Why the ALP powered i800 had to goThe image on the left is the reason why the ALP-powered Samsung i800 bit the bullet – it is one of the few images found in the FCC exhibit detailing HTC’s Dream, the first-ever Android-powered handset.

T-Mobile is said to drop the box in a timeframe close to thanksgiving (end of November), customers may be able to get a rebate on their contract by agreeing to see ads while using the phone.

A hands-on report with the device is available at businessweek – the device is said to be similar to a SideKick and will have a trackball below its touchscreen.

Image from BrightHand

Along with the launch of the Treo Pro, the New York Times posted an article titled “Palm, Once a Leader, Seeks Path in Smartphone Jungle “. Unfortunately, the parts looking at Palm OS 2 have already been removed – luckily, Engadget has cached the relevant passages.

Cutting a long story short: Palm OS 2 will drop on a single device(!!!) and will come in the first half ot the next year(originally: early 2009).

Nevertheless, the article contains a load of interesting insight into Jon Rubinstein’s management methodology and the woes he had to face at Palm’s. An especially shicking example is below:

One thing he wanted to fix was the fit of the phone’s(the Centro’s, TP editor) plastic pieces. When he went around the room and asked who was in charge of that, no one spoke up. Mr. Rubinstein did not relent. “I asked until I found out,” Mr. Rubinstein recalled saying. “Then I said, ‘O.K., what do we have to do to get it done?’ ”

Get the full scoop here!

MyTreo’s Tadd Rosenfeld has become pretty talkative two weeks after we originally published our expose about the non-payment fiasco. He keeps sending me corrections over corrections, but refuses to answer my questions except with references to corrections sent before.

In order to keep the reporting balanced, here’s his correction on the “MobiHand takeover” – do with it as you please:

Mobihand has ** NOT ** taken over mytreo.net. That’s couldn’t be further
from the truth. In fact, we have NO direct contractual relationship with
that firm.

We signed a deal to have SmartphoneExperts — which was last year ranked the
fastest growing private company in America by Inc. Magazine — to provide
our e-commerce platform. We took this step because it will allow us to
focus on supporting the Treo community effectively.

Before doing so, we operated a store that served over 80 thousand customers,
and we gained tremendous experience in the Treo market. But
SmartphoneExperts someday soon serve their millionth customer (or some
amazingly high count). They are a truly great partner for us as we approach
our 500 thousandth member on the site.

SmartphoneExperts has contracted with Mobihand to provide software, which is
why their software e-commerce solution is advertised on our site.

In the end, however, the result for developers remains the same. MobiHand (a company that pays bills in time) now handles the MyTreo store…and this is the only thing that really counts. I am pretty sure that everyone(Tadd and developers included) will be more than happy with the way the store will work from now on…

According to the PalmInfoCenter, a Palm OS developer called Jason Robitaille has received insider information regarding the recent C&D letters sent out to Palm OS developers.

Jason claims that …Palm is trying to reclaim their name and will apparently be sending out more legal notices to software containing their trademarked name brands of Palm, Treo, Centro, as they believe customers may confuse those applications for applications developed by Palm Inc. themselves…

So far, Dmitry Grinberg, 3GX and ZZTechs have received C&D letters. Each one of the three companies produces applications which are considered crucial parts of the Palm OS experience by many users – the big developer scare-off apparently has begun for good…

Our original post on the MyTreo.net issue ended with a statement claiming that the distributor is unlikely to respond. This has turned out to be wrong, as the folks responded two weeks after being informed about the issues.

Find the conversation below:

Hi Tam,

Thanks for contacting me about this.

I learned from my team that we recently transferred to the developer > $3,500. Apparently there’s a small additional amount owed but that largely resolved the obligation to him.

Although I appreciate that you e-mailed me and updated the thread to reflect the payment, I’d like you to please remove the thread entirely.

I find objectionable a comparison of MTDN to a now defunct business
(Palmgear) and the stated expectation you wouldn’t receive a response from us. Nobody will win from your leaving those comments on your site.

If you have any questions, let me know.

Regards.

> —–Original Message—–
> Sent: Sunday, August 03, 2008 12:28 PM
> Subject: Request for comment
>
>
> Dear Tadd,
> could you maybe explain to me what is happening here:
>
> tamspalm.tamoggemon.com/2008/08/02/mytreonet-esd-non-payment-alert/
>
> I would be very happy to post a correction/amendment and fix the
> issues for you!
>
> All the best from Vienna
> Tam Hanna

As the issues with the developers have now been settled AFAIK, the non-payment alert is hereas revoked. The store has recently been taken over my MobiHand anyways…a company with a flawless track record…

Use the discount code SEASOFTAM to get 20% off the list price of InsaniQuarium Deluxe for Palm OS, PocketPC or WMS in the TamsShop!

AstraWare’s initial InsaniQuarium turned out to become a smash hit and a true evergreen. The company thus released an update called InsaniQuarium Deluxe – is aquarium management still as much fun as it was back in 2002?

