4 ms·

as a consumer, this looks good. As a mobile developer: f@ck, yet another platform to support!!! I hope supports the android platform (Dalvik and all, on top

by ardit33 18y ago

as a consumer, this looks good. As a mobile developer: f@ck, yet another platform to support!!! I hope supports the android platform (Dalvik and all, on top of their OS), in the future for native apps, in addition to the current web app framework it has. It would be very competitive to iPhone.

davidw 18y ago
Yeah, Android is where it's at for me. Apple might be able to get away with a mostly closed platform, but I am not sure a smaller player like Palm can (even Nokia is opening Symbian). In any case, I'd prefer something open myself, and am not sure about the long term viability of niche closed platforms unless they really conquer some particular area.
numair 18y ago
I would have to disagree. If this thing supports Flash, which is likely, it is Apple's greatest fear; there are far, far more people who can develop compelling Flash games, than people who can develop stuff for the iPhone. Also, as a Palm device, they are likely to create many different versions, so penetration into other markets / user segments is likely. This is game-changing. Jobs was betting that nobody would produce another elegant device, but guess what? One of his own (Rubenstein) showed him it can be done. That's another thing, you know - behind all of this is a great ego-war that is likely to fuel a lot of great innovation from both sides. As both a consumer and a developer, you should be excited. Google's offering will go nowhere. Mark my words. They're already trying to save face by looking at putting the OS into other things, like set-top boxes, but that doesn't replace the fact that it kinda sucks. I bet Google (and Cisco, and Motorola, and a couple other companies) are thinking about buying Palm right now (have fun trying to do that, guys - Rubenstein's not going to want to let you ruin his game with Jobs).
- enomar 18y ago
  Flash is likely to appear on Android as well. Apparently pretty soon... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghIGj9r3_vc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghIGj9r3_vc
- ardit33 18y ago
  i think android has a much brighter future. Speaking from some inside knowledge, there are two large carriers that will introduce android devices this year. Plus, all the Asian manufacturers (Samsung, LG, Kyocera, and some smaller Chinese ones ) don't have any good OSs in the plate. So they are already working on android devices. Here is a rundown of the mobile world: iPhone -- we all know it. Developing for it is not easy, and the process is not friendly at all. Good for games, but very restrictive APIs, and what you can do. There is so much more this device can do, but Steve Jobs doesn't want you to. So, some good competition is always welcome, as it will force Apple to open up. Blackberry OS (semi-niche. Popular, but an OS with only one manufacture. Plus J2ME is going to be phased out, the BB Api is not that great (UI wise). .. Symbian - Will be open source in a year. It is old, (based on work from Psion two decades ago), and development for it is not great (plus the UI is horrible). .. Winmo - Has been around since 2002. Hasn't chagned much in years. Development for it is ok (not that hard), but overall it is Microsoft yucky interface. It was good for coorporates that didn't want to pay the Blackberry extra costs, but right now it is way behind. .. Android -- The new kid on the block. Programing for it is easier, (performance is ok, not that great for games), it is open, and it runs on top of Linux, but it can run everything. .. Palm -- Used to be hot 5 years ago. And now trying to come back. I really don't know any companies trying to work on anything on palm. They need to get a good app dev environment going, but they are not big enough to create yet another platform to develop for. Android/Dalvik, (or maybe Flash), will be great choices. .. Linmo -- DOA. I have seen a couple of Motorola Linmo handsets, and they are crap. Just give up. The OS doesn't really matter anymore, the APP Environment is the one that matters now. Users really don't care if the underpinning of the OS is Linux, OS X/BSD, Symbian, or whatever. They just care for shiny things (flashy and animation), and running apps.
shimi 18y ago
In my view this is actually good for developers, the more that the technology will be fragmented the more work we will have.
- DenisM 18y ago
  I find it a little unsettling that I agree both with you and with the parent post...

by ardit33 18y ago

davidw 18y ago

Yeah, Android is where it's at for me. Apple might be able to get away with a mostly closed platform, but I am not sure a smaller player like Palm can (even Nokia is opening Symbian). In any case, I'd prefer something open myself, and am not sure about the long term viability of niche closed platforms unless they really conquer some particular area.

numair 18y ago

I would have to disagree. If this thing supports Flash, which is likely, it is Apple's greatest fear; there are far, far more people who can develop compelling Flash games, than people who can develop stuff for the iPhone. Also, as a Palm device, they are likely to create many different versions, so penetration into other markets / user segments is likely. This is game-changing. Jobs was betting that nobody would produce another elegant device, but guess what? One of his own (Rubenstein) showed him it can be done. That's another thing, you know - behind all of this is a great ego-war that is likely to fuel a lot of great innovation from both sides. As both a consumer and a developer, you should be excited. Google's offering will go nowhere. Mark my words. They're already trying to save face by looking at putting the OS into other things, like set-top boxes, but that doesn't replace the fact that it kinda sucks. I bet Google (and Cisco, and Motorola, and a couple other companies) are thinking about buying Palm right now (have fun trying to do that, guys - Rubenstein's not going to want to let you ruin his game with Jobs).

enomar 18y ago
Flash is likely to appear on Android as well. Apparently pretty soon... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghIGj9r3_vc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghIGj9r3_vc
ardit33 18y ago
i think android has a much brighter future. Speaking from some inside knowledge, there are two large carriers that will introduce android devices this year. Plus, all the Asian manufacturers (Samsung, LG, Kyocera, and some smaller Chinese ones ) don't have any good OSs in the plate. So they are already working on android devices. Here is a rundown of the mobile world: iPhone -- we all know it. Developing for it is not easy, and the process is not friendly at all. Good for games, but very restrictive APIs, and what you can do. There is so much more this device can do, but Steve Jobs doesn't want you to. So, some good competition is always welcome, as it will force Apple to open up. Blackberry OS (semi-niche. Popular, but an OS with only one manufacture. Plus J2ME is going to be phased out, the BB Api is not that great (UI wise). .. Symbian - Will be open source in a year. It is old, (based on work from Psion two decades ago), and development for it is not great (plus the UI is horrible). .. Winmo - Has been around since 2002. Hasn't chagned much in years. Development for it is ok (not that hard), but overall it is Microsoft yucky interface. It was good for coorporates that didn't want to pay the Blackberry extra costs, but right now it is way behind. .. Android -- The new kid on the block. Programing for it is easier, (performance is ok, not that great for games), it is open, and it runs on top of Linux, but it can run everything. .. Palm -- Used to be hot 5 years ago. And now trying to come back. I really don't know any companies trying to work on anything on palm. They need to get a good app dev environment going, but they are not big enough to create yet another platform to develop for. Android/Dalvik, (or maybe Flash), will be great choices. .. Linmo -- DOA. I have seen a couple of Motorola Linmo handsets, and they are crap. Just give up. The OS doesn't really matter anymore, the APP Environment is the one that matters now. Users really don't care if the underpinning of the OS is Linux, OS X/BSD, Symbian, or whatever. They just care for shiny things (flashy and animation), and running apps.

shimi 18y ago

In my view this is actually good for developers, the more that the technology will be fragmented the more work we will have.

DenisM 18y ago
I find it a little unsettling that I agree both with you and with the parent post...