Doesn't it seem weird that they keep touting the iphone against the pre, when the pre's base language is javascript? I mean javascript, while widely known, is not much of an oop language. Seems like the iphones slimed down cocoa, or even the g1's java api would be lightyears ahead of a palm running javascript based api's... but i guess ill have to reserve judgement until it comes out.
It's not weird, it's just plain stupid. Looking into this phone myself, its like Palm is comparing apples to oranges (no pun) and saying "We know you like apples more, but our oranges taste better!" This device will be geared toward communication with minimal productivity app (Me being quick to judge) We'll have to wait and see. Good call though.
Really. I mean if they allowed flash, real flash, that would be nice, but webOS is going to be a joke. (yes that is the real name of Palm's new OS)
It'll be a good OS for palm for simplicity, but in terms of gaining marketshare they are not aiming for the casual user. I read somewhere (I think gizmodo) that they are not aiming for making games with their OS. They are intending on gaining back the business share. But hey, I'm all for competition
Then what is with the multitouch, and where is Apple to defend their copyright? Palm is confused, and this will be a bust. They are going with Sprint, and are making a huge miss here. *hint:click either smily:hint*
You obviously don't know your tech history my friend. Apple put together pre-existing ideas into a complete package...but it certainly didn't innovate all that much if you know your history. To educate you, Multi-touch is not an Apple copyright. Microsoft has been developing Microsoft Surface back in 2001 or 2002 before unveiling it in 2007. Before that it was being researched and developed by Bell Labs back in the 80's. Apple then bought a small company called Fingerworks back in 2005, long after everyone else, and adapted it's technology into what you play with today. iphone's Safari browser with page zoom and gestures was an idea they took from Picsel Browser, originally for Pocket PC and other formats. It worked flawlessly (I still have a copy of Picsel) and predated Mobile Safari by more than 2 or 3 years. Scrolling contacts? Sygic's .Contacts did this on Windows Mobile more than 4 years before the iphone...and even today it's still prettier and more functional than the default iphone contacts app. Icon launchers for programs on a homescreen? The original PalmPilot innovated this and SPB Pocket Plus offered this on Pocket PC more than 4 years before the iphone. And I can go on. My point is, technology evolves just as the iphone was the evolution (NOT revolution) of all those technologies. Do not be such a fanboy as to be blinded by good tech when it comes along. Palm INVENTED the smartphone...these guys understand this market better than Apple, Microsoft or anyone else. If not for Palm, there'd be no iPhone, no Windows Mobile. The iphone is a consumer device..and a really good one at that. But as a business/enterprise device the Palm Pre already SMOKES the iphone...and it's not even in final release version yet. And that's just the thing: the Pre isn't concerned with just the average consumer. Already it offers full-featured synchronization with Google Calendar: which is more than you can say for any other OS except Android. It runs on linux..which is essentially a GUI driven version of unix which powers the iphone. Multitasking, pervasive but non-intrusive notifications the works...it's all there. A lot of my colleagues are looking forward to getting the GSM unlocked version (which is coming).
That isn't the point. Watch the 2007 Macworld keynote, and they have patented 300+ aspects of the iPhone, including Multitouch, which this implementation is unique to the iPhone, and is likely a direct copy. Apple has no issue suing about OS X, but for some reason won't try to defend their patents on the iPhone. It confuses me how they could be allowing other companies to take their ideas.
Don't compare these phones. It really doesn't matter if Palm made a phone that can grant you 3 wishes and Apple made a phone that was a brick. The iPhone will always sell and it's going to be the #1 selling smartphone for a long time. People see the Apple logo and they buy anything. Do you know anything about this phone? It lets you run apps in the background. How is that "minimal productivity"? Not to mention a real keyboard... Not saying this phone is better, but come on, "minimal productivity"?
Yeah Palm has some issues. Like being buddy buddy with Sprint. The guy who made this phone is an ex-Apple exec who took Apple workers with him to Palm... Any surprise?
