Actually, not yet. But that didn't stop preThinking from interviewing the makers of the fancy new webOS skin for PalmOS. Philip from preThinking had a talk with Vince Lee, president and founder of TealPoint software, who have been programming for the PalmOS since March 1997.
TealOS, the popular webOS skin which is making it's rounds on the Pre boards, started development a few days after CES 2009. Their experience with webOS wasn't with the actual device however, but rather from "extensively studying the online videos". TealOS is based entirely on online footage of webOS in action.
As for developing future webOS apps, TealPoint is ready to go:
We'll learn their existing SDK, but we hope native development will eventually be supported so we can really push the device to its limits.
When asked about the prospects of the Palm Pre, Lee said they were very excited for the new device, indicating that Palm has a long track record of supporting the developer community. This makes webOS a more attractive platform than some of the competitors.
As for the reasons behind TealOS, Lee said they couldn't wait for the Pre, and thought it would be a fun app to create. It fills to gap for those who might not be able to afford to upgrade to the new device the instant it's available. However, he points out that they don't anticipate anyone treating TealOS as a long-term substitute for a WebOS device. The fact that TealOS is catching on is a testament that "a good interface is a good interface...the WebOS interface really shines".
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