05:57 AM by Colin Dunstan in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

If you're one of the millions of Scott Sigler's EarthCore fans, you'll be delighted to hear that his second pocast, Ancestor, is coming out today. To sign up for it, for free as usual, copy and paste the following link to your favorite podcast application:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/ancestor

05:29 AM by Colin Dunstan in Miscellaneous | Lounge

Considering that nowadays most students use laptops to write their papers, and use Google to find the content of their papers, it's seems an important question to ask: Do students really need all that technology? Quoting AP:

"The biggest problem that students have is that technology often ends up being a distraction," says Robin Raskin, the founder and former editor of FamilyPC magazine. "In an information society the smart person will be the one who can shut out all the distractions."

Raskin cites an example of a student who searches the Web for information on the French Revolution — and comes up with french toast, french music or french kissing. "A child can spend half the night searching for an answer to one question," Raskin said.

If you are or were a parent, how much of today's technology would you make available to your kids going to high-school?

05:05 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Feeling like to be a lucky winner these days? Then go to PalmAddict's forums, participate and win! The contest will run for a month, and for all the goodies you can win check out Sammy's official announcement.

04:41 AM by Laurens in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

The Register - What sealed Palm's software fate?:

So, PalmOS ends up in the hands of an Japanese mobile browser company that almost no one has ever heard of. It's a sad sign that expectations for PalmOS software have been so low, for so long, that PalmSource stock leapt 70 per cent on the news.

This editiorial may be too negative and sometimes downright cynical, but the author does point out one possibility that most of us haven't thought about yet:

as critics have pointed out, it really bought PalmSource for its Chinese Linux presence - in which case $324 million looks like a bargain.

08:34 AM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

We are honored be able to report that MobileRead is included in the Palm Addicts 2005 Reader Awards voting for Best Palm / PDA news site, Best Palm Blog, and Best Palm forum resource.

If you enjoy MobileRead, please consider casting your vote for us here!

06:40 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

News.com is loudly proclaiming that the sale won't kill PalmOS. I'm hopeful, but not yet convinced that they won't focus entirely on phones. There is the risk of delays or changes in the full robust OS favored by Palm affictionados. The Linux conversion for phones will take a huge effort by itself, so we have to wonder how many resources can be afforded for longer term gains with the full OS for Treo-like devices and pdas. But, come to think of it, that's the same situation we had before the acquisition. And with this deal they might have additional resources to build the OS for longer term purposes. Surely they won't sacrifice the more powerful devices of the future just to get phones out now.

We'll have to wait to see what happens, but for now Access is saying "it wants to finish creating the Linux-Palm operating system hybrid that PalmSource started when it finalized its acquisition of China MobileSoft this year. The company gave no time frame for completing the work." And "Eventually, Access said its plan is to combine its Linux-based NetFront browser with the Palm OS version 5x--also known as Garnet. The representative said Access may even revisit the Palm OS version 6, known as Cobalt, which was not broadly licensed by PalmSource."

I think those are the words that they have to say right now, pretty much regardless of what they plan long term. They can't risk loss of developers, 3rd party providers, current licensees, and other parties critical to current income from PalmSource. But that doesn't mean it's not true.

The future looks bright for PalmOS... but still very uncertain.

Read more at the news.com coverage.

04:11 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

In the wake of the purchase of PalmSource by Access, everyone is wondering what it will mean to Palm. Especially with the focus on mobile phones and the rumors of upcoming Windows Mobile versions of the Treo.

Palm is aware that developers are both an especially important resource, and very much affected by whatever the outcome. So Palm Developer Relations has contacted developers via email with the following letter which also had a copy of the press release describing the purchase.

Basically, this letter is just a public statement to developers saying "we need you, we appreciate you, and this will be a positive thing for PalmOS so stick with us."

-------------
Dear Developer,

Some of you may have seen the press release (see below) that was issued by ACCESS Co., Ltd., announcing the acquisition of PalmSource. This is good news for Palm and the Palm Economy. Palm is fully supportive of the acquisition and we look forward to continuing to work with ACCESS to advance the Palm OS platform.

ACCESS is the software technology partner for the Blazer Web Browser, which has been an important contributor in the success of Handspring and Palm. Having PalmSource supported by a strong financial base will help ensure the Palm OS platform moves forward to the benefit of the entire Palm Economy. In May, Palm extended its strategic license agreement, permitting Palm to continue making and marketing products based on Palm OS until the year 2010. Palm's exceptional software team and our cadre of developers have consistently delivered differentiated products by adding value on top of the OS.

We look forward to continuing our strong working relationship to advance the Palm OS platform. If you have questions, don't hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,

Paul D. Leeper
Director, Developer Relations
-------------

01:52 PM by Colin Dunstan in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

Blackmask, the place where you pick from over 11'000 free public domain books, plays, poetry, etc., is now hosting a mobile-friendly mirror-site called SmartSet.

Smartset runs on an XML template that means it'll allow easy browsing in just about any mobile device--Wifi enabled Palm, Pocket PC, tablet and the new Nokia--you might be using to surf the web, and is particularly useful if you're, you know, waiting in line at the Starbucks or wherever.

[via Teleread]