TamsPalm – the Palm OS / web OS Blog

Opera’s booth at Symbian’s SEE provided me with an opportunity for a bit of hands-on time with the latest version of Opera Mini. Just in case anyone of you is new to the topic: Opera Mini 5 introduced tabbed browsing.

Starting Opera Mini 5 unveils its new home screen. Instead of the classic one showing a list of web sites along with some thumbnails, you now get this:

In use, the program mimicks the browser found on an iPhone:

Tabbing worked flawlessly during my tests:

Opera 5’s UI generally is ribbon-based – here is another example:

As this hands-on was made on a Nokia N97, I don’t know how the program will work together with RIM’s and Palm’s Java Virtual Machines. However, I heard little bad – which means that taking a stab could very well pay out…

Well, Ben Galbraith and Dion Almaer (Palm) talk about the distribution of Palm webOS apps at Sprint’s developer conference. Here’s what they’ve to say about the app catalog:

Palm keynote at the Sprint Open Developer conference, on monday afternoon

Source and further informations at PreCentral.net

Palm’s recently-announced Pixi has just hit the FCC.

As of now, most of the photos are still covered by a confidentiality agreement – all we currently know is the list of tested bands and transmitters, which reads as follows:

• Bluetooth
• EVDO RevA
• NO WiFi

Any further questions?

The new Palm Pixi will hit Sprint on November 15th for $100! If you’re interested you’ll find further informations here!

Source: http://www.precentral.net/palm-pixi-hit-spint-november-15th-9999

Access, the maker of the ALP platform, has just sent further information regarding the Emblaze Else.

First of all, they provided the image below:

The company furthermore sent out the following press release:

Tokyo, Japan, October 22, 2009 — ACCESS CO., LTD., a global provider of advanced software technologies to the mobile and beyond-PC markets, and Emblaze Mobile Ltd., a technology design house for cutting-edge mobile devices, today unveiled ELSE INTUITION™, a groundbreaking mobile platform jointly developed by ACCESS and Emblaze Mobile.

ELSE INTUITION™ combines ACCESS Linux Platform™ v3.0, ACCESS’ flagship mobile Linux® platform, with a state-of-the art user experience, innovative user interface and a suite of services provided by Emblaze Mobile. In addition, the two companies previewed the first ELSE™, the first mobile device based on the ELSE INTUITION™ platform, jointly developed by ACCESS and Emblaze Mobile.

ELSE INTUITION™: A Revolutionary User Experience
ELSE INTUITION™ is a complete mobile platform developed by ACCESS and Emblaze Mobile. Thanks to the combination of ACCESS Linux Platform v3.0 and an advanced user interface engine, jointly developed by Emblaze Mobile and ACCESS, ELSE INTUITION™ delivers a highly compelling and differentiated user experience, coupled with state-of-the-art hardware, accelerated 2D/3D graphics and elegant transition effects. ELSE INTUITION™ takes advantage of ACCESS Linux Platform v3.0 to provide advanced flexibility and configurability, enabling users to run multiple applications simultaneously, switching between them with ease. All data and content, including contacts, appointments, videos and photos can be rendered anywhere, not just within a single dedicated application, giving users faster, easier and more consistent access to their information.

ELSE: A New Category of Mobile Device
The first ELSE™, the first mobile device deploying the ELSE INTUITION™ platform, presents an entirely new category of mobile device that allows for a complete, fully-functional user experience. The device actually becomes the application, providing functionality that for the first time is able to match that of standalone off-the-shelf dedicated devices, such as digital cameras, top-ranked MP3 players, best-in-class GPS devices, and more, while maintaining an exceptional ease and simplicity of use.

The first ELSE™ is being previewed at ACCESS Day, ACCESS’ annual ecosystem and partner event in Tokyo, Japan on October 22, 2009. The companies have already been actively promoting the first ELSE™ to top-tier mobile operators worldwide, and operator evaluations are currently underway. The complete global unveiling of the ELSE INTUITION™ platform and the first ELSE™ device will be announced separately.