The game’s core idea involves the management of an aquarium. However, fish drop coins instead of waste…collecting the coins then makes you richer.

Fish must be fed. Feeding a fish for some time makes it grow:
0a InsaniQuarium deluxe   the review 0b InsaniQuarium deluxe   the review

The bigger a fish becomes, the more coins it drops. Earned money can then be invested into food upgrades, laser power or new fish. The three images below show the food getting upgraded:
2a InsaniQuarium deluxe   the review 2b InsaniQuarium deluxe   the review 2c InsaniQuarium deluxe   the review

One new feature found in DeLuxe is an auto-tapper that eventually gets unlocked as you purchase upgrades. It allows you to tap-and-hold instead of having to tap the screen multiple times:
3a InsaniQuarium deluxe   the review 3b InsaniQuarium deluxe   the review

Unfortunately, aliens prey on the inhabitants of your aquarium. The various types of alien have its own strengths and weaknesses…while some can be killed with lasers, others must be overfed:
4a InsaniQuarium deluxe   the review 4b InsaniQuarium deluxe   the review

Due to various additions like carnivores and star catchers, elaborate economies can be constructed. In such aquariums, few fish feed other animals which then generate precious diamonds:
5a InsaniQuarium deluxe   the review

The “hard cap” on population size found in the original InsaniQuarium has been lifted. Instead, the game limits the amount of inhabitants by stuttering graphics and starvation…there is a point where food cannot be dropped fast enough to keep all inhabitants alive:
6a InsaniQuarium deluxe   the review 6b InsaniQuarium deluxe   the review

The final goal of the game is the unlocking of so-called pets. Pets hatch from eggs that must be purchased for ever-rising prices, and can then perform a variety of helpful things:
7a InsaniQuarium deluxe   the review 7b InsaniQuarium deluxe   the review

This review looked at version 1.0 of the game on a Treo 680. It needs about 3500KB of RAM. Stability-wise, the game was decent…it didn’t crash, but sometimes had issues with the recognition of on-screen taps. Nevertheless, it remained playable at all times. The start-up time of about 7 seconds was annoying, but bearable…

In the end, InsaniQuarium is an excellent game even with the technical issues found in version 1.0. Even though the deluxe version adds nothing worth noting, it remains a very addicting piece of software. All gamers who don’t own its predecessor are hereas officially encouraged to download the free 30min trial of the game…and should expect to pay the 20$ required for the full version(don’t forget our InsaniQuarium deluxe discount code SEASOFTAM).

This blog is hosted in Austria, a country with intact press freedom for tech journalists. Fenwick&West LLP employees are advised not to contact me as I may have to turn to the Federal Press Agency due to intimidation concerns…

Dmitry Grinberg, the developer of a variety of system extensions for Palm OS, has just received a cease-and-desist letter from Palm’s legal department regarding his use of the Palm trademark on his web site and in conjunction with PalmSDHC.

IMHO, it was only a question of time until Palm would use a bogus claim to turn against Dmitry for a simple reason: his programs allow users to use their aging Palm OS hardware in a seasonable fashion. A person who uses PalmSDHC will be able to continue using his TX or T3 for the upcoming future; seeing that the screen whine/digitizer drift issues are also software-fixable.

Palm makes a huge loss here: usually, people with a drifting digitizer will upgrade their handheld swiftly, seeing that a repair costs almost as much as a new device nowadays. So, for Palm, the existence of Dmitry Grinberg’s products is a huge pain in the butt…which they have now tried to put an end to.

However, the implications of this issue should not be ignored – it IMHO will also affect an unnamed but hotly-anticipated web browser for Palm OS. Its developer has been a Palm employee for quite some time; and I am pretty sure that palm will be able to persuade him to discontinue the product stating a bogus technical or personal reason (be advised that sulking in response to this article is a possible reason).

Cutting a long story short: developers should be extremely wary of their relationship to the boys in Orange. The Palm OS has been declared dead inside Palm’s; Palm OS customers are seen as fossils with whom no further revenue can be generated until they buy a new device. Thus, killing them off ASAP is a high-priority thing. I would not be surprised to find a variety of recommended-breakage points inside the Centro as to limit its useful life span.

Palm’s next problem is its upcoming Nova OS. Seeing that the company IMHO is not able to survive on Windows Mobile devices alone, the operating system is needed to differentiate its products from others. However, nobody except existing Palm nuts will feel like switching to Nova…but Palm nuts will not switch until their hardware breaks down (or the OS offers ground-breaking new features, which I dare to question seeing that it hasn’t even booted so far as to my sources).

Cutting a long story short: Palm must make its existing users lives as miserable as possible in order to stay alive on a long-term perspective. Developers who create applications that prolong the life span of existing devices should expect resistance from Palm in all ways possible…as should customers who expect customer care after the warranty period…

What do you think?

P.S. Dmitry Grinberg’s new site is called www.plmpowerups.com!

