PlayStation Emulation Comes To Palm Pre, Runs Faster Than On IPhone

@pixelpushing: But it CAN play 15 year old games... not that it necessarily is doing so at this particular moment.

rentahero1

@Greg Lloyd: the save state trick is nice, and kept my PalmOS devices useful for a long time. The point is Pandora or Infopedia or any other non-apple app can be chosen to run in the background or easily disposed. Palm does not take the limitation away from developers or users.

tmed

@EncNone:
My plan is to tether a pandora too a cheap cell phone with unlimited data.
It might be big, but I'll be damned if it can be outperformed by anything.

@TheSonOfKrypton:
Keep in mind the amount of porting time for both emulators.

@CatboyMac's angry girlfriend: wouldn't the sound being disabled (or not even supported) be the whole reason for the speed advantage?

(i posted this a second time by accident)

@jbrandonf likes pie. And Dreamcast: You, sir, have won my appreciation as someone on the Internet who can view another point objectively, agree with it, and leave it be, without throwing in a "oh yeah? Well..".

Seriously - very much appreciated.

Greg Lloyd

@Greg Lloyd:

Your last point I agree with. I wish this became more widespread.

jbrandonf likes pie. And Dreamcast

wouldn't the sound not even being supported be the reason that it's running faster?

@jbrandonf likes pie. And Dreamcast: As you mentioned in another post Safari's cache has been changed in the 3GS. It's better, but I wouldn't say it's 100 fixed.

I think you're also failing to mention that *plenty* of apps, games too, pause where you are when you exit, for whatever reason, and restart right where you left off. If every app did that, then wouldn't that be smarter than allowing it to chew up RAM and processing power in the background?

Greg Lloyd

@jbrandonf likes pie. And Dreamcast: You're totally right - those things will close. And I'd prefer that, like the Pre, they didn't. I'm more so trying to combat the idea that the iPhone can't do any multitasking whatsoever; especially when it comes to the everyday apps, like mail, SMS, calendaring, and background notifications.

Greg Lloyd

@jbrandonf likes pie. And Dreamcast: I am not incorrect in that scenario, as it's a real scenario that I can do with all of the iPhone models. But, you are right - the first iPhone and 3G would often dump the page if it was too much, and had to reload it when you went back into Safari. But that's not what I said: I said that the page could be loaded while you went off and did other things. That's not just a function of 3.0 or the 3GS.

I also agree that iPhone users, including myself, can become quite annoying. But, I will be annoying to you when I'm told that the Pre can do something that the iPhone can't, when the iPhone clearly can.

Greg Lloyd

@egreenwood1: I can going into the calculator, do a calculation, go into YouTube, view a movie, and then go into browse the app store. The only thing the iPhone can't do in that case is keep the YouTube video running, and I do admit I would like that. But the case for which you argue is silly, as the only thing that needs to keep running here is YouTube.

My problem is with people making it out as if the iPhone is an unusable device. They give these scenarios of things they want to do with their Pre, but I end up doing the same thing. So I can't play YouTube or Pandora in the background, neither one of those are killing my productivity; especially when I can surf the web, write an email, send and receive a text message and play a game, *sequentially*, while on a conference call. Do you do all of those things at the exact same time? Since you don't, why does it matter that they run in the background, versus run at the same time?

Greg Lloyd

@Greg Lloyd: Are you serious? you can do that and more, like using a calculator, watching youtube, and browsing the app store... can your iphone do that all at once on top of emailing, texting, on the web at the same time.... Oh thats right the pre is called true multi tasking

egreenwood1

Pull out your tape measures, it's e-dick measuring time.

jbrandonf likes pie. And Dreamcast

@Greg Lloyd: "On my iPhone, and every iPhone, I can browse a webpage, while it's loading, write an email, midway through leave it to due to a notification, write someone an SMS message, send it, return to the email to finish it up, send it too, and then go back to the website that finished loading WHILE I WAS DOING OTHER THINGS."

You are simply incorrect. On anything other than a 3GS (which has double the memory) you would've lost the webpage. I would know, I had a 3G and even with the improved caching of firmware 3.0 my phone would be unusable if I had 4+ webpages open and tried to do other tasks on Apple apps..

