All The Power Of An Apple //e In The Palm Of Your Hand

by , 11:00 AM EDT, July 3rd, 2003

Sometimes you just need a fix of retro gaming, but it's not always convenient to cart a vintage Apple //e around with you wherever you go. However, a PalmOS-based device is much easier to cram into the pocket of your favorite jeans. What good does a PalmOS device do you, you ask? Well, that's where the open-source PalmApple Apple //e emulator for the PalmOS comes in. The emulator, linked to from a PalmInfoCenter article, currently emulates the 65C02 CPU, 64K of RAM, 40x24 text mode, and more. That's right, this software turns your PalmOS device into a tiny Apple //e. From the PalmApple site:

About
PalmApple is an open source Apple //e emulator for PalmOS PDAs.

[...]

Current Status

• Complete rewrite using 68000 assembly for 6502 and video emulation.
• Apple //e with M65C02 CPU (not complete undocumented opcode emulation)
• 64K Memory (with 16K Language Card)
• 40x24 text mode, 280x192 hires mode, and mixed text/hires mode.
• Disk II controller support - slot 6 only
• No slot 3 expansion ROM support
• No sound support (anybody know how to program the Dragonball PCM hardware?)
• No 80-Column Card
• Included Apple disk converter
• STILL IN ALPHA STAGE!. Play it at your own risk.

According to the site, PalmApple is still early in development stages, but is still usable. According to the PalmInfoCenter article, some PalmOS 5 devices with at least 66MHz CPUs can run the emulator at almost full speed, and performance enhancements are in the works. Unfortunately, the utility to convert Apple II disk images into a format usable by the emulator and the PalmOS is Windows-only. You can get more information and download links at the PalmApple Web site.

The Mac Observer Spin:

While old Apple //e machines aren't in any danger of extinction (in fact, they will probably survive whatever natural disaster finally kills off cockroaches), it's great to see the machine that so many of us grew up on given new life.

That said, as this is considered alpha software, TMO recommends that you backup the data on your PalmOS device before giving this software a spin, just in case.

PalmApple