Just in case anyone of you ever asked himself what Exchange is all about and how it feels: you can now experience it first-hand!

Microsoft currently offers “trial” accounts that work for five days a pop and can be used with a mobile device of your choice – click the link below to start using Exchange!

https://signmeup.exchange2007demo.com/exchange2007demo/

ATTENTION: the accounts are automatically deleted after 5 days. Do NOT use them in a production environment…and be sure not to fuxate the data on your device by synchronizing it with the account!

WordPress has been updated to version 2.6.1. The updated fixes several bugs and security issues.
If you encounter any difficulties while browsing the site feel free to submit us your find to me or Tam. We’ll try to solve the problem asap!

MyTreo’s Tadd Rosenfeld has sent in an email stating “his side” of the story below. Cutting a long block of text short, he states that he did not contract MobiHand directly. Should you want more info, click this link for the full scoop!

MyTreo.net’s recently-covered payment issues have been largely resolved, as the software store has been taken over by MobiHand. Most affected developers seem to have received their cash or are scheduled to do so soon.

MobiHand has provided me excellent service with next to no downtime in the past; I consider the company to be the best ESD currently on the market.

Unfortunately, current developer accounts from the MyTreo.net store can not be taken over. Instead, developers must register at MobiHand’s developer back end Mobireach and add their products top the MobiHand catalogue if they haven’t done so before.

P.S. The rumors about Handmark entering the ESD business by taking over the MyTreo.net store are false…

David’s official announcement is below:

Just to clarify, MobiHand has just launched a new software store on
MyTreo.net. MobiHand is not the owner of the MyTreo.net site, and our
arrangement does not involve taking on prior payment obligations.

We look forward to working with all our current developers, and additionally
welcome prior MyTreo.net developers who are not yet working with us to sign
up at http://corporate.mobihand.com/sda_dev.asp, so that we can offer the
best and most complete collection of software on MyTreo.net and across the
MobiHand network of mobile-oriented stores.

No idea how Ryan Kairer’s folks always get their hands onto Best Buy’s promotional schedule – but our US readers with a craving for a Centro will probably benefit from their latest scoop:

AT&T Centro – free
Should you feel like the GSM version of the Centro(no PocketTunes deluxe), you can get it for free with a 2yr contract from AT&Ts. By the way: all colors including Electric Blue are offered…

Sprint Centro – 50$
Sprint’s Centro can be had for 50$ with a 2yr contract: the pink version is available, too…

All of the prices quoted above are immediate and OTC; there are no mail-in rebate games hidden in the woodpile. As usual, no warranties on anything – some sick BestBuy shop can always decide to stick to the list prices…

Literally months have passed since the great Treo 700p wars – funny events like our Paul Loeffler masquerade contest have led to the release of a somewhat useable ROM update approximately one year after the device hit the road.

Palm has now released another small update – the official changelog is as follows:

This software update is for a phone reset issue that occurs under certain specific and rare conditions

Getting the thing onto your Treo 700p is a nice bit of work (especially if you didn’t install the 1.10 update) – click the link below to get started:
http://www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/radiopatch/700p_verizon.html

Confucius himself has once stated that learning by mimicry is a cheap and painless way to get smarter: truer words have rarely been spoken. As the dollar price falls lower and lower, advertising on US-based sites is more affordable than ever…but coming across ideas and execution models is as hard as it always was. Can Gradation Design help out?
0 Gradation Design   the review 0a Gradation Design   the review

The book is created by a Japanese publisher called PIE Books and is almost completely free of text – instead, it is chock-full with over 200 different designs from all markets (CD covers, posters, packaging,..). As with most “photobooks”, some concepts are lovely while others suck:
1 Gradation Design   the review

A small second part contains a table of various gradients based on pretty weird colors – I have found these very useful when it came to making my own designs:
2 Gradation Design   the review

Unfortunately, the book suffers from a weakness found common to almost all “photobooks” and similar fine art stuff: availability. Amazon currently lists the book as out-of-stock and charges moderate 31$ for it – the publisher’s site is completely useless…

In the end, PIE Books Gradation design is one of the most inspirational tomes I dug through so far – many of my future banner ads will be based on gradients. If you enjoy looking at “photobooks” and can get your hands at a copy, hit it – people who prefer text-based books should stay far away as they are likely to be disappointed…

Apparently, something very weird is afoot at the guardians of the PalmGear corpse (better known as PocketGear). The merry app TamsPalm reported about a few days ago still can’t be found at PocketGear’s, even though the backend lists it as approved:
 PocketGear fun   app STILL not live

As of this writing, nobody from PocketGear has felt like giving a publishable statement about the issue – nevertheless, things are said to change to the better soon as a new ESD system is set to go live in the next weeks.

In the mean time, developers are advised to consider a PocketGear deployment the “critical path” in their release cycle – do NOT upload your app anywhere else before it pops up on PocketGear’s…

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