Classic Compatible Apps Now Listed in the Store

Palm OS Classic AppsThe PalmInfocenter Software Store has added the ability to easily browse and purchase Palm OS applications that are compatible with the webOS Classic emulator. Starting today, users can select the Palm Pre via the device selector and view a large catalog of Palm OS apps that have been proven to work perfectly in Classic, with new apps being tested and added daily.

Customers can read about the various means of installing and using Classic apps via our FAQ here. The store will also mark existing Palm OS apps with a Classic Certified Logo on the product detail pages.

To celebrate the new features, the software store is offering a 20% discount on all apps from now until July 4, 2009. Just enter coupon code, "CLASSIC" during checkout.

"The Palm Pre and Palm's webOS have garnered accolades from industry experts and ignited an air of excitement around Palm that hasn't been felt for years," said Steve Howard, president and CEO of MobiHand, Inc. "Thanks to the MotionApps Classic Palm OS emulator, new Pre owners will be able to run many of the leisure and business apps they love such as Aces Texas Hold'em, Bejeweled, BlackJack Deluxe, Agendus, and SplashID immediately—which will help them comfortably make the transition to this incredible new platform."

"MobiHand has made it possible for our readers to access a growing list of apps that will run on the Palm Pre using the MotionApps Classic Palm OS emulator," said Ryan Kairer, founder of PalmInfocenter.com. "The long list of unique titles and special offers that can be found at our Classic App store will make it a destination to visit often."

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Classic apps and tethering

brehanyj@gmail.com @ 6/24/2009 1:38:00 PM # Q
Maybe this is a moot point, but could one use a Classic app like USB modem to tether the Pre?
RE: Classic apps and tethering
mikecane @ 6/24/2009 4:22:22 PM # Q
I think it was established early on that Classic does not talk to either the WiFi or Bluetooth radios.
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iPhone vs. Pre: Memos

mikecane @ 6/24/2009 4:26:00 PM # Q
One of my concerns was preserving the 10MB(!) of Memos I have in my LifeDrive.

Thanks to Twitter and iPhone owners and a Pre owner, it turns out I don't have to use Classic for those Memos.

I emailed one of my longest Memos - 32K - and had people copy and paste them into the iPhone and Pre Notes apps.

iPhone: All the text went in just fine.

Pre: The email had to be switched to Edit mode in order to Copy the text. When Edit was invoked, the text was truncated. Two paragraphs wound up being deleted. All the rest of the text went into a Note fine.

So, really, either device could take my Memos. On the Pre it'd just require an additional bit of work with the longest ones.

Maybe this info will help others.

why IPOD TOUCH for MikeCon?
Gekko @ 6/24/2009 5:12:13 PM # Q

MikeCon -

1. WTF haven't you run a PRE through its paces yet?
2. WTF would you want to f**k with a device that TRUNCATES your Memos????????? WTF would you tolerate such nonsense????
3. i have come to the conclusion that the best device for you is the IPOD TOUCH!

why IPOD TOUCH for MikeCon?

1. No monthly Voice Plan to pay for (use your cheap prepaid tracphone on an as needed basis)
2. No monthly Data Plan to pay for (use free ubiquitous WIFI hotspots as available)
3. it brings you into this century - 2009 - and away from that awful outdated buggy LifeDrive.
4. AppStore
5. you'll fit in with and look cool to all of your hipster friends
6. it's CHEAP - $229 new or ~$100 on ebay
7. lots of memory for your memoirs/archives - 8GB+
8. mature platform/stable/proven OS
9. quality design/build
10. Good PIM Apps with Memos
11. Brand new 3.0 Update
12. Apple service/back up of their products

RE: iPhone vs. Pre: Memos
jca666us @ 6/24/2009 5:34:08 PM # M Q
mike, the saddest thing I have ever heard - that you own a lifedrive!!!!!!

So sad...

RE: iPhone vs. Pre: Memos
mikecane @ 6/24/2009 6:25:10 PM # Q
Gekko: No. The iPod Touch lacks at least two things I need:

1) Always connected. After searching for WiFi with that damned Nokia 770 crap, I'm fed up with hotspots.

2) The camera. Gotta have picture-taking that's also instantly uploadable.

I haven't been able to molest a Pre because the closest Sprint Store now has NO DEMO MODELS AT ALL! I don't know if they broke or what. I didn't bother to go in and ask because they aren't like an Apple Store, all laid-back. They begin to drool when people walk in.

