Palm pre - no true economy behind it

[Tam Hanna]

Hello Folks,
soirry to be the party pooper, but I fear that the Pre will go into an iPhoneesque direction as far as software is concerned...which means loads of games and little else.

On Palm, no game made it into the Handango top 10 - whereas on iPhone, 70% of the top10 were games yesterday:
http://tamsijungle.tamoggemon.com/2009/01/15/iphone-70-of-top-ten-paid-apps-are-games/

;(

All the best
Tam Hanna

[danceman]

Good point Tam, but anyway I don't mine the games ;). Hope that touchy surface part on the bottom of the PRE can be used to 5-nav for directions in games (I'm not talking about the button but its shame they didn't make it a 5-nav joystick).

[militumxpisti]

From what I gathered in recent articles is that developers are not going to have access for awhile to what it takes to design a game of any real importance. Not to say that people have not designed overly simplistic or non-graphic intensive games that were hits before. I hope you know what I'm saying. No crayon physics is my point.

The idea of the Palm-pre becoming any sort-of gaming platform is directly in conflict with what they, Palm, is saying it is designed for. I'm afraid its all Web based apps for some time. Nothing to deep and rich. Just clever and colourful.

[Greek]

Games are majority in all platforms, not only in the iPhone.

Regards,

[cms]

Not to mention Palms did not have dedicated GPU's
iphone is similar to nintendo DS and such as they are cappable of graphic intensive games - also the iphone's accelerometer allows for more user involved games

The Palm Pre's Processor specs do show that it also has a GPU so the Pre is going to be Palms first gaming cappable device - which means palm is starting fresh

Why the iphone would have top games is because the games on the iphone are of really good quality.

the best we have ever saw on a Palm TX was Duke3D and that was not distributed via commercial application stores

[ProfJonathan]

One point: WebOS is Linux-based, which means that Palm is legally *obligated* to release the source code when asked. That should allow more sophisticated developers to get into the works more quickly than Palm may allow. (I also think that, given that Palm has already said that 3rd party developers could write PalmOS emulators, which would require more heavy-duty programming, Palm isn't likely to keep WebOS closed very long anyway.) {ProfJonathan}

[ftwitty]

Is the bottom line then that there won't be anything worthwhile offered in terms of software for the Pre for a looooooooooong time?

[cms]

Is the bottom line then that there won't be anything worthwhile offered in terms of software for the Pre for a looooooooooong time?

they should be able to do it faster than apple did

[ftwitty]

they should be able to do it faster than apple did
Sounds more like the bleeding edge to me, which is more for young men or wolves. When I switched from a Tx/680 combination to the Pro, I had to switch OS for the stuff I needed, but that very easy because the Mobile Windows offerings was huge. The Pre has nothing. That will make for a very difficult transition for a long time.

[Greek]

Only for power users, not for the big majority. :)

Regards,

[Tam Hanna]

Games are majority in all platforms, not only in the iPhone.

Regards,

Yes, yes. But they dont get into the top 10.

This was my point.

[danceman]

Yes, yes. But they dont get into the top 10.

This was my point.

Maybe because just games work well on the iphone. For the rest (productivity) you need real multitasking, copy and past, the cloud, etc... I think the iPhone is still lacking in some areas (except the jailbreaking one that most don't have or don't buy apps) and it still can't beat the old timer PalmOS in the PIM category and copy past for that matter. And its here I think people will have a second device and buy other type of apps and not games.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not comparing, but I think the iPhone has got the media market, not the working one, where rim, palm and windows mobile are.

And its here where I think Palm Pre can win, the media and working markets.