The only thing Apple can patent would be things like Pinch zooming etc, but not Multi-touch technology itself...because it isn't Apple technology and more importantly they weren't the first to market it. They were the first to bring it to a mass consumer device yes...but it's technology that's been around for a while. If they could, Microsoft wouldn't be implementing it in Windows Mobile 7, Palm wouldn't be implementing it in the Pre. For example, Microsoft has patents on it's Surface technology (which is also Multi-touch technology that's been in development years before the iphone was even a concept)...but the patent covers the implementation of Surface and it's capabilities beyond simple multi-touch. If their patent covered the tech itself, Apple wouldn't have been able to incorporate it into the iphone years later. Similarly I believe Apple can patent it's own implementation of multi-touch..but it can't claim ownership of multi-touch tech itself.
You're mistaken. Until the iphone, no one 'evolved'. Blackberry, Microsoft, Symbian all stuck with the tried and true, all stuck with functionality over UI design. The iphone itself isn't revolutionary because truth to tell, my 4-year old Windows Mobile device offers way more productivity and functionality than the iphone. What the iphone did was prove that with less functionality and a killer UI design team, people will buy. Apple showed that people do want the 'flash' and would pay for it. As per my earlier post, there are very few things on the iphone that haven't been done before on other devices...Apple just wrapped a killer UI design around it and made it all cohesive. So the iphone ushered in a new way of thinking in smartphone computing and it's only after this that companies started to 'evolve'. Blackberry went Storm and Bold, Nokia has a bunch of touchscreen devices in the pipes, LG has a few 'iphonish' devices out now, Android phones are in the works, and the 3000lb gorilla of them all, Windows Mobile 7, is coming. And yes, the Pre is part of this evolution. The Pre cannot compete with the iPhone on a consumer-level basis...the install base is just too large and the brand loyalty is just too strong. But from what I've seen it isn't trying to appeal to just that market. From what I've seen, much like WM7 it appears to target the Enterprise user as well. I for one am very interested in a GSM unlocked Pre, as are several of my colleagues. I love my iphone as a media player and casual gaming unit...but even today I keep falling back on my Tytn II for almost everything. I don't want to, but I have to...I'm in love with the UI but the iphone simply isn't built for the power-user like me. And it's people like me for whom the Pre, Android, and WM7 hold the most appeal. My hope is that these upcoming devices in turn force Apple to evolve and become more 'open' and more enterprise-centric...then we all win as consumers.
i think you missed the point of the thread. Its not a comparison of the phones. I just think its silly that they're comparing them due to the fact that they both have app stores. But the language of the palm is very primitive. I mean, yes you could write a 3d engine in javascript, but wouldn't that be a pretty huge wast of time?
The webOS actually runs on top of Linux, which is essentially Unix-the same underlying OS powering OSX. If in the future Palm decides to give developers more access to the kernel then you're no longer limited to programming in XHTML, javaScript and CSS. This is no different from Apple initially allowing only web-apps to run on the iphone....and later giving devs more access to the actual system guts as the demand for it rose.
Except that palm keeps touting that it's apps are built with javascript. Whether it's running linux os or any other os, the choice of js as a base language seems a bit weird. It's much diff than apple because apple was running a wb browser that ran javascript. It'd be closer to making a template cocoa app that just loads a webview and allows js to run at native speed on the iphone, but even then, you'd be limited in what you could accomplish on an iphone. Palm is going to launch an app store with these js apps, but who knows, maybe they'd up the ante later...
I thought there was some concern about the Pre's ability to play mp3's? If so, that's gotta be a dealbreaker for a lot of potential buyers
Yes but look at the bigger picture: IF in the future Palm decides to give devs more access to the Linux/UNIX OS ontop of which it's webOS runs (which is a possibility) there is also the very strong possibility that you are no longer limited to js as a programming language. My point is that the possibilities exist, and they're not far-fetched. Just as people initially hammered the iPhone for it's initial web-app only approach (something Apple too heavily touted) I don't think people should jump the gun on the Pre.