I am coming to hate the people who also use iPhones. It's like we're so insecure with our devices and must justify every deficiency that we look like total losers in the end. Our phone multi-tasks poorly. If you have a 3GS then you have a better chance at MTing with core apps than other iPhone users, but WebOS was built around the idea of multitasking, just...let it go.

jbrandonf likes pie. And Dreamcast

@link12245: You are such an ungrateful asshole. I hope your iPhone gets stolen by a bunch of Pre-thugs. D-bag dev team? They've given their reasoning for why they won't release the jailbreak.

God I hope karma bites you in the ass.

jbrandonf likes pie. And Dreamcast

@apus: This is one of the downsides to CDMA, and a reason why I won't get a pre. This feature sucks until Skype decides to make an app for the Pre.

jbrandonf likes pie. And Dreamcast

@Greg Lloyd: No my iPhone doesn't.

I'd have to leave a game like Trism to answer a notification, I can't leave that game running in the background to briefly respond.

Also I notice us iPhone owners don't mention how badly Safari caches pages, or that when we leave Safari loading to start playing music and answer a text message, we often have to reload the page because the iPhone used the memory for our current task.

jbrandonf likes pie. And Dreamcast

@Greg Lloyd: How about streaming Pandora? Or leaving Super Monkey Ball to answer a text message and go right back to it?

I have an iPhone so I'm in the same boat, but I can't let you sit there and act like we have the same multi-tasking capabilities as the Pre.

jbrandonf likes pie. And Dreamcast

@TheSonOfKrypton: What does it matter?

I have an iPhone but jeez, this intolerance of anything other than what you have (and for no reason!) reminds me of racism.

jbrandonf likes pie. And Dreamcast

@tmed: First of all, +1 for you recognizing my name (and it is my name, but I'm not him), and second of all, I almost included the whole Pandora thing in there, stating "...and Pandora is the only thing you guys can ever come back with".

Of *course* I would love to have background apps, and I'm glad that Apple has the competition, but that's a pretty lame reason, and apparently the only reason, why anyone argues for background apps on the Pre. Also, the Pre slows down a good bit when running those background apps, which is Apple's reasoning behind not using it (as well as battery life).

Anyway - I was addressing his obviously wrong belief that the iPhone does not allow background app processing, as if it's a fundamental limitation of the OSes inability to do more than one thing at a time, no matter what. The scenario he presents has worked on the iPhone since day one.

Greg Lloyd

@Greg Lloyd:

Mhh, I which alter reality do you live where your iphone means palm pre.
Iphone backgrounding ?! I think what you're holding there is everything but an iphone.
The only true smartphone that is capable of backgrounding is the palm pre.

Btw I have a iphone 2g and I absolutely love it, I paid 600$ and i still don't think it was overpriced at all.
But the alm pre really got me exited, it's small,fits in my hand, has a physical keyboard( altough i have nothiing against the iphone on-screen keyboard) and can handel backgrounding.

Amir Oulad

Wow, the apple fanboys attack...sheesh!

@Andre Ondre: No. Direct framebuffer access is the key. If you've followed Zod's projects on the iPhone / iPod Touch, you'll see constant complaints that Apple doesn't support this.

heltoupee

@Greg Lloyd: Hey Steeler Guy, Play Pandora while doing all that.

tmed

@nikaru: Multitasking like in: "You either surf the web or make a call, but not both"?

apus

@link12245:
Why don't you copy and paste your same post 5 more times??

cc82

O noes! He hath slighted the iPhone! Apple Zombie Defenders on the horizon!

@aec007: Exactly. I've wondered if I am the only one who marvels at all of this miniaturization of power.

Greg Lloyd

@nikaru: And what are you multitasking? If you say "Pandora while I surf the web and check my email" then I'll have to say that Pandora is the only thing you guys use multitasking.

News: The iPhone multitasks email, phone, SMS messaging, iPod, web pages (loading in the background), calendar and the receiving of background notifications. ALL of those things are constantly running. And, when I'm on a phone call, I can play the iPod and play games.

So the iPhone doesn't multitask?

