Back in February, David Rothman wrote of the StyleTap Palm emulator under development for the iPhone, comparing it to the plot of John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War (PDF) (Mobipocket) in which an elderly man’s brain was given a new younger body: "So why not apply the same idea to software? Let a sleek Nokia or iPhone run ancient Palm apps; why rely on a tired old company like Palm, which lacks the imagination and guts to recycle the Palm TX as an e-book machine?"
Unfortunately, according to a July 31 StyleTap press release, it looks like it will not be so easy. The terms of Apple’s SDK expressly forbid emulators, virtual machines, and anything else that allows non-native code to run—and the only way that a program can be sold through the Apple store is by using the SDK. But StyleTap is not entirely giving up:
The good news is that we are actively continuing to develop a version of StyleTap CrossPlatform for the iPhone and iPod Touch. However, the SDK issue means that as it currently stands, the initial beta versions of StyleTap for the iPhone will be usable only on iPhones and iPod Touch devices that have had software modifications (a process known as "jailbreaking") allowing non-App Store applications to be installed. (Here our lawyer made us say: "This is provided for information only. StyleTap is not recommending, requesting or encouraging you to make any unauthorized modifications to your device. There are warranty, upgrade and usability issues with ‘jailbroken’ devices that you need to understand before you choose that approach.")
As long as Apple insists on native code only for the iPhone, the chances of seeing the emulator in the App Store—and thus adopted (and financed) by the vast majority of users who do not jailbreak their phones—are nil. StyleTap asks that potential customers use Apple’s iPhone feedback form to ask them to change their minds, but given Apple’s recalcitrance on matters of SDK so far, it does not seem likely.
(Found via the Palmdoc Chronicles.)
