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PalmOs posts

Snow Leopard takes a bite out of support for legacy Palm OS devices

by Donald Melanson posted Aug 25th 2009 @ 4:32PM

Still rocking that Palm Zire with your new Intel-based Mac? Then you might just want to reconsider that upgrade to Snow Leopard, as Apple has apparently decided to ditch its support for legacy Palm OS devices in the latest incarnation of iSync. That, as you may be aware, had previously acted as a conduit for Palm's aging but still available Palm Desktop software, and let folks easily sync up their contacts and other data from their Centro, Treo, Zire, Tungsten, or even a venerable old PalmPilot. Of course, that doesn't quite rise to the same level of controversy as the whole Pre / iTunes situation, especially considering that Palm itself has mostly moved on from said devices, and there are still some third-party sync solutions available for folks that want to keep the Palm OS dream alive.

AT&T lays down the law, says Treo 680 users must update firmware

by Chris Ziegler posted Aug 11th 2009 @ 5:18PM

Once upon a time, Palm released a big firmware update for AT&T's branded version of the venerable Palm OS-powered Treo 680 (we know we just tossed a mind-boggling array of obsolete words and phrases at you, so feel free to take a couple minutes to catch your breath -- we'll wait). Okay, now fast forward to mid-2009. Treo 680s are still in the field -- and apparently, some of those haven't been updated to that 2007 vintage firmware. For some reason, AT&T has just now started really turning up the heat on these holdouts, apparently sending out text messages saying they're required to apply the update by the 15th of next month to continue using their phones on the network. We don't know if AT&T plans on doing an IMEI lockout or what here, but at any rate, it's a pretty big slap in the face of the "open network" concept these guys have been espousing for the past couple years. Then again, the update's seriously got a lot of good stuff in it, so it's totally unclear why anyone with a 680 wouldn't just bite the bullet and submit to AT&T's will this time around.

[Via Palm Infocenter]

Classic emulator for Pre adding HotSync support

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 16th 2009 @ 4:06AM

The original Palm Pilot is readily associated with several things: Graffiti, pocketability, and one of the first implementations of painless (well, relatively painless, anyway) synchronization to a PDA. So yes, while Classic for the Pre has been a really awesome parlor trick so far, its lack of HotSync capability has left it feeling a bit neutered in the eyes of many Palm OS purists and enthusiasts -- but not for much longer. MotionApps has announced that they've heard the pleas for HotSync support and have gotten it working in their labs; there's no ETA right now for when an update will be available, but when it comes, it'll be free to existing Classic users. Even if this means you can give Palm Desktop one more whirl for old times' sake, we say it's worth it.

Palm OS looking to go out with a bang, unlocked Centro launches in two new colors

by Chris Ziegler posted Apr 21st 2009 @ 1:01PM

Say what you will about Palm OS, but the idea of a new smartphone -- regardless of platform -- for under $200 unlocked is still a somewhat novel (and extremely attractive) concept. The Pre might be garnering 99.999 percent of the attention being thrown Palm's way these days, but the lil' ol' Centro -- the phone that helped popularize the concept of a low-end consumer smartphone and kept the money flowing at Palm headquarters just long enough to get webOS ready for launch -- is still on sale, and it's ready to make one last splash before riding off into the long-overdue technological sunset. Along with the previously available Glacier White, you can now help yourself to the unlocked GSM version of the device in your choice of Ruby Red or Cobalt Blue, a color that had previously launched in Latin America. For $199.99, it's a tough deal to beat; just be mentally prepared to get emulated into oblivion in a few weeks. Nothing personal, we promise.

[Via Palm Infocenter and TreoCentral]

New Pre Classic emulator video shows off 3D gaming prowess

by Ross Miller posted Apr 19th 2009 @ 4:01AM

The last time we saw the Pre's Classic Palm OS emulator in action, we had a few lingering questions in our mind, chief among them being how well can it game? From the looks of this latest video, released by Motion Apps to answer that very question, pretty well so far. In addition to confirming sound support for the latest build, we also get a brief glimpse of the software handling 3D driver GTS World Racer. Of course, seeing this makes us even more curious about the gaming potential for the native webOS, but alas, we're in the cold there. In the meantime, check out some classic 3D racing in the video after the break.