Greg Lloyd

@the_lane: On my iPhone, and every iPhone, I can browse a webpage, while it's loading, write an email, midway through leave it to due to a notification, write someone an SMS message, send it, return to the email to finish it up, send it too, and then go back to the website that finished loading WHILE I WAS DOING OTHER THINGS.

The iPhone runs all of those applications in the background.

Would you like me to you my girlfriend's iPhone 3GS to make a video and show you? Can your Pre do that?

Oh that's right, it's called the Pre, as in "premature".

Greg Lloyd

does it work wit a bluetooth dualshock or sixaxis?

urbanturban666

@[www.engadget.com]

@Sherwin Souzankari: ah i thought the iPhone had it running full screen

also not your buddy guy >:|

;)

This is where an old fashioned S60 D-pad comes in handy. Playing a racing game on a PC keyboard is hard enough, let alone one as cramped as the Pre's.

davekaybsc

@Gonzie: Same amount of pixels, buddy.

Sherwin Souzankari

wouldn't it be faster since it's running in a smaller window/part of the screen?

@chrishannan:

My AT&T 8525 finally died so I had to pick up a new phone and my contract was over. Was leaning towards the Pre but picked up the 3GS instead because of the Pre's lack of a landscape keyboard. I know Palm did a vertical sliding keyboard to make it easier to type one handed but I'm pretty sure most people would of preferred the landscape keyboard as I did.

@Microdot: ...or something horribly right.

pure241

@curlycarlos:

yeah... i dont think so. ive developed for the iphone, and have started working on the pre... if we are talking about the 3g, then it may be splitting hairs, but sure.. i could agree. but the 3gs? i dont think so. if he finds it faster... he's doing something horribly wrong.

Microdot

@link12245:
ON mobile OSX. IIRC most of the tests were things like launching apps/ opening webpages, all of which are faster to do on an iphone because of how its coded. 1 app at a time. I LOVE being able to be on my Pre browsing a webpage, writing an email on/off in the background,getting a notification, hitting that to go to messaging and swipe back to email/web. The iphone may be able to RENDER faster, but that makes sense, having to close whatever app you're in to go do something else.
Oh that's right, its not actually called mobile OSX is it? I see why.

the_lane

@link12245: The same post... again. I hear-by revoke your Apple user status.

@EncNone:

OMG! one piece of software runs better on the pre than the iphone and all the fanboys unite. woo *pats on back* go pre!

link12245

@EncNone:

I love unconfirmed rumors vs confirmed.

link12245

@nikaru: hahahahah, fail.

link12245

@link12245:
Though the Palm Pre has the performance edge over the iPhone 3GS, at very least with my software, I'm not playing favorites. No worries there.

keywords : my software

he's using software scaling and buffering, which will make it faster until it has to buffer and sync those other 16 bits (sound) in as well. And as far as trying to get that thing to scale landscape, that may be a problem too. Looks promising none the less, but i don't see it going off without a hitch, prove me wrong please
ZodTTD, i'd love to see this working on my pre, and iphone. give us bluetooth multilayer too! that'd be awesome, hardwares unite.

link12245

tomorrow he'll put a youtube with sound working. Trade off is that you have to have lag. hahahah. jk. but seriously guys:

3gs renders faster in almost every application, and benchmarks higher. Not a fanboy, but like the facts to be straight.

cnet
gizmodo
engadget

all did test, all said iphone. granted they all seem to be biased toward apple anyway, but eh, can't win em all.

now if only the d-bag dev team would release a jailbreak, i'd be on my way to ps1 mayhem! woo.

link12245

@Gerardo Rabelo:

3gs renders faster in almost every application, and benchmarks higher. Not a fanboy, but like the facts to be straight.

cnet
gizmodo
engadget

all did test, all said iphone. granted they all seem to be biased toward apple anyway, but eh, can't win em all.

link12245

@Gerardo Rabelo:

3gs renders faster in almost every application, and benchmarks higher. Not a fanboy, but like the facts to be straight.

cnet
gizmodo
engadget

all did test, all said iphone. granted they all seem to be biased toward apple anyway, but eh, can't win em all.

link12245

It's incredible to think that just a few years ago the only way to run that game was on a monster size console, and today is in the palm (no pun intended) of your hand.
What will the future bring.....can't wait.

aec007

if you guys care the guy who modded this ZodTTD is actually replying to good comments on engadget fyi

collegekid13

@chrishannan:

I'm sure ZodTTD will enable the accelerometer in a future version. And given that most games are typically only using 2 to 6 buttons, there's no reason you couldn't control it with the keyboard on one side with one hand (or maybe the keyboard in concert with an on screen control or two?)