And I forgot, remember that Apple controls the apps that are approved and can be sold, maybe they are just not approving PIM type apps because they have them also on the iPhone, so that leaves the developer the option to just make games that will be surely approved (remember it cost money to be approved, better wast on a app that will for sure). Also, there are success stories with developers that made a game and won lots of money, making them more and more a first option for first time developers for the iphone to win money

[cms]

again linux (as stated above) lunux is open source and between all that palm is willing to certify you programs for stability and not for regulation

I hope palm avertizes that they want their users to make the palm better and give them full reign over the phone

somthing that I think would be cool is if someone makes widgets run in the background of the pre so you can veiw them from the "deck veiw"

[madmaxmedia]

The user base is ultimately going to drive the software. I think Palm is trying to expand its user base with the Pre and WebOS, which will probably tilt the software library towards entertainment. But that doesn't mean of course there won't be a good selection of productivity/work software.

Also important is the SDK, in terms what is allowed/not allowed. Apple has some significant hardware limitations (you can't access the dock for example) that I think influence the direction of development. Also they exert a lot of control over peripherals too. No one can (or has been able to) release a keyboard peripheral for the iPhone/iPod Touch. That influences the software developers who won't bother to develop text editing and other software that need faster text input (although I guess Docs To Go is coming.)

So I think your concerns are legit. But I also think a great new UI doesn't mean there will only be games for WebOS. ;)

[Greek]

Another lack of hardware access: you can't use BT Stereo headphones/earphones. I do it with my Centro, and will do it when I can get the Pre.

Regards,

[DennisOS2]

Hello Folks,
soirry to be the party pooper, but I fear that the Pre will go into an iPhoneesque direction as far as software is concerned...which means loads of games and little else.

On Palm, no game made it into the Handango top 10 - whereas on iPhone, 70% of the top10 were games yesterday:
http://tamsijungle.tamoggemon.com/2009/01/15/iphone-70-of-top-ten-paid-apps-are-games/

;(

All the best
Tam Hanna

Tam,

I've owned 7 Palm OS based PDAs and smartphones. Before that I owned all three versions of the HP LX PDAs. I like simple, but now demand complex functionality. Windows Mobile is the real joke. IF WebOS delivers on the promise, it will mean a new era of smartphones AND PDAs. We need bright creative minds such as yours to develop for this new platform ............ again, assuming it works. You can deliver the meaningful non-game apps the business professional needs. We're all waiting to see if the Pre is 'real'. If so, please consider jumping aboard.

[ftwitty]

Is the bottom line then that there won't be anything worthwhile offered in terms of software for the Pre for a looooooooooong time?Oh no! Do you mean that this is correct? :eek: That's terrible!

[DennisOS2]

Oh no! Do you mean that this is correct? :eek: That's terrible!
the established base of Treo and Palm users will demand on-device apps. either the established Palm developers will contribute or the door will be open to new developers. Will be dependent on the willingness of current developers and how Palm treats them.

Palm has to court their established base first. Trying to establish a new base for the Pre is folly. Or is it pronounced 'foleo' :)

[ftwitty]

but if pre is floating up in the clouds, hasn't Palm cut off developers at the knees? Thye'll have all the apps and the user will be paying through the nose to Palm to use their apps and storage space.

[DennisOS2]

but if pre is floating up in the clouds, hasn't Palm cut off developers at the knees? Thye'll have all the apps and the user will be paying through the nose to Palm to use their apps and storage space.
As i've said Palm cannot alienate its established base. Suicide, but possible given their other business misstep (Foleo). So, i won't jump in till they prove they have a cloud and tera firma set of solutions. One positive is that Dataviz will have a DTG suite on the devices at ship. That's proof right there of possible intentions. Way too early to say what the long-range developer strategy is. But imagine all the traditional apps deviverable through an iPhone/Apple type store that provide business type functionality. The possibilities combined with 'cloud' (as long as corporate security exists) is enomous. As a serious, business PDA user for 18 years, this is the first MAJOR advance during that timeframe. Even the Palm Pilot was a significant downgrade in performance from my 200LX.

[ftwitty]

I haven't really looked at the Pre seriously since I just got Pro and love it. It is perfect for me, so I'm not really looking to replace it. But, from the little I know, I think Palm has made a very serious error, which is not rare.