Palm Kills TealOS 25
Most of us knew it seemed too good to be true: TealOS, a full-featured WebOS UI for the good ol' PalmOS. Well, Palm has finally brought down the ax. According to a post from TealPoint Software on their official messageboard:
I'm sorry to say that at Palm's request, as of this upcoming Monday, March 30, we will no longer be selling or distributing TealOS.
We really appreciate the help and unprecedented enthusiasm so many of you have shown for this product. It's been a long time since we experienced this kind of customer cooperation, and the program's success came at a badly needed time. We wish we could continue contributing to this great community.
For those of you who have already purchased the product, your copies will continue to function, of course, but we encourage you to download the latest beta copies to insure you have a stable version you are happy with and back it up to a safe place, as you'll no longer be able to download it after Monday. We'll continue through the weekend to try to get as many bug fixes and requested improvements in as we can before then.
While I can't say this was unexpected given Palm is betting their company on the Pre and the WebOS's unique UI, this certainly is saddening. If you haven't picked up your own copy of TealOS yet, I highly recommend giving it a go (especially the latest beta versions), as it'll be the last hands-on try of a WebOS-style UI for a few months to come.
25 Comments
Yea, this is really a shame.
Given the fact that it won't be updated or distributed anymore, I would hope Teal will put it on sale for the weekend. Maybe $7.99?
sad to see this happen, but I can dig what Palm wants to do here.
lol@the graphic...it reminds me of the auto-pilot from Wall-E...lol
yep, it's HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey. I'm glad people got that reference or they'd think I have some strange red light fetish, lol.
Very appropriate graphic, well done.
Or, they see their most effective use of resources to hassle developers that are actually promoting WebOS creatively...
I guess Palm couldn't stand the heat of a program showing them that Garnet's still a very usable OS and competitive with their all-new (and incompatible) WebOS vaporware. I had a sense this was coming, wouldn't bother tossing away the money for a license key. Seems short sighted of Palm, though.
As much as Palm has continually tried to stifle the fact, third parties have *always* driven innovation and implementation of their products, far better than their silly NASCAR promotions. This software product should have been FREE - written by Palm - to tease people into getting used to the transition to WebOS. Instead they screwed up a good thing and squashed it.
Palm should have just *licensed* the right to this thing and let it grow. If people LIKED the interface enough to buy a license, it means there's viability in the WebOS GUI and these people might stick with Palm instead of going elsewhere when their Treos die. Now they've pissed off their PalmOS customer base, and a major software developer for their products. When iPhone's cut-and-paste firmware (v3.0) comes out this summer, it'll take away one more reason to stay with Palm. Nice move, geniuses.
So... For all the hype of the Pre, Palm kills WebOS. Well since the Pre sucks, shouldn't they re-release the TealOS? I think that would make sense. I mean, I love my phone, treo 680 even more with the TealOS that I downloaded today... I would hate to see it go because it's not sold anymore... I don't think teal OS would prevent anyone from buying the Pre. The WebOS runs smoother on the Pre and has a somewhat bigger screen. The resolution on the pre is better than most treos so everything looks more clear.
Anyway, if someone wants to buy the pre, they are going to buy the Pre. I think that they should bring back Teal OS for the simple fact that some of us like the WebOS, but can't have the Pre.
Teal OS is officially back! I went to there site today, and it is once again available to download. it shows release date as "January 3, 2012". I guess, with the announcement of Web OS being open-sourced and all, Palm (Now owned by HP and branded as HP) has no reason, legal or otherwise, to keep them from selling it. I am so happy, since i like this software, and i own the palm centro.
(Off topic: BTW: Apparently EVERYONE in america just about had a palm centro at one point. Practically everyone who sees me with my phone says, "Hey, i used to have that phone!")
Teal OS Webpage: http://www.tealpoint.com/softos.htm