Sadly, some Palm apps are now free

(Credit: Crave Asia)

Knowing that I still use a Palm Treo 650 (yes, people who review phones don't necessarily have fancy ones), a colleague alerted me to the fact that PDAmill Game Studios has made all its Palm OS games free. The company stopped making games for this platform since February 2007 but still has a reasonable stable of applications for Windows Mobile. Some of these games are quite good and may be worth a download for those still using a Palm OS device.

TreoCentral reported on this and noted a few other developers giving away their previously for-sale software. These include games from Ellams Software and SkinUI from PalmPowerups.

It just goes to show how far Palm OS has fallen. The third-party software community for this platform used to be one of the most vibrant, but thanks to lack of improvement in the OS and its devices, most current mobile applications now run on Windows Mobile or regular mobile phones. For those still on Palm OS, get these free apps while they are still being hosted by their developers.

(Source: Crave Asia)

[techprophet]

too bad palm has finished the latest addition to it's OS lineup yet, that would solve the problem.

[alexacker]

A one-time loyal customer, they lost me with the 700p. The product was completely worthless. Their support is worthless. They are a completely dated worthless company. They're doomed to fail and hope they do. All hail iPhone -- the new king of the block.

[Macajuel]

I don't understand what Palm's problem is!!! The Centro was an okay distraction but people really want a new Treo with WIFI, 3G and a new modern Palm OS. What is with these Windows mobile Palm devices all of a sudden?

I'm tired of waiting, as soon as a 3G iPhone hits the market, I'm jumping ship........

[Gorifyny]

I'm also still using my venerable 650, which still suits me better than any other phone I've seen described. Unfortunately, it is beginning to show signs of deterioration and I am at a loss as to what I will buy as a replacement. On top of that, I have Earthlink service, and I don't think they have any reps in my area.

[bhartman35]

This was brought up on PalmInfocenter, as well. But you have to be careful how you analyze this.

First off, the developer of SkinUI is, from what I remember, going back to school, so he's stopping [i]all[/i] development. That's not necessarily related to anything Palm. Second, Ellams Software is making [i]all[/i] their games free, including those for Pocket PC/Windows Mobile.

That's not to say that Palm's OS is in great shape right now. Clearly, it's stagnant. Palm appears to be milking the last generation of Palm OS (before Linux) with the Centro, after which time it will launch Nova (the next Palm OS, based on Linux). I don't know how long that'll take, but it's premature to say that Palm is dying.

And for those of you that think that iPhones/iPods will take up that space: You're dreaming. That'll never happen unless Jobs allows some MAJOR changes to the SDK (like, oh, say...letting developers run background applications, access the calendar, access the video and phone functions, etc., etc.). The iPhone is [i]not[/i] designed to be anything even close to a PDA -- let alone something on the level of a Palm.

[aggiedoc]

Unfortunately, I am still under contract with Sprint for my 700p for 5 more months. My wife has had each Treo since they came out and eagerly got me one too when she moved from the 650 to the 700p. She since become disillusioned with Palm, regarding it as a dying company.

We have been Apple supporters since the second generation Mac came out in 1985 but I also have PCs because of work. I would like an iPhone, but it does not yet run the software I need. Windows mobile 6 does have versions of what I need so I am waiting to see if HTC Rafael does indeed come out in CDMA. Both it and HTC Diamond were rumored coming to Sprint by Engadget recently...but so far Diamond is HSPDA only. I still have a few months to determine what I will switch to and if I leave Sprint. I WILL leave Palm OS. It's just a matter of when.

[dasumner]

For the most part, Palm CREATED the smartphone market, but didn't know how to evolve. I've been carrying a 680 and have been looking at my wife's iPhone with lust in my eyes. Wifi, YouTube video, A REAL BROWSER. These were all things that Palm could have done 2 years ago, yet they still kept putting out the same device with the same software in a new package. Can somebody put them out of their misery.......PLEASE.

[the2ndfloodofgod]

Yeah, 95% of the software vendors have given up on the PalmOS. It's dated, with no updates being added since 2004. Even updates are no longer being offered for software already on the market. Even Google, with it's Google Maps, and announced that it will NOT update GMaps for PalmOS. So give it up people. Palm and it's Treo's are dead.