02:20 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Palm is dead. How many times have we heard that? It almost rings completely hollow after so many false alarms. But now we hear it said by Access, the company that owns PalmOS. The hardware company Palm, Inc may be okay, but our beloved PalmOS is in trouble.

From Computer Business Review,
"A spokesperson for Access told Computer Business Review that a logical end-of-life is expected for the Palm operating system (OS) and that the company anticipates being able to offer an integrated OS solution "sitting on top of a Linux kernel".

These statements confirm the impression garnered at the time of the acquisition that Access's strategic interest in acquiring PalmSource was in getting its hands on the Linux development capabilities PalmSource acquired at the end of last year when it bought China Mobilesoft."

The article concludes that "...while the Access spokesperson pointed out that Palm had also renewed its deal with PalmSource for supply of the OS through 2009 just prior to the acquisition by Access, the writing is clearly on the wall for what was once the last word in mobile device operating systems."

It sounds like it's almost time to put the nail in coffin, doesn't it? There are still some long shot possibilities....
1) Access is going to produce a pda/smartphone platform called by another name, so even though it's basically PalmOS for Linux, they want to distance themselves from the Palm name which is owned by Palm, Inc anyway. I don't think this is the case, though, because if they were planning to do a continuation of PalmOS, they probably would have unveiled a new name and said it continues the great PalmOS tradition. This approach doesn't make any sense if PalmOS is living on over Linux.
2) Palm, Inc could probably still purchase the rights to PalmOS outright and maintain it themselves. But I don't see that happening either. They have a contract for PalmOS through 2009, and that's more than enough time to dump it altogether. Even if they wanted to continue development on PalmOS, they probably only would do that if they could hire on the development team, which would probably be ruled out in any purchase agreement with Access. Just doesn't look likely.
3) PalmOS is "given" to the development community to live on as open source. This is not likely either, as it would be handing over too much intellectual property.
4) PalmOS is sold to another competitor. I doubt it, but it is possible.
5) The story could be misleading. Yeah, and I might win the lottery tomorrow also.

I still hope that PalmOS has a bright future, but with this news for the owner of PalmOS, I think it's time for me to keep an eye out for a Linux or Win Mobile device. While I won't say "RIP" yet, it sure doesn't look good.

Still, as Jeff Kirvin has said in the past, no matter what happens, and no matter how fast PalmOS dies in terms of new products, the Palm device you have in your hand will continue to work. The PalmOS community is here to stay for a long long time.

Thanks to Lindsey Dyson from Palm Addicts for this important scoop. If you want evidence of the strength of the ongoing PalmOS community, be sure to stop over and visit them.

Update: According to one of the comments at the Engadget post, Ed Hardy of Brighthand wrote the following:

I consider Ed to be a very reliable and very thorough reporter of these things, so this is probably all just a mistake. Phwew!

06:40 AM by Brian in E-Book General | News

Wall Street Journal technology columnist Walter Mossberg takes a stand against restrictive Digital Rights Management (DRM) in his latest Personal Technology column. From the article:

"Companies have a right to protect their property, and DRM is one means to do so. But treating all consumers as potential criminals by using DRM to overly limit their activities is just plain wrong."

Mossberg is a well respected journalist who covers the technology field, and many people believe he has an influence in the industry. His reviews are very end user oriented and focused on usability. Let's hope the content providers are listening to his message, which also calls for a revamping of U.S. copyright laws to allow for more fair use exemptions for personal use by individuals. He ends with this very strong message that is sure put content providers on notice:

"Until then, I suggest that consumers avoid stealing music and videos, but also boycott products like copy-protected CDs that overly limit usage and treat everyone like a criminal. That would send the industry a message to use DRM more judiciously."

Read the full article here.

12:45 PM by Laurens in Archive | Sunrise

I just released Sunrise 0.42h. The project is now open-sourced and available on SourceForge. I made a small change so that Atom 1.0 feeds are now parsed correctly. Previously, only Atom 0.3 was supported. More and more feeds are switching to Atom 1.0, so you'll be able to use these as well.

