The Wait Was Worth It, StyleTap Rocks My World
It’s been 10 months since I first wrote about it in October 2007. At the time, I was so excited that StyleTap was going to work on an S60 client for their application that I almost had a heart attack. But through the 10 months (and a few days) of wait, my anticipation and eagerness diminished until 2 days ago, when I received an email telling me I’m now in the close Beta for StyleTap. And a whole new world opened for me!
So what is StyleTap I hear you wonder?
StyleTap is a sort of emulator that allows you to run Palm OS applications on different handsets and operating systems. They already have a client for Windows Mobile, which I tested when I had my old Qtek 9100, but they are now expanding to support S60 3rd Edition and UIQ3. They are also working on an iPhone application, but are very limited by Apple’s software strategy.
Palm OS you say?! Who needs THAT when you have S60?
Everyone knows that Palm OS is … outdated and so last century. The interface is yucky, and hasn’t been updated for ages now. But we can’t deny that Palm were a great player in what was once known as PDAs and that hundreds if not thousands of developers were (and many still are) on board with them. Up until now, you can still find tons of free applications for Palm, that are mostly related to organization and PIM, because of the PDA background. But for that reason too, you can find a lot of what I call “profession-axed software”, ie software that are made to help certain professionals in fields like Medicine, Architecture and Engineering, Law,… These software are coming slowly to S60 but are still rather sparse. StyleTap would allow professionals to carry these tools with them, without having to sacrifice their beloved Symbian platform or their amazing feature-packed Nokia, Samsung, Sony-Ericson or Motorola handsets.
Another reason why StyleTap is important is when you consider people who have been using Palm for years now but want to move to S60 or UIQ. Over the years, they have probably built a great collection of purchased software that they might feel a bit blue to lose. With StyleTap, they can bring their whole Palm OS software library with them, as well as keep the applications they were used to for years.
So how does StyleTap perform?
Being that this is still a closed Beta, I was ready to face some problems and some issues, but everything went around smoothly. Because I had already tried StyleTap for WM, I knew how things worked. I downloaded a .exe file that was provided to me, and installed it. Unfortunately, only Windows is now supported on the computer-end, but if you’re running a Mac like me, it works with Parallels and Windows. After the installation finished, the application checked for a handset connected to PC Suite, it found my N82 and automatically triggered the right file to ask me to install. I agreed, and it went well.
I then opened StyleTap on my N82, and launched the StyleTap Application Installer on Windows which detected my N82 and told me that the software was installed on it (good point). I added the .prc and .pdb files (anyone who has used Palm OS knows that these are installer files, like .sis and .sisx on S60) and clicked Install. A few seconds later, a new icon showed in StyleTap on my N82. I had already Eponyms up and running.
The process was a bit more tideous for Skyscape applications, but I can confirm that they work, and I am now rocking a huge library of medical applications on my N82, for free, like Archimedes and The John Hopkins Antibiotics guide. Of course, StyleTap won’t be free when it’s finally released, but it’s worth getting since the software it allows me to run don’t even exist for S60.
Here are some screenshots so you can see how everything looks, and if you have never touched a Palm handset before, you might be a bit shocked by the outdated interface so be sure not to scream.
The great surprises
Although still a beta, I was baffled by the amount of thought that has went into this application. Here are 3 reasons why:
- Palm applications require a touchscreen sometimes. I was worried about this before trying StyleTap, thinking I might not be able to really benefit from all Palm software. Turns out they have a virtual mouse that you can move around to click on anything that you see on the screen. Works great, and a huge hooray for including it!
- Even though the installer is Windows-exclusive, StyleTap have figured a way for Mac and Linux users. Just send any .pdb and .prc file to your handset (over bluetooth or USB or whatever), then click it on your handset. StyleTap will recognize and install it. Big fat bonus guys!
- Some Palm applications like Skyscape’s software, come as executables not as .prc or .pdb. Palm users would know that. These install to your computer, then look for the Palm Desktop software which has to be connected to your handset. Since there is no “real” Palm handset here, Palm Desktop doesn’t work and hence the installation is cancelled. No-no. I’ve been told by StyleTap that they figured a way around it. I’ll check and tell you if it really works, but kudos to even thinking about it.
