Palm have launched their new OS called webOS, and their first device to run it called Pre. I had a brief look at the developer page and I have to admit that I'm a bit confused. At one point it says:
And good news for Palm OS developers! There are a number of ways to migrate data from a an existing PDB file to your new WebOS app. Stay tuned for more information for developers with Palm OS applications who want to build WebOS applications.
But I had thought that the whole point of what was called 'NOVA' was that palm apps could run in it. The statement above seems to suggest that at least data will need to be migrated. Also, the developer page says:
Palm WebOS applications are easy to write using Mojo, a new application framework based on the HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript standards that web developers already know and love. WebOS applications are installed and run directly on the device at native speed and have access to a wide range of device services.
But I thought that NOVA was all about Linux. So what has happened?
Finally. The page says:
Palm will provide an on-device application catalog to deliver your apps directly to users.
Which really says to me that Palm are going to have totally separate apps for this device rather than legacy Palm OS devices.
If I've got this right it means that this is not really a platform for music apps, so I really hope I've got it wrong.
4 comments:
I think you're right... many mobiles are going this way, being about offering simple apps via quite unsophisticated underlying APIs exposed to JavaScript that are standards-based (and hence based on lowest common denominator.
While JavaScript/HTML/CSS are all very nice, your apps are all ultimately very limited in the scope of what they can achieve. For "real" *audio* apps, you need to write in C++ (or Obj-C, at a pinch!), and have access to a platform-level rich API that works at Native Speed; i.e.: WinMo, Symbian, iPhone! Not Linux/Android, until such time as a binary-level distribution mechanism for C++ apps might arrive (if ever!).
Face it, this is the end of the developer-friendly Palm platform. Palm has done alot of stupid things with their company the past decade or so. I won't cry if they go out of business or become some no-name cellphone maker.
Sounds like a shame. I was really hoping this would be ideal for sunvox and bhajis. Oh well.
I think that Palm have really let down the people that have waited and waited for them to come up with a new OS, and now they've cut out any chance of moving forward with your existing apps and haven't even bothered delivering an emulator, they've just hoped that someone else would do it.
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