And the Pre didn't truncate my data, Pre Mail did. That's a minor issue. The Pre Notes app didn't cut off the text that was poured into it.

And I haven't investigated any 3rd-party Notes apps for either yet (don't think Pre has one yet).

To the eejit after you: I have a LifeDrive because I got it cheeeep off ebay and replaced its dead HD with CF. Now back to your cesspool, troll.

RE: iPhone vs. Pre: Memos
jca666us @ 6/24/2009 6:35:44 PM # Q
Mike,

Who are you calling an idiot? You bought a lifedrive - bwahahahahahaha!!!!! Do you have a tapwave zodiac in your collection too?!?!?

You should definitely buy a Pre - replace one slow, defective piece of junk (lifedrive) with an albeit newer, slow, defective piece of junk (Pre) - with multitasking web apps!

mike cane - looserwithalifedrive!

RE: iPhone vs. Pre: Memos
mikecane @ 6/24/2009 6:38:46 PM # Q
>>>looserwithalifedrive!

"Looser"? My eejit designation was apt.

RE: iPhone vs. Pre: Memos
jca666us @ 6/25/2009 12:28:50 AM # M Q
must I put :) on everything? geez
RE: iPhone vs. Pre: Memos
twrock @ 6/25/2009 1:06:06 AM # Q
jca666us wrote:
Do you have a tapwave zodiac in your collection too?!?!?

You're dissing the Zod now?!!
You haven't a clue.

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?

RE: iPhone vs. Pre: Memos
jca666us @ 6/25/2009 3:10:00 AM # M Q
oh please - the "zod" and the lifedrive were duds in the marketplace.

twrock - get a clue!

RE: iPhone vs. Pre: Memos
freakout @ 6/25/2009 3:28:16 AM # Q
must I put :) on everything? geez

An emoticon is not a get-out-of-jail-free card for being an idiot.

RE: iPhone vs. Pre: Memos
twrock @ 6/25/2009 4:33:00 AM # Q
jca666us wrote:
oh please - the "zod" and the lifedrive were duds in the marketplace.

twrock - get a clue!


Oh, that explains a lot. As a follower of the "marketplace" crowd, you make purchases based on what everybody else buys. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by your display of ignorance about the Zodiac.

I suspect you will think that my choice of a HandEra 330 was a big mistake as well. It wasn't a "hip" device either. Certainly didn't do well in the "marketplace".

Did you own a Zodiac? Did you ever even use one? Do you have a clue what you are talking about?



Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?

RE: iPhone vs. Pre: Memos
DarthRepublican @ 6/25/2009 12:44:45 PM # Q
Mike:

1. Your requirement of an always on Internet device suggests that even if you're unwilling to admit it, you are ready to ditch the Tracphone and get a smartphone, possibly an old model jailbroken, unlocked iPhone or an unlocked T-Mobile G1 (caveat, I own a G1 and it's slower than my old LifeDrive was, perhaps a developer model without T-Mobile's customizations might be faster).
2. My Palm Pre allows you to create and upload to a Photobucket account right out of the box. Also, I was able to molest the Pre several times before committing to buying it. Look for smaller independent (i.e. non-corporate) Sprint stores, they are usually a lot less uptight about letting you fondle the merchandise. Also, Classic on the Pre imported all my PalmOS memos (a more modest collection than yours to be sure) just fine.

jca666us: I owned a LifeDrive too and it was a good device for its time if you knew how to use it properly (i.e. not the way Mike uses it), as a multimedia device/mobile web tablet/ebook reader with a nice, big screen at a time when the iPhone did not yet exist. I would probably still be able to find some use for it if the hard drive had not died. And while I didn't own a Zodiac, the few times I did get to handle it, I got the impression that it was an excellent device for its time as well.
Screw convergence
Palm III->Visor Deluxe->Visor Platinum->Visor Prism->Tungsten E->Palm LifeDrive->Palm TX->Palm Pre
Visor Pro+VisorPhone->Treo 180g->Treo 270->Treo 600->Treo 680->T-Mobile G1->Palm Pre
http://mind-grapes.blogspot.com/

RE: iPhone vs. Pre: Memos (LOL)
DevPOV @ 6/25/2009 1:55:16 PM # Q
What is this? 'Molest' and 'Fondle'? These are only gadgets, LOL.
RE: iPhone vs. Pre: Memos
justauser @ 6/25/2009 3:52:22 PM # Q
To further drive home the point; the Apple 'Newton' was a great device but market flop. Lifedrive was a great device but too expensive - if you got it cheap well done.

