Palm's webOS Root Image Leaks Out

Kohenkatz writes "As noted in PreCentral.net's forums, the 'webOS Reset Doctor' has been leaked. It includes the webOS root image. From the article: 'Code-inclined individuals on the PreCentral forums have already cracked open the ROM and are getting an unfettered glimpse at the Palm's new platform, which, for the layman, means it should open the doors for some crazy Pre hacking and possibly hint, by way of unfinished / unused code, at what's to come for the platform — and, if we're really lucky, maybe someone will be able to look at this and move us one step closer to an unlocked Pre that could jump onto Verizon's network. Amusingly, you also get to see all the comments left by the devs in the code, guaranteeing a few good chuckles from others who can relate.'" People have already uncovered icons for MSN and AOL, as well as references to the Palm Eos, a rumored successor to the Centro line.

Comments

an obama leaked out of my ass

[Anonymous Coward]

before I had a chance to drop it off at the whitehouse :(

That's what he said you halfwit

[Anonymous Coward]

Wrong... Verizon and Sprint are CDMA.

Slashdorks getting dumber all the time. Soon they'll be too dumb to mash their keyboards at all, and that will be a good day.

Re:Will this make be an iPhone killer?

[Em Ellel]

I guess you aren't familiar with the iPhone 3Gs yet.

You mean iPhone's attempt to keep up with Palm? Yes, spec wise 3Gs is close to Pre, but without support for multitasking, its a moot point

Isn't the "standard easy to develop platform" Javascript and HTML5 running on Webkit. That's what iPhone 1.0 launched with in 2007!

LOL. You either do not get it or playing stupid.

Objective C is for folks who want native speed. That option (native code) is not yet supported for Pre developers.

Now I know you are just putting me on. "Native speed", ROTFLMAO

"Ability to develop for ANY OS"? How is that? If it's Javascript and HTML5 it will also run on the iPhone and Android. So what is special about Pre?

For one, you keep using HTML5 like it means something. For another, just because Pre apps are WRITTEN in JS/HTML/CSS - does not mean they are web pages. Pre apps have access to all the local storage and can interact with all the hardware and other software and function without network connectivity.

While I think Android API implementation to run Pre Apps is possible (and will likely to appear within 6-12 mos), I doubt iPhone will ever be able to do it - if for no other reason than Big Brother Steve will never allow it - history proves it over and over.

"No big-brother" and "No app kill-switch" are security vulnerabilities that can endanger more than the device itself. It's a shared network. Ever use a PC? Do you like how any there is not way to be sure as where your applications really come from? Let's see how well that works out.

Worked for Apple's own OS X, Windows, BSD, all flavors of UNIX, Java apps, PalmOS, Android, and just about every other operating system EVER created. So why is it that with iPhone Apple tells us that we are apparently too dumb to decide for ourselves if we want to install something or if something is appropriate to create for the platform? I'll tell you why, its not security, its all about control. Complete control over you in the guise of "its better for you". And people still fall for that load of crap.

"Ability to synch music to multiple sources" - You can do that with an iPhone if you really want to. The iPhone is a USB mass storage device. Tell us about how the Pre does it automagically.

Theoretically yes, practically, no, you cannot. It does not really work, if you hook up your iPhone to another machine, it will try to wipe your previous library, even if you select manual control over your device. Older iPod devices could function as USB devices, but they removed that functionality a while back. You can still hack into it, but its a pain.

What do you mean by "Universal search"?

You know, like search of your whole device, like PalmOS did in the late 90's (and ever since). I think 3.0 will have a limited version of it - something that should have been there from day 1.

The ability to buy music directly to the handset is part of iPhone 3.0.

So, exactly how do I buy from AmazonMP3 on 3.0? Oh yeah, you can only buy from the Big Brother and any other application that will even remotely compete with Big Brother is rejected.

Keep going on, please.

Oh, yeah, you can also run all the old PalmOS Apps, which despite being ugly as sin, are still a lot more useful than their iPhone counterparts. Now, there exists a PalmOS emulator for iPhone, but Apple would not allow it to be released, so it never was. Just like TomTom navigation (until now) and Adobe Flash - both of which existed for iPhone since 2.0 launch but were forbidden from being released.