Even Palm fans can't stay away from Android

By Chris Parsons  | Apr 21 2011 | 6:57 pm  | 13 Comments


Youtube link for mobile viewing

So what happens exactly when you take the Palm Pre and load it up with a healthy dose of Android -- more specifically a Gingerbread AOSP. The folks over at PreCentral have done all the hard work for us and were even kind enough to film it. If you happen to have a Palm Pre kicking around that you want to have some fun with, then by all means -- head on over to PreCentral and take a look at k3dar's work, or just hit up the video above. Instructions and a downloadable shell script are available to help you along should you like to go on this adventure. [PreCentral]

Chris Parsons

Chris Parsons Writer

"Born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada. Chris is fluent in all mobile languages and loves anything with a power button."

1969(articles)

105(forum posts)
 
There are 13 comments

h2orange says:

Never even looked back..

OLD_HATCH says:

It was the crappy hardware that drove me away, not the OS. Have plenty of hardware choices with android and never looked back.

dwt10 says:

This appears to have been filmed on an iphone 4

WhitePhone says:

The other way around needs to happen. WebOS on ThunderBolt-like hardware.

pckocher says:

Absolutely - the strength of the Pre was WebOS. If there had been a big touch screen device with WebOS, I probably would not have switched to the EVO. Used my Pre for two days this week while waiting for a replacement EVO, and the small screen and cramped keyboard brought back unpleasant memories.

phillysdon04 says:

Nice, when I get some extra time I will try to do this to my wife palm pre.

cheburashka says:

i wish Epic had a gesture area in the space where it says Samsung. and i wish android had adapted the card interface instead of RIM so that apps could be just flicked away like on the pre. i miss that very much 8-(

jbrandonf says:

Check out Perfect Task Switcher in the market. Its the closest thing I've seen on android to the task switching on webOS.

Klubhead says:

Anyone know if this runs well enough to use as a daily? Google account syncs? Market works? I'd live to do this to my brothers Pre..

raindog469 says:

I finally upgraded away from my launch-day Pre last night. I still have it, purely for hacking since its earpiece is shot, and it's tempting to see if I can get Gingerbread on it before my Epic (yes, I traded up to a year-old phone, I like the 5-row keyboard) gets an official update.

I do miss WebOS' handling of multitasking, and Itching Thumb did nothing for me but force close, but overall, I'm glad to have made the switch. Palm really had something good there, but if you're competing with an 800 pound gorilla, you have to go the open and ubiquitous route. Unfortunately for HPalm, Google got there first and did it (mostly) right.

jbrandonf says:

Perfect Task Switcher and Wave Launcher helped me transition over to android from a Pre.

raindog469 says:

I know it's been a long time, but thanks for the recommendation of Perfect Task Switcher. It's still clunkier than WebOS task management, but it gives me hope that it'll get there someday, unlike my experience with Itching Thumb.

firelightguitarist says:

well it took them damn long enough! when i looked into this way back when i had the pixi, there was nothing. aside from the fact that my pixi basically fell apart (not joking), i switched to android because of the lack of apps for webOS. if they'd had this 3-4 months ago, i wouldn't have my Optimus S now.