The focus of the new OS is Cloud computing.  The OS is about simplicity, which is a staple for Palm, as well as multitasking.  It  is called Palm webOS.  Honestly, they could have come up with a better name, but that can be discussed later.  The building blocks for the new OS is HTML, CSS, and ajax.  The bonus with this is that there is no proprietary language for developers to learn.  It will make getting new apps out into the market much faster.  Palm has already set-up a developers environment called Mojo for people to get started.  To go along with third party apps, Palm plans on including an in device apps catalog.  WebOS also has a new feature called Palm Synergy.  I really love this!!!  What it does is bring all of your information from the different places it is stored, and brings it into one view.  For example if you have the same person in your contacts on various programs:  Facebook, gmail, Outbook, etc.  Synergy will link the information and present it as one listing.  Plus, anything you update in that listing will in return, update all of your accounts.  Just think of how easy it would be to update contact info if you only had to do it once instead of 50 times.    This integrated contact list also lets you see which of your buddies are on-line, and you can start a chat right from there.  There are no new applications to launch.  The web really is the key to this whole OS.  As time goes on, we will get to see more and more features.  One other little bonus I heard about is the fact if you are working on something, and you receive a call, webOS will put what you were working on in the background while you take the call.  No more deciding between talking or finishing what you were doing.  The OS itself isn’t any good without the right device.  So in-order to truly understand the OS, you need to use it.  Without further ado, I present….

The new Palm device is called the Palm PRE.  Once again, they could have picked a better name, but oh well.  The PRE is stocked with lots of fabulous features.  Here’s a quick rundown of the specs:  CDMA, 3G, GPS, WiFi, 3MP camera, bluetooth, 8 gigs of storage, and a 3.1″ touchscreen.  If you want a complete list, check out Palm’s site, but those are the big hitters.  Also included is an accelerometer, which lets the device know if you are holding it in portrait or landscape mode.  First impressions say that there is very little, to no lag in changing screen orientations.  When you look at the front of the device all you can see is a screen with no buttons, just a trackball.  All of the interaction with the screen is done using gestures/touch, no stylus is included, or the trackball.  Underneath the screen, the PRE has a black area called the  gesture bar.   Palm designed this to help you use the PRE with only one hand.  You can side your finger over the bar to move among apps, or drag your finger from the bar to the screen to help you quick launch apps more easily.

Moving between applications is simple using Palm webOS.  When you are using e-mail, viewing photos or websites, listening to music, and chatting with a friend all at the same time, the OS thinks of each app as an activity card, and lets you flip between them with just a swipe of your finger.  The term cards is something you will be hearing quite a bit.  All apps are referred to as ‘cards’.  You can drag cards to your phone desktop, or close them by flicking your finger upward.  Of course, one of the best features is the slide out qwerty keyboard.   The keyboard slides vertically from the base of the phone.  It looks very similar to the keyboard currently on the Centro.  I love my Centro keyboard, but if you have larger fingers, it might be a problem.  There is just so much going on with the webOS on the PRE, and I can’t wait to play with it.

This is the sad point in this article.  The PRE will be released exclusively on Sprint.  I can’t tell you how disappointed I am to hear that. This Verizon customer is not switching to Sprint, so I must hope that the period of exclusivity is short like a day or maybe 3 months.  As of right now, the PRE is due to be released in the first half of 2009.  Sprint has a page on its site up where you sign up to be notified as soon as the PRE is available. 

There is one question that has not been answered, and its a pretty important one.  Will the PRE be backwards compatible?  I have lots of apps that I do not want to have to re-purchase.  With the amount of available Palm software, I am sure this is going to be an issue.