AIR has a very limited set of extra javascript commands, but it is enough to give the developer the feeling they are definitely delivering a client-side app.
Functionality like what? Will it let you import physics libraries written in C? Give you access to OpenGL in javascript? What about networking stacks? What if I need OpenSSL? At a certain point you end up reinventing an awful lot of wheels even if the hooks are all there.
From what I've seen:
- Graphics: HTML5 canvas. No word yet on if it's got the 3D support that's been planned for that canvas. But 2D access for graphics is pretty certain.
- Other than that, HTML5 local storage for your app data. They even have javascript access to old palm .pdb files.
- Javascript access to the contacts, calendar, phone, etc. APIs
- The app is stored locally, and can run without network access.
- As for networking/ssl... it's a web app written in HTML/AJAX, think about it :-)
Perhaps they'll provide ways to extend out the javascript APIs (e.g. native code modules) later.
I think if the choice was between a third all-new alien SDK and luring developers in with HTML+JS, Palm made the right choice.
I agree that it's neat--in fact, I expected that in the way of an iPhone SDK long before the native one existed (and given the number of ex-Apple employees on the team maybe that's where the idea came from)--but I wouldn't call it a mini-revolution. It's just an SDK built on an existing open source platform.
by the time Pre comes to the market in a few months, apple will have the iphone 2.0 to announce. i'm just really glad, we are finally seeing some competition in this market space. this will drive the service providers to compete for my data plan purchase.
Even if it's not, the fact remains that apps written in HTML+CSS+javascript (what's more, HTML+CSS+JS tweaked to run on WebKit) will be trivial to port to the iPhone -- not just because the iPhone has a fantastic webkit browser, but because the apps themselves will be trivial.
The Pre, at best, will be a phone of widgets (I like your "slightly clever phone" moniker). I've made my share of widgets, and I know they can be both fun and useful. But after three months of game development on the iPhone, I would hang myself if I didn't have Cocoa. The Pre is going to see twenty versions of Lights Out, but you'll never see a Cro Mag or a Crayon Physics.
When people go on about the iPhone being a "computer in your pocket" they're talking about Cocoa its OS X underpinnings. Mojo and WebOS, at best, put safari in your pocket, and the iPhone already does that for cheaper.
Maybe you're right, and the Palm doesn't have the iPhone in its crosshairs. But I'm not sure how that helps them.