14 DAY TRIAL // As many of you already know, Palm announced recently that it would not release another smartphone to run under its Palm OS platform. The company plans to make a full switch to the newly announced WebOS, a platform that is expected to be released along with the company's Pre handset. Along with the transition to the new operating system, the phone maker also plans on focusing on Windows Mobile-powered devices.
According to the latest news on the Web, Palm would be on its way to convincing its Palm OS software developers, about 30,000 in total, to also switch their applications towards the new platform. For what it's worth, although it is known that the new operating system will come with support for different web standards, there are little details made available at this time.
Back in January, the company pre-released its webOS Mojo application framework and software development kit privately. According to some developer partners of the company, the new platform would support HTML5, which is meant to enable a local data store, allowing for data and applications to be accessed offline. At the same time, the developers also say that the framework is Linux based.
Later this year, the company will also release the Mojo Software Development Kit, which will provide code, documentation and development tools that would include an Eclipse-based IDE. Moreover, it seems that developers will be offered the option of choosing the tools to use while building webOS applications. At the same time, the WebOS is not open-source, and it seems that the phone maker does not plan on licensing it at the moment.
Palm's upcoming Pre handset will be only the first of an entire series that will run under the new platform. For the time being, it seems that Palm does not have a specific plan for these devices. In addition, word on the Web is that we'll not see too many devices of this kind for a while, and that Pre will wait a little before the market adjusts.