06:58 AM by Bob Russell in Miscellaneous | Lounge

That's the title of the newest PDA Thoughts from Shaun McGill over at PDA24/7. We all wrestle with our impatience to get the latest and greatest new device as soon as it's released. Our common sense tells us that our current device is reasonably adequate and that the newly released device may not yet be stable or compatible with the software we need to use. But our device lust is powerful. A nice topic that touches all true mobile computing addicts!

06:53 AM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Wondering what developers think about the PalmOS "situation?" There's a very nice interview at Computing Unplugged with a bunch of developers to answer that very question.

If you are just catching up on the PalmOS world, there are quite a few concerns growing. PalmSource, the creators or PalmOS, was bought by a Japanese mobile web browser company Access. PalmOS Cobalt, which was supposed to be the next generation PalmOS version, was basically ignored and then abandoned. PalmSource is now working on a large, long, and risky move to PalmOS on top of Linux. And Palm, Inc, the hardware maker of Palm devices has announced a Windows Mobile version of the Treo. No wonder we are all wondering what developers think and whether they will continue their great support of PalmOS. There's a lot of people wondering if and when they are going to have to jump to Windows Mobile, but it's no bed of roses over there. The next year or two will be just as interesting as the last year or two!

(via PDA24/7 )

10:55 AM by Brian in E-Book General | News

LG Philips and E Ink have announced the world's first tablet-sized flexible electronic paper display. The 10.1 inch 800X600 SVGA display, with 100 pixels per inch and a 10:1 contrast ratio, is less than 300 microns thick. The paper-white four grayscale display is as thin and flexible as construction paper. From the press release:

"We all need flexible displays," said Russ Wilcox, CEO of E Ink. "They
are 80% thinner and lighter than glass displays, and they do not break like
glass displays. You can roll them up and put them in your pocket. You can
curve them around the outside of a cellphone. Or you can throw them in your
briefcase like a newspaper. As Galileo famously told us, the world is not
flat."

This new display would be ideally suited to a digital future newspaper, a low-cost/low-power tablet suitable for e-book reading, as well as other applications like garments with display capabilities and places where current display technologies can't be used.

Read the full press release here.

Related: The future of newspapers, More e-paper promises

[via Engadget]

09:49 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Monica at Greenlight Wireless (the Skweezer folks) has contacted us with news that they have partnered with the wireless carrier Orange Dominicana to release a "private-label" version of their Skweezer service.

Excerpting from the full press release...

We decided to partner with Greenlight Wireless over other companies because their Skweezer technology is clearly superior in enabling end-users to easily access the wireless Internet with their mobile phones," said Orange Dominicana Product Manager Thien Doan. Orange and Greenlight Wireless share a similar vision of what the wireless Web experience should be like. "We jumped at the opportunity to partner with Orange because of the company's customer-focused culture and commitment to provide an experience that is independent of devices, geography, or language," said Greenlight Wireless CEO Kevin Perkins.

Skweezer technology compresses and reformats Web content being downloaded to a mobile device, so that it loads faster, looks better, and is easier to navigate. A private-label Skweezer service, like the one created for Orange Dominicana, can include an e-mail client, RSS reader, address book, online translation and other useful features designed specifically for the mobile environment. Skweezer is also completely platform-independent and can be accessed from Pocket PC, Palm, MS Smartphone, and XHTML-based cell phone devices.

But Skweezer is for any mobile browsing, not just with Orange. You can find more information about Skweezer's free and Pro versions at http://www.greenlightwireless.net/ or get a taste of the service at www.skweezer.net.

07:13 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

If you are interested in ministry and pdas, you'll love Mobile Ministry Magazine which puts the two together. Antoine does a great job with it, and you can see that he has invested a lot of time on it.

Now it is even better with the addition of the Mobile Ministry Magazine Forums. It's a brand new resource for you to check out.

It never ceases to amaze me how many pda-obsessed people are discussing Bible-related topics. I'm quite curious more generally about all the hobbies and interests of pda users in general. We're quite a friendly and diverse group. It's a shame there's no real good way to get a better handle on the common interests.