On the topic - truncating is odd. I'm assuming the truncation came from the email's edit limitations, not the memo.

RE: iPhone vs. Pre: Memos
Scotland @ 6/25/2009 4:33:58 PM # Q
Mike - you should get a Pre. Unless Classic won't import your Memos at all (didn't try this with mine - but then, I only had a few which I don't really care about), I don't see any reason to worry about them being in Classic.

In my experience, with the WebOS 1.0.3 and Classic 1.1 updates, Classic 1.1 runs wells now (1.0 was crap and should never have been released, IMHO). It is stable and runs the two apps I minimally needed, HandyShopper, and a demo version of Dataviz Docs2Go that I downloaded to get document editing (it was always free with PalmOS before, I don't want to pay for a new version for PalmOS given I'd prefer a native version but there's no announced schedule for when it is coming). Everything else I get working in Classic is gravy.

I don't know why you would want to go to all the trouble to email all these memos to yourself just to import them into a new device.

Other than more storage/expandable storage, the Pre is everything that Palm fans have been screaming for over the last several years (and on this site). Large screen, wi-fi, next gen OS, backward compatibility, slick interface, multitasking, etc, etc. Throw in Sprint's more reasonable rates and free Navigation software (I used to use Tom-Tom, though, they've since quit supporting PalmOS, and will likely charge a king's ransom on Iphone), with Classic support for anything you can't live without in the short run, and you have a great package regardless of what new software comes down the pike.

P.S. I still wish it had more storage/expandable storage. I also wish the center button was a trackball instead (giving an easier way forward for replacing the 5-way dpad - selecting text via the capacitive touch screen simply isn't as precise). With those, I would have considered it a grand slam home run instead of "just" a home run. Pre 2, perhaps?

RE: iPhone vs. Pre: Memos
Gekko @ 6/25/2009 5:52:16 PM # Q
RE: iPhone vs. Pre: Memos
mikecane @ 6/25/2009 5:54:47 PM # Q
>>>must I put :) on everything? geez

Posts from *you* - yes.

============

Moving stuff from the LifeDrive into Classic would not be a problem. Just copy the PDBs over and BOOM! open them in the 4 PIMs.

Didn't Palm also release a utility to move stuff from Garnet to the Pre apps?

Hmmm ... that's an interesting suggestion about the type of Sprint store to visit. I keep forgetting to try Radio Shack too, which is near that Sprint store I've been too. Thanks.

RE: iPhone vs. Pre: Memos
mikecane @ 6/25/2009 6:00:48 PM # Q
>>>the Pre is a piece of junk -

I'm wondering if the EOS would entice you to move to webOS? By then, there will probably have been some OTA updates to polish it some more.

Have you seen the new HTC Hero with Android and the Sense UI (looks like a frikkin Pre/Android mashup!)?

RE: iPhone vs. Pre: Memos
Gekko @ 6/25/2009 6:13:53 PM # Q

i'm done beta testing phones. i'm sticking with my Centro.

BTW -

Palm CEO Tells Citi Analyst To 'Look It Up In Wikipedia'

http://www.businessinsider.com/palm-ceo-tells-citi-analyst-to-look-it-up-in-wikipedia-2009-6


RE: iPhone vs. Pre: Memos
Gekko @ 6/25/2009 7:04:38 PM # Q
>By then, there will probably have been some OTA updates to polish it some more.

you can't polish a turd.

RE: iPhone vs. Pre: Memos
Scotland @ 6/25/2009 9:36:19 PM # Q
OK, so I copied over my PalmOS PIM data to the Pre in Classic just so I would have my legacy data there. Works fine.

If a recent hotsync hasn't copied over the DBs, then this procedure is a good one to use:
http://www.motionapps.com/classic/faq/pim.php

One word of warning - the "Contacts" application that comes with Classic is the original version - folks familiar with the updated phone/contacts app that came with GSM PalmOS devices will see a version different than the one they are used to seeing.

Gekko, you're entitled to your opinion, of course, but I love the irony of all the folks on this site who continually complained about a lack of a next-gen device from Palm and, now that it actually exists, claim that PalmOS is superior or are hesitant to make the jump. Huh??? Anyway, glad you're being balanced about your opinion and not claiming all Pre lovers are evil.