Amir Kupervas, CEO, Emblaze Mobile, said, “Our vision is to create a revolutionary mobile solution that will change users’ experience in the mobile arena. Imagine a device that is not a phone surrounded by gimmicks you will not use; where the camera literally replaces your digital camera; you get real-time push email wherever you are on the globe; almost every song and film in the world is one click away; and any one of its multitude of features is reached with no more than one light gesture of your finger and not buried deep inside folders within folders. If you imagine this, you imagine the first ELSE™ and the capabilities created with ELSE INTUITION™. And yes – it is definitely something ELSE. Our relationship with ACCESS and the privilege to leverage ACCESS Linux Platform has allowed us to fulfill our vision and bring it to fruition.”

Tomihisa Kamada, president, co-CEO and co-founder of ACCESS, said, “Our goal of providing a complete solution for enabling the creation of advanced mobile devices aligned well with this innovative vision from Emblaze Mobile. ELSE INTUITION™ provides a perfect showcase for the flexibility and customizability of ACCESS Linux Platform. It underscores our ability to tailor and adapt our technology to suit our clients’ requirements and to work directly with our clients to achieve their goals. Emblaze Mobile came to us with a thought-provoking concept to shake up the mobile industry, and I am delighted that ACCESS has been able to provide the software to make it happen.”

ACCESS Linux Platform
The first ELSE™ and ELSE INTUITION™ are powered by ACCESS Linux Platform v3.0, which is compliant with LiMo Foundation specifications and employs ACCESS’ world-leading NetFront™ Browser. The ACCESS Linux Platform v3.0 Advanced UI Engine enables development of state-of-the-art user interfaces with advanced graphical effects, and allows complete modification of applications’ “look and feel” without requiring changes to the applications’ code. The ACCESS Linux Platform v3.0 Advanced UI Engine also supports full hardware graphics acceleration via OpenGL® ES 2.0. The ACCESS Linux Platform v3.0 application suite and complete set of middleware enable the unique advanced services now made available by ELSE INTUITION™.

About ACCESS
ACCESS CO., LTD. is a global company providing leading technology, software products and platforms for Web browsing, mobile phones, wireless handhelds and other networked devices. ACCESS’ product portfolio, including its NetFront™ Browser, ACCESS Linux Platform™ and Garnet™ OS, provides customers with solutions that enable faster time to market, flexibility and customizability. The company, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operates subsidiaries and affiliates in Asia, Europe and the United States. ACCESS is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers’ Index under the number 4813. For more information about ACCESS, please visit www.access-company.com.

About Emblaze Mobile
Emblaze Mobile Ltd. is a technology design house for cutting-edge mobile handsets. Founded in 2001 and headquartered In Israel, Emblaze Mobile develops next generation innovative cellular devices, utilizing state of the art Israeli technology and cooperating with global wireless players for manufacturing and global distribution. Emblaze Mobile is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Emblaze Ltd., a group of technology companies, publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: BLZ) since 1996.

As of now, this is all we know – stay tuned!

Love it or hate it, but the world domination of microUSB is now all but confirmed. After getting endorsements from the EU and CTIA, the ITU has now joined the gang of MicroUSB heads.

Ecran Mobile reports the following:

…

The ITU move isn’t binding or compulsory, but there’s enough momentum behind micro-USB at this point that it’s pretty much going to happen for any phone you’d ever consider buying going forward, and many of the big players have already hopped on the bandwagon

…

Ideas, anyone?

Don’t ask me why and how this happened, but it looks like the folks at Palm’s are starting to see the value provided to them by their third-party developers. Like most good companies, they have now provided a few extra buzz sources for its developers:

Online app list
The first one is probably better-.described as a self-promotional tool for the webOS platform. Take it as you wish, but the App Catalog can now be browsed online:

New app feed
The second thing is a real innovation. Palm now posts a tweet to a Twitter feed whenever a new app hits the road – this makes staying on top of new releases significantly easier:

Given Palm’s current low volume of apps, maintaining these should not be too much of an effort. However, let’s see what happens as app volume increases – stay tuned!

