Palm OS on an iPhone - there's an app for that

But not in the iTunes App Store

By Bill Ray, 24th March 2010

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Palm OS obsessives StyleTap have created an iPhone emulator, but you'll have to give Cydia $50 and jailbreak your handset to run it.

The legions of iPhone users desperate to run their Palm OS apps can finally relax, because StyleTap can now deliver all that Palm OS goodness to an iPhone. Users might even be able to run that NS Basic application originally developed for Apple's Newton.

StyleTap already provides Palm OS emulation for Symbian and Windows Mobile, and the company keeps reminding us that Palm OS applications are still widely used by vertical markets all over the world by companies which don't want to replace their working software and appreciate the emulated approach.

But the presence of StyleTap on the Cydia store also lends credibility to that alternative market for iPhone applications. Users generally jailbreak their iPhones to run a specific application - one they can't get from the iTunes store - but once they've stepped outside of Apple's control there's little to entice them back again.

Apple's rules clearly don't allow emulators, which could provide an alternative application platform and threaten the simplicity of the iTunes monopoly on application distribution. Unlike Opera, StyleTap has no get-out clause, and so finds itself forced into the Cydia app.

Free applications are discovering that Apple's control can be bypassed by embracing Steve Jobs' original vision for the iPhone - every application should be a well-designed web site. Cockfosters-based Mobile Services Ltd was forced to lay off more than two thirds of its staff when Apple changed its mind on pornography, but was surprised to discover it could create a web-based alternative (XPornApp) without losing any significant functionality.

That's fine if you want to give your content away, but companies like StyleTap need sales revenue to survive. We'll be keeping up with them to see if Cydia can provide a viable alternative to control from Cupertino. ®

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Highly Rated

Posted Wednesday 24th March 2010 14:06 GMT

Steven Knox

To be fair...

Nowhere in this article does the author say that Apple should or shouldn't do anything. He's merely pointed out the existence of an alternative application available through alternative means.

Now, if what you claim is entirely correct: that Apple has marketed solely to those who wish to run Apple-approved apps obtained through Apple-approved means, and that their market consists entirely of those individuals, then the mere existence of these alternative channels is a conundrum. If nobody wants them, they shouldn't be there. The fact that people are not only making these channels, but making money off them -- and that Apple hasn't made any real effort to shut them down -- belies your perception of Apple's market and of their business model.

In fact, Apple is making every attempt to appeal to anyone who will pay them money for their product, and then doing what it can to ensure that those who've paid for it still have to pay them more for customization, etc. -- being careful not to ruin the income they still get from those who like to "hack". THAT's standard business practice in today's technology market. The only reason they aren't going harder after jailbreakers and the like is because that would eliminate their customers in that segment -- customers that, according to your view, they don't want.

Finally, if you haven't realized yet, the Register holds all tech companies in disdain. It's part of their business model to write their articles with a somewhat tongue-in-cheek dig at whatever major company happens to be related to the actual story. It provides a good deal of fun, often in the form of raging comments from readers who just don't get it. Thanks, by the way.

Posted Wednesday 24th March 2010 12:02 GMT

Ron1