Reflections on the Palm Pre and “Open Apps”
January 25, 2009 by Jayvee Fernandez
Filed under Palm
Whoa. I just realized that it’s been a while since I tagged something under the category of “Palm.” With Palm’s competitive absence from the mobile scene for the past three years, Apple’s iPhone has rightfully taken the place of the world’s most easy to use smartphone OS. And behind them, Windows Mobile still retains its niche as being the “geekier” trade. But Palm’s comeback looks promising, amidst the apparent infringement into how the new Palm OS looks a lot like the iPhone’s. Can’t blame Apple. But yeah, I can’t blame Palm either.
The latter has long been wanting to reclaim its place – a place that’s been obviously occupied by Apple. And from the initial looks of the OS, we’re seeing something simply amazing. There are so many questions – availability within Q2, compatibility with legacy apps, pricing, a GSM version .. the list goes on. But as someone who’s followed Palm’s rise to the development of the Handspring, I must say that these guys might be doing something right, finally by simply sitting and watching what everyone else is doing.
2009 might be the year for Palm. But I honestly think that it is more like the year of the OS that adopts something close to an idea of “open apps” where developing one app for Palm OS 2 allows it to be compatible with Android, Windows Mobile, and Apple as well. It’s a far, far idea. But really, that’s what happened with Open Social.
I’ve been a Palm fan since the Palm Pilot. It has been disappointing for palm users for the past 3 to 4 years. I hope this is the Palm device we have been waiting for from Palm!