Erm, surely its irrelevant whether is JavaScript or not, thats just a scripting language, having the base language JavaScript doesn't define what OS features and API's you can access. JavaScript isn't just limited to web site development. Possible downsides with having JavaScript is that usually they are not compiled down and are interpreted instead which may cause some performance problems. Whether it is OOP or not is neither here nor there, the important thing is what API's are exposed to it. For example, they could decide to expose the OpenGL ES library to devs through JavaScript, and if anything the high-level syntax makes it EASIER to develop for, rather than the steep learning curve of ObjC. I think the problem with a lot of developers these days is that they get too consumed with language this and language that, whether something is OOP, or whether something is strongly typed blah blah they forget it's all about programming to a library.
Yo guys, guys c'mon.. I'm not a dev. I don't care bout what scripts or language. The first smartphone I ever loved and craved for were from Palm. I love their form factor and I only manage to get my hand on a second hand Treo 600. I wish, I could buy a treo 650, 700 etc. The pre, looks nice but I don't like the sliding keyboard. I prefer the old form factor. I even like the Palm OS! But, in the end I got myself and iPhone. Mostly, because of the games and the accelerometer capabilities. And, heck, it's something new that I haven't seen from other phone companies. Furthermore, there's also the android g-phone. I want that too. If and when, I can get it at a reasonable price. So, my point is errr ...I want all this phone to play with haha! Don't limit yourself to just one product man. That's being narrow minded! The world is your oysters so... eat all the oysters you can!!
Afraid that I can't do that. Now that Apple has a product to fill the overwhelming majority of tech niches, I can't buy anything, except from them. I know that it will be high quality, fast, and state of the art. It will last a long time, and has great customer support if it should break. The best company in tech, IMO. Of course I buy things like hard drives and RAM from other places, but Apple has a series of computers, a smartphone, routers, a wireless backup drive, a PDA (in the iPod Touch), music players, and a vast array of accessories for the computers. Why not buy from Apple? They are the greatest thing since cheese in a can. Oh, and there was no sarcasm in that whole post, btw.
Until Palm exposes lower levels of the system to developers (if it ever happens), the iPhone and Pre aren't remotely in the same boat as far as gaming performance. Does anyone know the full hardware spec of the Pre? CPU and GFX chipset? I dug into the Android G1 and found impressive hardware, but you have to code for the Java VM, which is a big negative for game performance. What's under the hood with the Pre? I've not had time to get into it. Someone want to get around to it before me? blakespot
ok. I understand your point of view. I won't argue with that. It's really an individual taste. For me self, I won't limit myself to just one product or brand. That's about it.
Which is kinda silly for the G1, as apparently it uses a the CPU/GPU core it uses is made by QUALCOMM and compatible with BREW, which one would figure would be better for game development. And it's not like they'd have to choose one or the other, as Java could still be used on devices that also can use BREW...so I don't know what they were thinking.... Well, no, actually I do...the carrier probably is averse to supporting BREW, and Google doesn't really give a flip as BREW can only be supported, really, on some devices that use particular types of QUALCOMM chips (the most recent). Google wants to spread Android OS, so just as they're not likely to lock themselves in with one carrier, they're sure as hell not likely to lock themselves in with a particular type of hardware, no matter how good the games on the app store are doing for Apple. That's one of the things Apple has over the other companies in the mobile market: they're really only supporting ONE type of hardware in the iPhone. They don't spread themselves over multiple product lines...yet. And I don't think they will for a while, if they're smart. Plus, they have the iTouch, which broadens the platform in a way the other mobile manufacturers haven't. I mean...there are probably going to be more iTouch users than iPhone users when all is said and done...and iTouch isn't really in the mobile market per se as it is lumped in with the MP3/portable media device market. So Apple is straddling two markets with two devices but really, when you think about it, one platform. Same hardware, same software, pretty much the same abilities. One makes phone calls, the other doesn't. Apparently, it uses OMAP3430...so ARM Cortex A8 CPU and PowerVR SGX 530. First consumer mobile device to use an OMAP3 SoC. Quite a bit more powerful than iPhone, actually. It's actually pretty much the same hardware spec as the Pandora open source "console". I don't think they've (Palm) stuck such powerful processors in there for business use only. I mean...honestly now...that's a multimedia phone waiting to happen. Hell, that's THE multimedia phone waiting to happen. They've got to be thinking about opening up the hardware more to devs at some point.
Then again, though, even if Palm opens it up, how many devs will bite? I know indy devs might...but how many? In terms of the mobile game market as a business, Apple's got the leg up. Again, it's not only iPhone...iPhone is but one product, one SKU if you will, in a platform, not the platform itself. The platform itself combines the iPhone with the iPod touch. Two SKUs, one platform. Two SKUs that target completely different markets (mobile phone market and portable media player market). So even with Pre's power over other devices (and Cortex A8 and SGX could make for something very special), and even if Palm opens it up more, how many companies are going to really bite and invest more in Palm's device vs. Apple's devices? Apple's kinda carved themselves a nice little niche in a market that didn't really exist much before and planted their flag.