Overall, I’m EXTREMELY pleased with this beta of StyleTap. Granted, I haven’t given it a huge test yet, but it works like promissed, and even better. I am a happy girl, and a happy S60 pharmacist user.
Wow, the screenshots did indeed display a quite outdated interface. But that was to be expected really.
Good to see that Smartphones gets mulitiplatformed as this will prove to be quite convenient.
Woow, great news; I am new to this site and new the Nokia family. I was just about to retire my Tungsten5, looks like I can have the best of both worlds.
A little message to the Author, I do not agree with your statement about Palm; their OS is more stable that MS Windows.
This would mean, I could still use my datebk5, the best calendar in the world. I could continue to use my eReader, as the one for S60 is horrid.
please keep us updated to when the software is out of beta, much appreciated.
Seems a useful app, too bad it is a private beta.
Well seems I will have to wait,,, who knows for how long
Dee Dee,
I wasn’t talking about the OS as much as I was talking about the interface, you know what you see on the screen. I have tried WM5 and there is no doubt to me that NOTHING can be less stable than WM, I just gave up on it because of that.
And I’m glad that you found a benefit for Styletap. I will keep you updated as to how things go in the beta.
A few questions pop up in my head while reading this:
What about performance? Are there any arcade style games you could try, to see how well they perform?
How does it integrate with the underlying platform? Say you use a Palm app that uses the contacts database, are the changes you do in the Palm app submitted to S60’s contacts database?
Eh, as someone who used Palms for six years before switching to S60, I tried the beta a while back — you can find it with a bit of devious googling. And the issue I have is that whilst PalmOS 5 introduced D-pad navigation, StyleTap resolutely sticks with a virtual mouse that is so incredibly impractical it’s not funny. You need a touch-screen to make StyleTap worth it; on current S60 hardware, I wouldn’t use it even if it was free.
Here is hoping that when we start shipping touch screen devices they update the app to support touch.
This piece of news just made my Lazy Sunday, thanks!
Puterman,
These are questions that I have been asking myself too, but I’ve been a bit busy the last couple of days. I will test them out during the next couple of weeks, and will report to the StyleTap team as well as tell you, readers, how things progress.
Bemused,
Well, honestly, I do like the virtual mouse and find it rather convenient to have, especially because even though PalmOS 5 moved to support the d-pad, Skyscape applications for palm STILL require a touchscreen, you can do next to nothing with the d-pad. So I guess StyleTap decided to go for the virtual mouse because of apps like Skyscape.
Stefan,
I chyme in.
The main reason for using Styletap for me would be to use Datebook 5 and ToDoList+
If I were to do this would I be able to sync those apps with Outlook? How would that work without Palm Desktop running on my PC?
dotsisx, I’m trying to open a .tr3 file from TomeRaider on v0.9.11 on my N95. Do you know where should I put that file, how to emulate the right path on my e:\ card, or which path should I enter on TomeRaider (\Palm\Launcher\ is set right now).
Thanks!
[...] via [symbian-guru] [...]
Hi Dotsisx, Im trying Styletap I know how to copy and paste prc and db files on my N82 but could you mind explain me how I can install skyscape programs and toher important medical applications??, please … also I was wondering if you’d mind send me the Styletap application installer to my email whymf2004@yahoo.com please ….. thanks in advance
Great review. I have a number of colleagues with Nokia devices so I’m sure they would be pretty pleased they could continue using them AND run PalmOS medical applications!
I wonder if UpToDate (the reference I use the most) will run?
Great app with big possibilities. Good to know someone is working out a way to bring the goodness of PalmOS apps to other platforms!
Where can I get this StyleTap?
Hi all
It is fantastic software,surely will bye it when it is realeased, i have problem with it: when i install uptodate 16.2 on my nokia n73 (with 2gb memory card) there is error (memory card is read-only)
Can u please help me to solve this problem,i need uptodae so much
Thanks u all
[...] This leaves the ones that keep me baffled each time I think about them. The first is .Net, which you can use to program like you do for Windows Mobile and then run on S60 using Red Five Labs’ new Net60 CF2.0 and the second is the ability to run PalmOS-made applications using StyleTap’s S60 emulator. [...]
[...] it would be to have Windows Mobile running on a ~300Mhz CPU from Nokia. What I know is that Styletap brought me one step closer to realizing my old request of having another platform on my S60 [...]