Continue reading New Pre Classic emulator video shows off 3D gaming prowess

Palm Pre Classic emulator demoed on video

by Nilay Patel posted Apr 2nd 2009 @ 3:57PM

Longtime Palm fans are gonna want to lock the doors and turn down the lights -- our friends at PhoneScoop just got the first demo of Motion App's Classic Palm OS emulator for the Palm Pre. Palm OS apps can be installed by just dragging the .prc files over the Pre in mass storage mode, and they're run as though they were on an SD card. There's no tethered HotSync, although there's a compatibility mode of some kind and apps will be able to pull data down over the air. Check the video after the break, including a demo of ePocrates, which we know a lot of potential Pre owners are interested in.

Continue reading Palm Pre Classic emulator demoed on video

Palm OS emulation coming to the Pre and webOS?

by Joshua Topolsky posted Apr 1st 2009 @ 3:02PM

Dedicated Palm OS users, it looks like your long, solitary walk through this world might not end in tragedy or violence. According to Dieter over at PreCentral, during a new video demo of the company's forthcoming phone, an icon of what appears to be an older Palm device with the label "Classic" below it can be seen within the webOS launcher. Since we know they've got a forthcoming announcement today at the Web 2.0 conference -- and we can be pretty sure Palm won't be dropping price or release date information without Sprint around -- it looks like this might be what all the fuss is about: support for legacy Palm OS apps in the new operating system. Of course, right now this is speculation mixed with hopefulness, but we should know in a few hours when Palm's SVP of application software and services Mike Abbott gives a keynote at the conference. Until then, just hold tight.

Sentimental fanboys bid Palm OS farewell at Hong Kong meetup

by Paul Miller posted Mar 16th 2009 @ 7:24PM

The arrival of webOS might be long overdue, but while Palm OS has certainly become a tad long in the tooth over the past few years, there's no overstating the importance of the OS -- particularly in its earliest incarnations -- in defining what a handheld and smartphone OS can and should be. Plus the incredible quantity of devices it spawned makes for quite the photo-op, as these folks discovered at a Hong Kong "farewell party" for the deprecated OS. There's a video after the break.

[Via Palm Infocenter]

Gallery: Sentimental fanboys bid Palm OS farewell at Hong Kong meetup

Read - Pics thread 1
Read - Pics thread 2

Continue reading Sentimental fanboys bid Palm OS farewell at Hong Kong meetup

Gartner posts worldwide mobile OS numbers for 2008

by Thomas Ricker posted Mar 13th 2009 @ 6:28AM

This table pretty much speaks for itself as a snapshot of the year in smartphones that was 2008 (according to Gartner) -- a breakout year for the category particularly in the US. As you'd expect from the smartphone device tallies we saw yesterday, RIM and Apple have the momentum largely at the expense of Symbian's declining market share and the stagnation of Windows Mobile in an otherwise growing market segment. Palm's also a bit of a surprise showing 42.2% growth for the year. With any luck, Palm could turn this table upside down in 2009 with a successful global launch of WebOS. Regardless, you can bet that developers are paying particularly close attention to these numbers as they decide where to best align their resources for maximum financial gain.

StyleTap's Palm OS emulator officially coming to Symbian OS

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Jan 16th 2009 @ 3:22PM

Not as exciting as an NES emulator, perhaps, but all the more useful, StyleTap's Palm OS emulator for the Symbian OS has finally been released, for real, for real -- if you rely on one of the 30,000-some apps that run on the OS (or all of them, for that matter) brace yourself for some righteous productivity. If that weren't enough, this bad boy includes enhanced display scaling, meaning that apps should look pretty good -- even scaled up to 320 x 320 resolution. And not only does StyleTap do the emulation thing, it handles most of your phone's hardware features -- including screen rotation. Are you totally psyched? We thought so.

[Via Symbian Guru]

Unconfirmed details flow about Palm's CES-bound Nova phone

by Darren Murph posted Jan 4th 2009 @ 10:13PM

Bear in mind that this could be complete rubbish, but unconfirmed reports from "trusted sources" have reportedly stated that Palm's first Nova-based handset will tout a full QWERTY keyboard that slides down beneath a touchscreen (is your imagination running wild yet?). Moreover (and more importantly), the fresh operating system is being described as "amazing," and we're also told that "a ton" of software will be pre-loaded to provide multimedia playback as well as traditional functions such as calendar, email, and contacts. We can't help but say that we're pretty jazzed to hear positive vibes flowing just before CES really gets in gear, but we'll attempt to remain placid until something a touch more concrete is revealed.

