TealOS Forced Into Early Retirement

Ahhhh...

TealOS was cheeky. We all knew it would be axed sooner or later. That's why I registered early.

justauser wrote:
Oh come on now. Apple did the same thing by pulling iPhoney and others prior to iPhone release (and a lot more aggressively)

TealOS was cheeky. We all knew it would be axed sooner or later. That's why I registered early.

At the risk of taking this too seriously:

I don't know if you're speaking of the Win Mob skin that parroted the iPhone interface, or the developer application that emulates the IPhone Safari web browser, but neither really compare to this silliness.

The first was an attempt to put a proprietary interface on another company's branded device. TealPont is a developer that has had a history of enhancing the functionality of Palm's own devices and feeding the "Palm Economy" going back to the days of my first Pilot in 1997.

There's a deeper hypocrisy in this: The iPhone didn't start as an "open" device, and it arguably still isn't. The original Palm OS, from from 1.0 all the way up to the last iteration of FrankenGarnet, has owed it's longevity to the army of developers and tinkerers that expanded the device's utility.

The very efforts by those behind the 50k+ Palm OS applications and hardware iterations was not only encouraged by Palm and the one of the foundations of the business model that's got them to this point, but it's the essence of what's kept the device still functional and worth staying with for many of us, despite Palm's continued mis-steps in every device rollout and OS update since then.

Whatever success or failure the Pre turns out to be, this seemingly trivial action speaks volumes for the lack of goodwill Palm seems to be exhibiting to a loyal user and developer base.
End of Contract with Sprint- to become a "Pre-vert" or go Android?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhony

Looks like exactly the same silliness to me. You have a very short memory. Apple was all over the net with "cease and desist" letters early 2007 for all sorts of copycat apps soon after the announcement of the iPhone.

iPhone is released and imitation now is flattery. Before its release imitation was potentially damaging. Same with Pre.

In the case of iPhony, the best I could figure out was that it used the actual iPhone icons which were supposedly copyrighted. But the threat from Apple was strong enough that the author decided not to try to work around Apple's threats by changing all the icons (which is a lot of work for a guy who was just having some fun). On the other hand, I did "create" alternate icons in the xPhone skin and never heard anything from Apple about it. (http://www.1src.com/freeware/fileinfo.php?id=1891) Maybe they never figured out where to send the letter. On the other hand, for some reason that skin just disappeared from the website for no apparent reason and I had to re-upload it. If I was a conspiracy theorist.... ;-)

At a minimum, Apple is vigorous with threats to defend its IP. I'm still curious if they will attempt to do anything to Palm when the Pre is released. They don't have to be "right" to sue Palm, just willing.

"twrock is infamous around these parts" (from my profile over at Brighthand due to my negative 62 rep points rating)

You're confusing patents and trademarks. A trademark must be defended or it can be considered to be "abandoned". This is not the case with either copyrights or patents.

An invention can be considered abandoned if no attempt is made to publicize it "within a reasonable time". A patent, or a patent application, can be considered abandoned if the required USPTO fees aren't paid, or if it's expressly declared to be abandoned by the inventor.

The situation previously described applies to trademarks, not patents. The obligations on a patent holder are to correctly disclose the method and best-known practices for making/using a given invention, not to defend the patent in the way that a trademark must be defended at the risk of losing it.

Your suggestion that something could be "changed just enough" is also pretty sketchy: if a modification to a patented invention could be considered to be "obvious to one skilled in the art"-a fairly low bar-then the modified invention likewise constitutes an infringement on the original patent.

To reply Justauser, my memory isn't bad, and I wasn't intending to open a debate on Apple or Palm's defense of IP with copyright and trademark law, but Lefty did a better job than I could have parsing the nuances.

My point was that Apple didn't start with, and still doesn't have, the open and collaborative relationship with its developers that Palm owes much of its support in the marketplace to. I still contend Apple's C&D letters to a developer for a competing hardware device differs greatly in spirit and execution to Palm's treatment of a developer with which it previously closely collaborated, going back not only to its early days as a company, but even through the Foleo debacle.

Although I can get my mind around what I think Hkklife's point is to the possible cannibalization of a lower-end "Centro II" WebOS device, I have to ponder if WebOS will really be "all that", what worry Palm would realistically have to fear from TealOS

In any case, as MikeCane sagely points out, perhaps there is a place for TealOS to quietly live out Garnet's last days on a Swedish server.

Last, anyone see the latest rumor on sister site Mobility Beat on rumors of April 30 "Pre-release"? http://palmwebos.org/
End of Contract with Sprint- to become a "Pre-vert" or go Android?

http://www.appscout.com/2009/03/twitter_creates_then_kills_bog.php

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->?

akalefty wrote:
(This is why you don't want to ever attempt writing your own patent, and why patent attorneys make pretty good money.)

Last year, I came up with a clever idea for remote controls. It wasn't a new technology, but rather a unique and useful combination of old ideas that created something new. I've had some IP training and I've done plenty of technical writing, so I thought, "How hard could it be?"

Hot damn. Even the shortest patent is like deciphering Hieroglyphics. I'll stick to engineering.

-Bosco
m105 -> NX70v -> NX80v -> iPhone -> iPhone 3G

Couple of things about this "Jim" guy:

1. If he and/or his firm were doing Pre beta-testing, there would obviously be NDAs issued and to blatantly violate them would be sheer idiocy. We've SEEN the wrath of Palm's legal dept. at work before!

2. Palm would not release Pre into the field for beta-testing and "forget" to issue an NDA. This is the device that may save or sink the company!

3. EVERYTHING he has stated about the Pre is either impossible vague or can be gleaned from reading through the various CES & MWC impressions/photos/videos.

4. He "promised" to produce screen captures but could have easily posted the ROM/hardware revision numbers (as in "Palm WebOS v. 1.xxxxxxxxx, Hardware Rev. A")

5. He Tweeted that the Pre goes for 8 hours of "mixed usage" on a single 1150mAh battery and is still "going strong"? That feeble battery is already is a huge shortcoming for the Centro and 800w. And the Pre has a larger, higher-resolution screen, more RAM, and a faster CPU that will be busier with the devices? Add to that the rigors of a true multi-tasking/multi-threading OS than either of those Palm devices (or the iPhone for that matter)? And it has wi-fi and GPS to deal with that the Centro does not? Please!

I'd place much more faith in the 'Dell is buying Palm' rumor than "Here are the first hands-on impressions of the Pre". That Jim guy has said absolutely nothing of worth that wasn't previously known. He's just trying to get some free publicity for his IT firm and drum up his own 15 mins of fame. Besdies, beta-testers aren't usually privvy to info like release dates or pricing.
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->?

To me, Microsoft seems to be the overall best mobile solution company.