Each platform has its pros and cons and, although PalmOS has a lot of strengths (many that were taken for granted in the last couple years), IMHO, Pre/WebOS wins hands down. In addition to where we are right now, the growth potential of WebOS is so much better than PalmOS ever was. For me, one of the key differences with WebOS is that Palm is actually using a platform they can invest in (and easily program/develop for). It is solid now and will only get better. One small example - PalmOS Docs2go used to take multiple seconds (though it seemed like hours...) to save a multi-MB Word doc file in native PalmOS and now a save in Classic is instantaneous! It was so fast, in fact, that I wasn't sure that my document actually saved and I had to doublecheck it (a couple times!) Given the specs on the phones aren't all that different (although the processor speed is better on the Pre, system memory size is similar at 256MB and I can't imagine the speed of the flash memory is order of magnitudes better), my guess is the difference is mainly due to the filesystem driver and caching - by using Linux, Palm can leverage lots of fine tuning done by the open source community whereas PalmOS had an archaic driver possibly written in assembly with no hope of ever getting updated.

And the hardware will only get faster - dual core ARM chips are coming next year. Open source components (webkit) will also continue to improve. Assuming Palm/Sprint keeps Sprint sales on track, Palm manages their balance sheet/cashflow, and the rollout of the worldwide GSM Pre and other new products continues without major hiccups, we're going to continue to see great things. It's exciting times to own a Palm again... :)

P.S. I love the smooth exterior design of the Pre but I do also miss the hardware buttons plus soft button shortcuts. The Pre "wave" only has 3 hot links - I'd would have preferred that you be able to scroll further over so you could add more or that Palm would have just kept the option button to give 3 more hot links.

RE: iPhone vs. Pre: Memos
freakout @ 6/26/2009 12:26:54 AM # Q
Y'know, this tread is giving me an idea for an article - a Tap-Counting smackdown between PalmOS and webOS.

Now someone just needs to send me a Pre........
Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 -> Treo 650 -> Treo 680 -> Centro

RE: iPhone vs. Pre: Memos
Scotland @ 6/26/2009 7:48:12 AM # Q
Freak - PalmOS would win that. It does take longer to launch apps in webOS given the lack of hot buttons. Once launched, the cards metaphor allows very quick switching between apps on the Pre - almost as fast as on PalmOS with the use of hotbuttons; definitely faster than if you have to go back to the home screen on PalmOS to switch to other apps.

If PalmOS devices didn't have hot buttons, then there wouldn't be much difference save a couple exceptions:
1. You have to slide out the keyboard on the Pre occasionally. As Gekko pointed out in his other post, it is slightly annoying at times when you find you have to do that.
2. The loss of the menu key + dpad means that you now have to tap the menu in the upper left hand corner which isn't the most convenient. Worse, it slows things down because it's difficult to center your finger just right with the capacitive touch screen (it's easy to miss the right spot).

Of course, IMHO fewest key taps is not the only criteria for a good OS. I think Pre/WebOS strike a good balance in all the things that it does. The cards metaphor, for example, is sheer genius - taking something that desktop OS users are familiar with (Ctrl, Alt, Tab on Windows, for example) and using it on the small screen. Swiping away to the top to dismiss apps/cards is also genius (it's so easy and fun to do, you find yourself taking every opportunity to avoid running unnecessary stuff). Although Windows CE and Symbian have had multitasking for a long time, they never made it this intuitive or easy.

Notifications are also great - they are unobtrusive, yet give you just enough info to decide what to do with them. You can ignore them for as little or as long as you want. PalmOS didn't do this well at all - incoming SMSes would interrupt whatever you were doing, for example.

Although I was previously, in recent years I haven't been a huge user of the PalmOS PIM apps (that many folks here have been disappointed in). Given how Palm is aggressively working to close the Exchange EAS gaps, I would hope that Palm will work to tighten up the PIM apps as well. For me, it's just not a major issue at this point. I like that syncing is done via the cloud - using hotsync became a real PITA over time (setting up bluetooth was always a pain).

Though not necessarily for everyone, Pre/webOS is a real winner in my opinion. I'd imagine that, like me, most PalmOS users will find more than enough new features to like to make up for any perceived shortcomings. Just my 2 cents.

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