Many countries have censorship boards for video games (btw: Austria doesn’t). These boards tend to be made up of useless government officials who think to understand the market, but sometimes fail at the very first level of the game they should “rate” (proven case in Germany).

itnews.com.au now reports the following:

…

“I recently wrote to the minister regarding my concern that some so-called mobile phone applications, which can be purchased online or either downloaded to mobile phones or played online via mobile phone access, are not being submitted to the board for classification,” Australia’s Classification Board director Donald McDonald told a Senate Estimates committee in Canberra on Monday.

…

I guess that there is little need to explain this topic further – if these guys get their wishes, Apple could effectively close the Australian branch of the iTunes app store. The reason for this is that these reviews tend to cost about 2000$ a pop, and also take some time…which means that they will be uneconomical for all but the largest developers.

Ideas, anyone?

This one should probably be filed in the non-existing “fan base support section”. However, those of you who feel like some real-life interaction with the Tamoggemon Content team and want to learn more about Symbian in the process should mark the 25th of October in their calendar.

Austria’s MetaLab hosts its famous Linuxwochenende: a weekend full of talks about open-source technologies. I will be there on the 25th – my talk begins at 12h local time:

So: see you all there. Don’t leave /me hanging .

Palm’s Canadian carrier partner Bell has just lowered the Palm Pre to 149 CAD:

As usual, expect no gifts. The device comes with a three(!!!)-year contract, and will furthermore revert to its old price of 199CAD on the 5th of November.

Further information can be had at the URL below:
http://www.bell.ca/shopping/en_CA_ON.PalmPre/68346.details#

Emblaze Mobile seems to be the only manufacturer who seems to be interested in Access’s ALP platform.

The picture on the left shows the Emblaze Else, which Ryan Kairer’s PalmInfoCenter describes as following:

…

Access and Emblaze Mobile have announced a new Access Linux Platform powered device at an Access developer event going on this week in Tokyo. The device will be branded as the ELSE and is running a specialized version of ALP v3.0 called the Else Intuition platform.

…

As the boys have stated neither shipment ETA nor pricing as of this writing, I can recommend you all to keep a large grain of salt handy. After all, this wouldn’t be the first time that a manufacturer announces a Palmary box and then kills it off silently.

Either way: let’s see what happens…
Shot via CNet Japan

Germany’s O2 is the only carrier who sells the Palm Pre unlocked – Expansys has taken up the offer:

As the box is a “grey import”, expect to live with a QWERTZ rather than a QWERTY keyboard. Furthermore, don’t expect 3G in the USA…and let’s not get started on the insane price.

Feel free to drop your 715$ at the URL below – and don’t complain about the lack of 3G as you have been warned:
http://www.expansys-usa.com/d.aspx?i=189512

Bad news for Australians: Maybe the Palm Pre will launch in Australia, but not that soon! That’s what Palm wrote (as Email)

“At this moment in time, we do not yet have any plans to launch the Palm Pre or any of our new WebOS products in Asia Pacific. Our focus right now is to establish a strong presence in North America and Europe. However, we do not discount the possibility of offering this new range of products at a later date.

It is therefore not a rumor that Palm has significantly reduced its presence in the region to one of operational support to our existing customers requiring our in-warranty services and technical support for our sold products.”

Well, further information can be had below!

Source: http://www.precentral.net/rumor-australia-miss-out-all-palm-fun

Palm has just started an address collection push to collect adresses of people who are interested in a Pixi. In order to encourage users, 25 will be given away at random:

Give up your personal data at the site below – and be prepared to pay up for a data plan, as it is not included:
http://www.palm.com/us/products/phones/pixi/notify-new.html