Justin joked about the Palm OS being the ultimate undying mobile OS.  In many ways this is true.  For a while now, a company called StyleTap has created a Palm OS emulator that runs on Windows Mobile or Symbian.  I was actually very surprised at Palm’s announcement that it was a company other than StyleTap that would be developing the Classic app for WebOS.  At the same time, I am glad.  I have never had much luck with applications that use large database files on StyleTap.  But, this means that now Palm OS applications can be run on Symbian, Windows Mobile (Pro, Classic, and Standard), and now WebOS.  That sure is  a lot of market availability for a dying OS!

I really think that an application like this is going to be a huge hit (if it is implemented properly), especially since Palm has said that they plan on making tools that will transfer data over from a Palm OS device to the Pre running Classic.  There are a ton of medical databases that were made for the Palm OS that are still being supported.  This will allow these programs to be available to use on the Pre as soon as it is released.

Is this a long term solution?  Of course not.  But it will make a lot of users very happy that they can use some of the Palm apps that they have been using for years (and years and years and years…) until their favorite developers start making native applications for WebOS.

And honestly, one of the most played games on my Nintendo Wii is Mario Kart 64.  Some things just never get old.

It’s been a rusty nail hanging on the coffin of the Palm brand.  Ever since they moved to Windows Mobile for their devices, people programming for the zombie PALM OS are in luck.  It’s been announced that all the legacy code will work on WebOS.  Now the only missing link in the Palm plan would be compatibility with Windows Mobile code . . .

It seems that everyone is talking app stores these days.  Apple started the trend and is doing a very good job selling applications through their App Store.  It probably helps that users cannot install applications in any other way unless they risk jailbreaking their precious iPhones.

Microsoft recently announced their own Marketplace that will be included with every device running Windows Mobile 6.5 on.  Of course developers will probably still be able to distribute their applications through other means, whether that be sites like Handango and MobiHand or through their own means.  You would think that would mean that Microsoft would make it easy for developers to get their applications into the Marketplace, right?

Well…it is Microsoft after all…

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The experience of searching for and finding the SDK, and a beginners guide couldn’t be easier.  A google search provided immediate results for the 6.1 SDK refresh, and a search of a well known community (MSDN) provided plenty of information to get started writing apps using the .net development platform.  Microsoft Windows is still one of the most widely used operating systems, making it an easily accessible native platform.

WineHQ has a write-up on installing Visual Studio .NET 2005 Express natively in Linux, but is mostly rated as garbage.  I suggest using the same technique here as installing the Apple SDK – grab a copy of windows and install it in a VM session.  Running a Mac you could easily run this using Parallels or VMware Fusion.

If you are an Apple fanboy, you would probably say no.  If you are a Windows Mobile or Symbian fanboy, you would probably say yes.  My guess is if you are a developer, that answer is a lot harder to answer.

Since Apple released iPhone 2.0 and allowed native applications, the developers have jumped on board to develop 30,500 iPhone apps.  This is a huge win for Apple because developers can have a huge impact on a platform.  Of course…so far Apple has a total of 2 iPhone models and 2 iPod Touch models that all use the same screen resolution and features with pretty much the same hardware.  This means that iPhone developers have an advantage over most other smartphone platforms.

And what about a truly diverse platform?

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I know we’ve talked a lot about the iPhone this opening week.  There’s been a lot of excitement over the 3.0 updating coming soon to a phone near you.  Windows Mobile fans out there have a reason to celebrate too.  If version 7 of the mobile OS is shaping up anything like the desktop OS or the server 2008 OS, Microsoft has a bright future.  Some screenshots of the new UI have been posted on several sites, and it looks like Microsoft has taken a page from Apple’s book.  Regardless of the assimilation, lets face it, Microsoft still runs a majority of business services out there from Exchange to Sharepoint, and as a business phone with the direct integration into these services, that gives M$ the advantage in that arena.

30,500 iPhone apps

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Ok, so after hearing all of the new stuff in iPhone 3.0, I had to test it out.  I joined the iPhone dev program (which I was planning on doing this month anyway) and downloaded and installed the iPhone 3.0 beta to my iPhone.  I played with some of the new features and then loaded up all of my programs.  I then attempted to setup my work Exchange account.  I say attempted, because it never worked.  It would never get me to the step to input my actual server address.  Then I started trying to use some of my clutch programs only to notice extreme lag and some quirky issues.  Using the Facebook application, it would load all of the text and menus, but would not load the pictures for any of my friends.  Tweetie would sometimes not load all of the avatars.  Evernote just seemed to drag.  None of these are issues with the programs or the developers…it is a beta OS.  This stuff is to be expected which is why there are warnings all over the place when you download the 3.0 beta that you will not be able to downgrade back.

Of course, that is not true.  Leave it up to the wonderful mobile community to figure out that you can downgrade back to the 2.2.1 firmware, but the baseband would stay the same on the iPhone 3G.  Not a big deal.  You get an error in iTunes after the restore, but QuickPwn will get you out of that issue.  I followed the steps over at Gizmodo, but I was still having issues.  I have not had my iPhone jailbroken for a long time and I really have no desire to do it now, but if that was the only way to go back to 2.2.1, then I can accept it.

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Victory at long last.    Long ago I left the Apple IIGS for Windows 95 and hadn’t looked back since. This handy little guide brought me home.  I named my VM Sex Panther, because 60 percent of the time, it works every time.  That’s about the success rate I’ve had with these hacked together distros for Leopard.

In addition to VMWare’s 6.5 Workstation offering a fantastic test environment, the best ISO out there I’ve found to date is the iDeneb.  The customization options are commented so that even the average person can make sense of what they’re clicking.  Success rates may vary, but I now have my development environment set up.  If you plan on undertaking a similar project, I highly suggest either paying to become an apple developer for $500, buying a license for Leopard (even though this is against the EULA), or taking the easy way out and spending the $600 on a Mac mini.  Next on the docket is a review of the training videos/materials available through apple.

After some further research my journey has led me back to windows or linux.  I have a PC, and I should stick with what it runs best right?

There are a few options out there for people that want to utilize a PC to develop for the iPhone, but I can almost guarantee that none of the apps developed using these tools will see the light of day in the Apple Appstore.  Regardless this might be a good starting point for learning.

I’m starting to see VMware as my savior as much as I’ve been trying to avoid virtualization.  More on that in a later.

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