proprietary standard, it's using a variant of C and OpenGL, both open standards and both common on linux based platforms (like every single mobile platform out there except for Windows 7). And the developer has every right to port whatever they want wherever they want, much like developers port PS3 titles to 360 and vice versa.
And as for lawsuits, you want want to read the Engadget article "AVP: Apple vs Palm"
Basically, if Apple tries to sue Palm for patent or copyright infringement, it would be a spectacular suicide run. Palm potentially partially infringes on *maybe* 2 iPhone patents; the iPhone DEFINITELY infringes on a minimum of 4 Palm patents, and one of those patents is the fucking dialer screen, you know, the PHONE part of the iPhone? And that was just from the 2 hour glance that engadget's patent lawyer made at Palm's catalog of hundreds of mobile related patents over the last 2 decades. There's a reason Apple's suing HTC and not Palm, and it's not because Palm's small in the market.
Right now Palm's trying to focus their resources on their new products and on succeeding in the market, so they don't want to spend money on a lengthy patent dispute. But if Apple goes after them, they awaken a sleeping giant, against whom they'd definitely lose, and be forced to pay royalty fees on every iPod and iPhone ever sold, which would amount to somewhere in the very high millions if it's even a small percentage.
All we need now is a webos phone with a Nexus One formfactor.
Am I the only one realizing who the real winner could be here? Hear me out. If this starts to happen, isn't Verizon a clear winner? You have to think that if EA and GL can make this port painless, other applications such as ETRADE and MINT, for example, non gaming apps... would soon figure out how to port regular apps that are not owned by Apple. Then Verizon gets the iPhone without getting the iPhone. I mean, it already sync's with iTunes if you have the right version.
I don't know. Seems to me, this could be a nice alternative for Big Red customers in lieu of an actual iPhone.
And how about what it means to Android? OOF.