COCOViper

@CatboyMac's angry girlfriend:
What bothers me the most is the placement of your thumbs. After a 3 min. race you won't be able to move your fingers for quite some time.

daPrinz

@Protocol X:

i wish i could run a smooth psx emulator on my 3gs, but with these heating issues i'm afraid of spontaneous combustion :-)

EncNone

@Solertia:

i see what you did there.

why would they compare it to anything less than the newest version?

yes its faster than the 3gs.

EncNone

@Dearhaw:

cell phones themselves (at this point in time) cannot stand up to regular platforms in general.

this however is very cool to see and hopefully in the future (maybe with sony's handheld?) we can see some real hardware coupled with some real software.

EncNone

@curlycarlos:

see above.

EncNone

@CatboyMac's angry girlfriend: Well, Wipeout XL isn't 15 years old... more like 11 or 12. But what worries me is that he doesn't have the audio working - that game has a phenomenal soundtrack!

pixelpushing

I guess thats cool, the screen is pretty small though. Maybe for some games, but I couldnt see myself playing a long emersive game on a phone.

tweaker

@curlycarlos: Yes.

Gerardo Rabelo

@Solertia: I guess people don't read the original article (even though i think giz should hav psted it), "Though the Palm Pre has the performance edge over the iPhone 3GS, at very least with my software, I'm not playing favorites. No worries there."

Gerardo Rabelo

Don't get me wrong, I love emulators and I love Wipeout XL to death. However, emulators cannot become the basis of a "substantial" gaming community; they will always cater to a niche.

Dearhaw

@Sal Ayyad: This is from the original article, "Though the Palm Pre has the performance edge over the iPhone 3GS, at very least with my software, I'm not playing favorites. No worries there."

Gerardo Rabelo

@superberg:

Just as iPhone fanboys drink the Apple coolaid, so do Pre fanboys drink the Sprint coolaid, it seems :-)

"If you get in a debate with an iPhone fanboy, always mention the magic word - multitasking!"

Dearhaw

@nikaru:

You are aware that multitasking slows down a processor, right? It has its functions, don't get me wrong, and on a computer is very useful.

But when you play games, you want that shit off as much as possible.

@se.blackheart: Ribbit, ribbit, I can't hold it. Last toilet with me had me I already sold it...

Best. Game. Ever.

Of course it's faster than the 3GS. Why compare it to the 3G which has a slower processor. Palm Pre is always better than iPhone - Multitasking rules.

nikaru

@se.blackheart: Now THAT would be cool.

Which iPhone? I doubt it's faster than the 3GS. Sneaky sneaky Gizmodo!

I don't think it's an issue with you being stuck using the Pre in portrait mode while using the emulators... the way these Palm Pre are just coming apart, you should be able to twist the keyboard so that it's on the side of the Pre :-)

Protocol X

Not saying using virtual controls are easy, but it's gotta be tough to control games with such tiny keys.

Also, you're stuck using the Pre in portrait since you can't press the keys right in landscape. I liked how gpSPhone on the iPhone could be done sideways and the virtual keys overlapping the game but not interfering with it.

Faster than which iPhone 3g or 3gs.

Sal Ayyad

Must be because the Pre lacking sophisticated features, so should be able to run apps better as there less lines of codes in WebOS

Andre Ondre

@CatboyMac's angry girlfriend: Hey, you can't discount the nostalgia factor.

USB_Humping_Dog

"in the rain or in the snow, i got the funky flow...but now, i really gotta go..."

Awesome...now gimmie a 16 gig pre and I would consider it. Until then, no deal.

Faster than the 3GS though?

curlycarlos

Oh snap, take that, Apple! Now there's another device on the market that can emulate 15 year old games and allow you to play them with an irritating control scheme!

:/

CatboyMac's angry girlfriend