Update: Ricky from MobileBurn wrote in to tell us that his sources are pegging the first device to be a Sprint exclusive -- for how long, no one knows -- and will feature a high-spec cam of some sort. It's all rumor and speculation at this point, but yeah, we're definitely still stoked.

UPDATED: Palm doesn't confirm Nova launch at CES, but they may as well have

by Chris Ziegler posted Dec 19th 2008 @ 12:21PM

Use a Palm phone? Like the idea of Nova? We hope so, because the company revealed in its earnings call yesterday that it'd be transitioning its entire lineup over to the new, homegrown platform, though it'll continue to market Windows Mobile-based devices like the Treo Pro to businesses. Speaking of the Treo Pro, Palm mentioned that it'd be bringing its top-of-the-line WinMo device to a US carrier this quarter -- we think we know which one -- but the big news is unquestionably Nova, which will be released on a range of all-new hardware starting in the first half of '09. It claims that carriers who've seen the platform are "universally excited" about it, which we suppose is a good start -- but the real trick, of course, is to get consumers universally excited about it as well.

[Via Phone Scoop]

Update: Sascha Seagan of PC Magazine wrote in to let us know that Nova's unveiling at CES wasn't actually confirmed on the call -- but in light of the buzz they've been drumming up, it seems certain that it'll happen. What Palm did reveal is that Nova is already in the hands of some of its development partners (anyone want to send us pictures?) and that traditional non-phone PDAs -- that is, the foundation upon which Palm was built -- will not continue to be developed as Nova comes into play. We still love the Palm V after all these years, don't you?

Palm introduces Software Store for WinMo / Palm OS devices

by Darren Murph posted Dec 16th 2008 @ 9:01AM

Apple's doing it. RIM's doing it. Google's doing it. Heck, even Microsoft might be doing it. As the peer pressure mounts, Palm has finally decided to cave and introduce its very own applications market place, which is simply being christened Software Store. Oddly, it looks as if Palm farmed out the production of said store to one PocketGear, but we're assured that the app will hum along just fine on over 25 Windows Mobile / Palm OS-based Palm devices. Available for download as we speak, it offers up over 5,000 apps and games, 1,000 of which are completely free. Hmm, we wonder if Palm's keeping a Nova-compatible version in its back pocket?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: Palm pinged us to say that this is actually the very same software store that has been around, it's just a sweet looking veneer to make accessing it easier.

Palm OS "Nova" -- and first Nova device -- look like a lock for CES

by Chris Ziegler posted Dec 15th 2008 @ 1:14AM

New-ness, anyone? BusinessWeek is speaking in rather authoritative terms that we'll all be treated to the next generation of Palm OS -- Nova, as it were -- at a grand unveiling next month in Vegas. Details are still sketchy to say the least, but word has it that the company's engineers are super stoked about whatever it is they plan to unveil -- and considering the breadth and depth of the engineering team Rubinstein has managed to assemble over there, that's saying something (hopefully). The pub pegs Nova's commercial release for mid-2009, which jibes with the latest we've been hearing, promising to deliver a platform for meeting the needs of the "fat middle" of the market that lies somewhere between the buttoned-up BlackBerry and the media-rich iPhone (and no, we didn't just call you fat). The company apparently wants to create devices that "make smarter use of data about you," but until we have a Nova-powered phone in our soft, supple hands, that little gem of marketing doublespeak really doesn't mean squat to us. Just a few more weeks, ladies and gentlemen.

Palm's Treo Pro gets its first update: Bluetooth improvements promised

by Darren Murph posted Nov 14th 2008 @ 10:02AM

Aw, isn't this cute? Palm's unlocked Treo Pro has just received its very first software update, and we're happy to bring along the obligatory balloons and party foods. As of today, users of the Treo Pro can download a Bluetooth Update which reportedly resolves an issue with multiple calls sometimes getting twisted and diverted to voicemail and / or an operator on Pluto. In other words, this update will eliminate those conversations you keep having with extraterrestrial beings, so it's probably worth installing. Got it? Good.

[Via Palm InfoCenter]