Palm opens apps store
Palm launched an online store where users can buy software directly from their handsets, becoming the latest phone maker to follow in Apple's footsteps with an application store.
Palm's Software Store lets users browse through a catalog of more than 5,000 applications and games from their Palm devices. Users can then buy and download the applications directly to their devices.
Previously, Palm users could shop for new software online, but they had to download the application to a computer and load it on to their devices from there.
Because some Palm devices run Windows Mobile, Palm has two stores: One serves Windows Mobile Palm phones and the other is for the Palm OS. That means Palm may have beaten Microsoft to the market. Microsoft, which says there are more than 18,000 applications available for Window Mobile users, is rumored to be building a centralized store for Window Mobile applications.
It's unclear how many of the 5,000 applications in Palm's store run on Palm OS devices and how many run on Windows Mobile Palm phones. A Palm representative did not reply to a request for clarification.
Palm joins a number of other phone makers that are building or have already launched stores where people can buy applications and download them directly to their phones. Apple started the trend with its iPhone App Store. Research In Motion plans to launch an Application Center in March, and the G1 Android phone has a marketplace as well.
Palm's store appears to be operated by PocketGear, which provides a smartphone application distribution platform.
While Palm has struggled in recent years, it was an early innovator of handheld devices and developed a thriving developer community that built applications for the devices. However, despite the fact that Palm has been selling devices for many years, its store -- which includes both Windows Mobile and Palm OS applications -- has only half as many applications as Apple's App Store.
IDG News Service
Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world
On Twitter now
palm
Powered by Twitter
jfruh
Apple syncing patent can't come soon enough
pasmith
New Twitter features borrow from 3rd party clients
Esther Schindler
Open Source Changes the Software Acquisition Process
mikelgan
How to set up continuous podcast play on the new iTunes
David Strom
Five important Windows 7 mobility features
sjvn
Guard your Wi-Fi for your own sake
Sandra Henry-Stocker
Grepping on Whole Words
Sidekick: The Good News & the Bad News
Either way you look at it Microsoft Data Center management did not follow standards or best practices in this failure. In which case it makes me wonder more about the outsourcing of corporate data much less personal data.
- mburton325
Join the conversation here
Quick, practical advice for IT pros. Made fresh daily.
Want to cash in on your IT savvy? Send your tip to tips@itworld.com. If we post it, we'll send you a $25 Amazon e-gift card.
