Maybe I am misreading you, but are you trying to say that the New Palm will not have GPS and Wifi? According to the article cited below, the Pre comes with sports EV-DO Rev. A and 802.11b/g, as well as Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR and A2DP. Not only does it come with GPG/AGPS but it "looks like it will come with dedicated navigation software on-board (if Palm's official UI pics are any indication)".

The GPS is very tightly integrated into the contacts and even the calendar. According to one interview, it has a "lateness notifier -- the phone uses GPS to determine where you are, compares it to where you're supposed to be at the moment, and if it figures out that you're screwed, it'll let you know. What's more, it can automatically email people to let them know that you've screwed up (just blame it on the traffic -- we always do)". The interview went on to say it will even figure out from your schedule what location you need and bring up the map and route.

As far as application development (being a software developer myself), I'm rather excited, with a touch of aprehension. The entire OS is essentially a big browser, and applications (right now) are a combination of HTML, CSS and Javascript. There are a LOT of things you can do with just those 3, but on top of that you are given lots of access to features like GPS and messaging and "it has direct access to local files and UI elements". The SDK hasnt come out yet to the general public yet, however. But apparently Palm mentioned somewhere (cant find the article tho) that the SDK may include tools that help transition source code from PalmOS to WebOS, so it wont be a straight port for a lot of apps but who knows at this point.

The part that makes me apprehensive is that there has been no word yet on whether it has Java or Flash supoprt. It is something you almost take for granted nowadays, but sometimes it helps to hear the anouncement to feel at ease. If both of those come with the phone then there isnt a lot that cant be reproduced. May not be the same applications you used to use, but these are times of change.

You mentioned why people would be so worried about backwards compatibility as a reason to question how good this OS must not be; well people don't like big changes like this. Palm already stated that this is their new OS to be used on all their products going forward, so they have a lot riding on this. Apps that have active developer support will probably get converted, and who know it might be a free upgrade or small upgrade fee. Apps that have been abandoned by their developers will die, just like always.

Anyway, we all may find out soon. An unverified rumor is that both Sprint and Palm want to accelerate the US release as quickly as possible, and may be pushing for a February release. Sprint was about to release their version of the Treo Pro and pulled that, and apparently preorder cancelations for the Treo Pro have been coming in droves as people are getting poised to snag a Pre at the soonest opportunity. Both Sprint and Palm put a "Click here to be notified when the Pre is available" link on their sites, and both reported having to pull the links off do to overwhelming hitcounts. Upon the anouncement at CES, Sprint stock alone rose 30% that day and about 70% by the end of the week. Both companies NEED this phone to be a success, and I bet you will see a LOT of support for it.

Incidentally, I do not work for either Sprint or Palm, but my roomate does work at Sprint Tier 3 support. He has not see the phone yet but has seen several videos on the OS features. I used to be a WM phone dude, but this phone will make me jump ship.

Palm Pre: everything you ever wanted to know - Engadget

Palm investor McNamee details Pre's neat location-based features - Engadget Mobile

Pandora's CTO talks about Pre, webOS development, gaming, and small children - Engadget Mobile