MotionApps Classic to Provide Palm OS Compatibility on WebOS

Palm also announced that MotionApps (www.motionapps.com) is creating an emulator application that will allow most Palm OS applications to run on webOS devices. The application, called "Classic," will be available for purchase when the Palm Pre™ phone becomes available from Sprint in the first half of 2009, and gives users peace of mind as they transition to Palm's new webOS.

so it will NOT be free.

Still, this is the best way to go about a "solution" like this-farm it out to a 3rd party so Palm & Sprint don't have to bear the burden of support issues. Another question-will Motion be opering under the terms of Palm's perpetual Garnet license or will they have to pay for it themselves? If so, this could be a rather pricey app.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10209815-94.html?tag=inside

"Classic" is an emulator that will ship with WebOS"
(exact wording from the CNET article).

This is typical ambiguous computer industry-speak that likely means "it will be available for purchase at the same that the Pre is released".

That interpretation is inconsistent with a literal reading:

1) "Classic" will ship with WebOS.
2) The Pre will have WebOS on it.
3) Therefore, the Pre has to ship with "Classic", or #1 is a lie.

yep. It'll be rough to replace it, period. I'm gonna miss the stylus. Not as much as the d-pad, 'cause I rarely use it, but there are still times when a stylus makes more sense than a fingertip for poking around your device. plus, judging from a lot of the demo videos the Pre gathers fingerprints like a magnet. (does it?)

I think it would be nice if Palm offer to bundle it on the Pre, perhaps at the user's request or not, perhaps with an extra cost or not. But bundling would eliminate (at least) one step to getting Palm faithful to move to the Pre. In fact, it would be pretty cool to offer bundling service at time of sale. Venders could directly tap into the first day excitement and having apps installed could be a selling point for Palm.

So can we call the emu pre-Pre compatibility?
- Tere

See how accurate my uncanny ability able to decipher Palm-speak is? ;-)

In all honesty, I was just recently helping a friend price/spec out new cars and I noticed a lot of car manufacturers' websites list have "feature" lists that have a hodge-podge of standard & optional equipment. So you have to hunt around to find out if that particular feature is standard, optional, or unavailable on your desired trim level. Sometimes they will even list multiple "features" in the same list of bullet points in conjunction with each other that you cannot combine within the same trim level (leather seats with a manual transmission, for example).

Yes, it WOULD be nice for Palm to bundle Classic it but it's NOT their M.O. right now...and they have not been particularly inclined to look back to their past since they uncerimoniously dumped Graffiti 1 from one device to the next without ever giving a satisfactory explanation or giving users some avenue of maintaining G1 (other than, as always, a flaky illegal (hacked G1 libraries) solution or a flaky, costly 3rd party solution (TealScript).

Sure, backwards compatibility is a nice unexpected bonus but I am much more concerned about the missing/omitted features (no hard buttons, no d-pad, undersized battery, no video recording, no stylus, no voice dialing, no memory card slot) and an overall loss in efficiency (too many taps, too many sub-menus etc) by the combination of the Pre's hardare & the WebOS UI/design.

Like Ron said earlier, Palm gives something right and some (ie: most) things wrong. But I carry a Palm OS device primarily for organization/PIM functions and e-mail (in that order). Every other function is secondary (though I would do much more in the way of multimedia if the hardware was capable of it). Therefore, my personal benchmark for ultimately judging the suitability of the Pre & WebOS to me will be comparing it to the classic Palm OS PIM apps the way they are on my TX & 755p.

Right now, I'm feeling pretty cynical about WebOS' PIM prowess not relative to the crude BB/iPhone/WinMob competitors but to its Garnet-based predecessors. I don't care to see if person X is online right now nor what they are posting on Facebook or any of the other stuff that the hipsters are doing nowadays. But I do value, for example, being able to quickly search one-handed for a contact whose name I cannot remember how to spell correctly while I'm on a phone call. Or entering a new contact or calendar event while I'm walking.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?

Palm has already stated that they're done with Palm OS, if I recall correctly. If someone else wants to pick up that ball, like MotionApps, then from Palm's perspective, it's gravy - but it's not a business that Palm is in anymore. Bundling Classic would make it seem like the emulation is a core part of webOS's functionality, sending the signal to end users that Palm is responsible for compatibility and proper function. That's got to be the last thing Palm wants to worry about right now.

Long story short, now that we got something we all wanted for this phone, let's stop bitching just because it ain't free.

I.M Anonymous wrote:
Just like it wouldn't make sense to bundle pTunes, Docs to Go, Versamail, and Google Maps with PalmOS? Oh, yeah, that's right, all those were shipped in ROM on the Centro.

Those were probably covered by existing agreements. If they're breaking away from their past, I could see them not bundling any third party software going forward.

hkklife wrote:
Right now, I'm feeling pretty cynical about WebOS' PIM prowess not relative to the crude BB/iPhone/WinMob competitors but to its Garnet-based predecessors. I don't care to see if person X is online right now nor what they are posting on Facebook or any of the other stuff that the hipsters are doing nowadays. But I do value, for example, being able to quickly search one-handed for a contact whose name I cannot remember how to spell correctly while I'm on a phone call. Or entering a new contact or calendar event while I'm walking.

So on another note, please help this old man remember something. When Palm purchase perpetual rights to the Garnet code from ACCESS, the agreement included the whole "compatibility standard" thing. So when I see the ACCESS logo come splashing across the screen, I'm thinking MotionApps was given direct access (no pun intended) to use the Garnet code to develop Classic. So unlike Styletap, Classic "is" Garnet, making it very compatible. Yes? No?

Disclaimer: I am employed by Palm, Inc.
(or not)

Why - literally - is this any more exciting than Palm's prior words ona third-party shop building a PalmOS emulator?

Engadget adds that this is likely to be a one timer, although we all hope Palm changes its mind. Or has a real plan: mojo for simple web apps, c sdk for everything else.
Also it there might be strong limitations, such as lack of access to pre databases, pre specific services, etc.

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Hey Admin: Why do we have to keep two profiles?

Wow, in some countries that's a whole week's pay...