WorldMate on the Palm Pre?

Following this month's newsletter, we've been asked by several users whether we'll support the Palm Pre in the future. It seems like this device is getting some market interest, and one of the first things people ask themselves is - will it support the apps I need to make it a real productivity tool?

And the answer?

The short answer is - Not now. Maybe later. The Palm Pre and the Web OS are still not market-proven. We are a small company with limited resources. We have to juggle our resources between BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian and, as announced lately - iPhone. We can only afford to develop software on platforms where there will be a return-on-investment. The Palm Pre is a risk - no market yet and only Sprint as a carrier partner (and Sprint has other problems to contend with, frankly). Best-case scenario - there will be a vibrant Palm Pre applications market a year from now. Likely case - ?

Now Palm is a great friend of ours. We were born as a Palm Pilot ISV and had a good partnership for several years. Even today we're bundled with the Treo Pro in some markets. So we told them of our concerns and asked them if they wanted to provide some funding towards mitigating the risk. They said "no", which is OK. I can't judge their decision - perhaps they're seeding the market in other places, perhaps they aren't. From our perspective - at this time we'd be sacrificing significant advances on a market leading platform (BlackBerry, iPhone etc.) for a yet un-proven one. Not a good deal at this stage.

Hopefully for our friends at Palm, the Pre will be a great hit, reviving their market position and taking this company back where it belongs. It certainly looks like it could be a cool device. Not that we appreciate the mobile OS fragmentation...

Let's see how this evolves...

- Nadav

Comments

[Craig Ridley]

I live here in the US and what is your US Corporate phone number! Nothing on your sites and not even 411 information has a record of you.

Thank you

[KC]

Strange the IPhone was unproven but everyone seemed to jump on the bandwagon.

[Nadav]

WorldMate for iPhone was released after there were about 18 Millions iPhones in the market and over 1 Billion App downloads. Hardly unproven.

[Eric]

Can't wait for a pre app...

Thanks for your consideration

[Joseph]

Palm Pre is getting some marketshare. Any updates on your position in regards to bulding an app?

[Pete]

What about Android based devices. There are a number of these entering the market place by all carriers.

[WorldMate]

It's a good question. We'll have to watch how the market develops and make a decision.

[WorldMate]

We're waiting to see how the market develops. We can't comment beyond that at this stage. We like our products to be perfect - they are extremely feature-rich compared to other iPhone, Symbian or BlackBerry apps you see out there. Such an investment is justified only when you have a big market and good access to it.

[Charles]

I would love to see an Android application. I was a Gold user on the blackberry platform, but WorldMate only has limited use now that I have switched to the My Touch 3G. Please consider an Android app.

[Rob]

Please please please bring Worldmate to my Pre. I've been a Blackberry addict since 2000...and I've been lured away from the Blackberry by a few slick devices (examples...the Motorola Q, then the HTC Touch)...and I always went back to the Blackberry (usually after a week). The Pre is the first device that has taken this former BB addict, and will keep me (it's been almost 2 months now...Blackberry free!). The only regret from switching from the BB Tour (which took forever to boot up and suffered from the infamous trackball issue) is that I don't have my Worldmate app. The Pre has paced second in sales to the iPhone in recent weeks. Nadav...embrace what it is to be a small business entrepreneur, and take the risk. Roll the dice on the Pre and you will reap the rewards. It will take savvy developers like you to help Palm succeed against the evil Apple Empire (I actually love Apple products, but I can't justify buying an iPhone on the worst network in the US at the highest monthly cost). Besides...Palm won't take the margin away from you that Apple requires...as if they don't make enough cash already?!

[Steve]

I have a gold account and use Worldmate on my blackberry.
Early next year will be switching to Android device. Please add support for android. I would hate to have to cancel my gold account.

[Neal Jackson]

I also want to cast a vote for Android, i do not think it is going away and i sure do miss this application.

[Andy]

I just came back from a trip abroad and found Worldmate incredibly helpful. I have a Treo and am seriously thinking of getting a Pre, since they will now be available with Verizon.

I checked out the Motionapps Classic site and they made it seem relatively simple to get a program that runs on the Palm OS certified under Classic. Is this not the case? And if it isn't too difficult, please do it.

Thanks.

[Joseph]

Any updates on development of the Palm Pre App? Its been about a year since your first post regarding this subject. What is your stance at this point?

[Susi Berman]

Hi...I am an ex Plam Treo /Worldmate user and have moved onto Palm Pre quite happilly and am anxiously awaiting you to make Worldmate available on Web OS - Palm Pre ...and know of several other Pre users awaiting as well....so hurry up...we want you !!!!!

[Gianluca]

I have also moved happyly frmo a Tungsten T5 to the Pre.
I am using WorldMate since several years and several Palm OS devices.

The only really missing thing in the palm is an application like WorldMate.

Can you believe that I could not find any usable WorldClock until now?

I am using WorkdMate on the Classic emulator, but I will immediately buy a native porting.

[Randy Fabrizio]

Please Please Please develop an app for Android !!! Ive used Worldmate for Blackberry and recently transitioned to Android and NEED Worldmate !!

[Dylan]

I've had a Treo Pro for a while and I travel a lot. WorldMate really helped me when I was flying. I just updated to a Palm Pixi and was disappointed to see WorldMate wasn't available for it. Im about to start traveling again and would love to have WorldMate again. Pleas consider making an app for web os it would be great.

[Loell]

Palm has been bought by HP so their future is secure, the pre is now available on all three major carriers. It would be great to be able to use Worldmate again (we've used it on our 650's, 700's, Pro's).