Filed under: OS Updates, Palm, Commercial, Mobile
StyleTap could bring PalmOS apps to Palm's WebOS
If you haven't been hiding under a rock (where there's usually pretty poor mobile reception), you probably know that Palm announced a new phone and a brand spanking new operating system at CES last week. The company's new WebOS shocked a lot of folks by actually looking pretty awesome. The new OS is based on Linux, has an entirely new UI, and includes some nifty zoom, transition, and fade effects. And unlike OS X on the iPhone, WebOS allows you to do basic things like copy and paste or cycle between running tasks without closing one.
But there's one thing that WebOS won't do: run older PalmOS applications. Since WebOS was built from the ground up as a new operating system, it's not backward compatible with earlier Palm operating system. And that means that instead of having thousands of applications ready to go on day one, Palm will have a few dozen.
But there may be a solution for folks who are addicted to older Palm apps. StyleTap is a company that makes a $50 PalmOS compatibility utility for Windows Mobile devices. The company has also expressed interest in developing a version for the iPhone and for Symbian phones.
Now Brighthand reports that StyleTape could be headed to WebOS as well. According to one of the company's founders, building a WebOS version of StyleTap is certainly doable, but he says that Palm will first need to rlease a set of C/C++ APIs as part of its SDK. That hasn't happened yet, but if those APis become available, StyleTap could provide access to thousands of older Palm apps on newer Palm devices.
So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do.
Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game.
The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ethan Rom said 12:22PM on 1-16-2009
If they make this app, I will get a Pre. I have tons of PalmOS apps for my centro I don't want to lose. Most of all is LJP(multi system emulator). I play these old NES and SNES games all the time on my centro. Event though the Pre has no control pad so maybe I'm still screwed.
Reply
h1tm0nlee said 11:20AM on 2-09-2009
An app like this would be great for the Pre! I also have a bunch of neat programs i want to use on the new os... like PDAnet and Bird ID.
Reply