PalmSource, once the dominant firm in handheld operating systems but growing steadily more irrelevant, adopted the name of their Japanese parent company ACCESS today in a move which involved absolutely no news about their aging, creaky handheld OS.

Palm OS 5.4 is still fast, memory efficient, easy to use and loved by many -- including Palm (a different company from PalmSource), which just released their new Treo 680 based on that technology. But the Treo 680 also shows Palm OS's weaknesses: it can't use next-generation high-speed GSM networks, because, well, that's just too much multitasking for the poor old operating system.

ACCESS supposedly has a new Linux-based handheld operating system called the "Access Linux Platform" coming sometime before 2100. But their track record for releasing operating systems in the past few years is pretty poor; there was a successor to Palm OS 5 called Cobalt, and it died stillborn. Compare that to Microsoft, RIM and Symbian, all of whom are chugging along with new versions of their OSes to enhance capabilities and take advantage of new networks and processors. (Have you seen the latest Symbian Series 60 Web browser? It's pretty awesome.)

Palm (not PalmSource) has done great things extending Palm OS 5.4, most recently in dressing up and streamlining the Phone application on the Treo 680. But the fact that Palm needs to do that work at all is yet another black eye on ACCESS' bruised face; aren't they supposed to be the OS and core software provider? ACCESS needs to step up the pace and show us something other than a new name soon, or Palm OS will get left behind as networks advance.

Dell spokespeople were pleased as punch to show off the new 20.1" E207WFP LCD monitor that's priced to move for the entry-level, budget-minded consumer.  With a maximum resolution of 1,680x1,050 (SXGA+) and a 5-millisecond response time, the E207WFP lends itself well to gaming or simple office work (widescreens at work...mmm...so nice).  Connectors include S-Video and DVI with HDCP so you play copy-protected HD content easily.  And, the attached stand can twist and tilt so you can find the best viewing angle.

The E207WFP will be available for purchase on Dell.com on Tuesday, October 17th, for $289 and includes a three-year limited warranty.
The monitor is capable of being labeled Vista Premium, after Vista rolls out, so expect to see it bundled with other Vista Premium machines on Dell.com.  (Dell folks assured us that it will continue to sell as a standalone monitor, too.)

According to a Dell representative I spoke with today at Digital Life, the launch of this product heralds a bigger push by Dell to move widescreen monitors to the entry-level market.  Expect more products to launch soon that fall in line with this strategy.

The rock gods may sneer at the five-button fretboard and limited  song list, but Guitar Hero junkies will love the newly revamped second version of this popular game brought to market by Red Octane.

The graphics are crisp and the concerts are much more animated in this version, which makes viewing the game while waiting for your turn much more fun.  The new cooperative play mode allows you to play lead guitar alongside a buddy jamming either on rhythm or bass guitar.  And you can jam out to any of the 64 songs available, as compared to 47 songs in the first version, but that still seems a little short to me.  If you're a real newbie, flip into practice mode and slow the songs down until you get the patterns right.  Note that you'll need to be Slash in order to compete in Expert mode, by the way, so don't worry about mastering the game too quickly.

Guitar Hero 2, complete with a new virtual guitar, will sell for $79.95 (pay $119.98 and you'll get two guitars) and will be available on November 7th, just in time for the holidays.  If you already own the guitar from the first edition, you can buy the standalone Guitar Hero 2 software for only $40.

On the sly, I heard that Guitar Hero 2 will be available for the Xbox 360 in Q1 or Q2 of 2007, and that you'll be able to purchase new songs from the Xbox Live Marketplace.

(Be prepared to see even slicker stuff soon from Red Octane as its new parent, Activision, pumps money and creative resource into the pipeline.)

This Week on Gearlog Radio: We get a exclusive look at the colorful, consumer-oriented Treo 680; Two of the best D-SLRs on the market go head to head; Molly finds a robot dog that will slobber on your leg; and Dan explains why he will miss the first ever Gearlog reader meetup at Digital Life. Plus, American Idol goes geeky. (well, geekier)

DOWNLOAD THE MP3 HERE.

Hosts: Dan Costa, Jen DeLeo

Panelists: jaime Lendino, Terry Sullivan,  Molly McLaughlin
Audio Engineer: Scott Bernstein

Theme Music by Terry Sullivan

 

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Yep, I'm here in PC Magazine's Digital Village, trying to maintain connectivity long enough get a post up. I hope most of our regular readers are already here too, or on their way: The DigitalLife show is multitudes better than last year, with more exhibitors, more space, more everything. (At left is the show's best costume that I've seen so far. Alienware, in case you couldn't guess.)

We'll be reporting more soon, but I'll give a quick recap of what I've seen so far that impressed me. First, the Sony PS3 is here--and playable! And lots of different vendors have demos here for PS3 games that will ship this November. The new PS3 version of Sonic the Hedgehog from Sega looked terrific--fabulous gameplay and physics, but still maintaining the charm of the original. There's a Final Fantasy XII booth, where you can actually play the game. For mobile games, we got a demo of Pool Pro 2, from Namco, coming in December. It's a truly multiplayer phone game, with amazing graphics and lots of new features, including customizable tables and avatars.

The HotSeat gamer-chair guys are here, with a racing chair and a flight-sim chair. These aren't brand new, but I nearly had to pry Scott, our staff photographer, off the flight sim chair; he was immersed, to say the least!

A company called Elumenati is showing an inflatable immersive dome; you can project video inside, so it's sort of like surround-video. They also had MS Flight Simulator (a demo of the upcoming new version), but they said the domes have been used as portable planetariums too. They're mostly commercially used right now, but they hope to break into the consumer market as well. (I think I could just about fit one in my living room!)

Hardcore gamers are always looking for that special edge.Ideazon might have just the thing with its new REAPER Gaming Mouse and FragMat, which are both being unveiled this week at the DigitalLife event in New York City.

Available on November 1 (strangely missing Halloween; sorry, Goth gamers), the REAPER ($39.99) features a 1,600-dpi optical engine that offers precise control, along with six programmable buttons. A seventh button allows for driverless dpi switching. Non-stick Teflon feet let the mouse slide on most surfaces, and gold-plated USB connectors ensure seamless connectivity with the PC. In other words, if you're using this mouse, the only excuse you have for not being good is that you're not.

And because Ideazon believes that bigger is better, the company is rolling out the FragMat to go with the mouse. Available for $14.99, this gaming surface is almost big enough to be a place mat. There are even Battlefield 2142, Counterstrike, Half Life and Day of Defeat mats, so you can prove to your friends once and for all that you have no life. You won't fear the REAPER, but your competition will fear you.

Post by Peter Suciu

If you're anything like me, you know the pain of wanting to charge a PSP and iPod at the same time during your car commute and, like choosing which child to save from drowning, the horror of making that decision plagues you for oh, about 10 minutes.

Well, Gomadic feels your pain too, and has introduced the Dual Rapid Car Charger, which lets you insert one adapter into the cigarette lighter and connect two devices to it to charge at the same time. Gomadic built the Dual Rapid Car Charger around its TipExchange technology, which offers a variety of removable tips to connect to the desired device. So literally thousands of products, from Treos to iPods, can be connected without any third-party peripherals.

But wait! There's more! If you just can't live without your Dual Charger when you're not in the car, Gomadic also offers the in-home Dual Rapid Wall Charger, which promises to reduce cables and create more counter space. Even better, Gomadic claims the Dual Charger transmits four times the power of single-purpose chargers, which means less wait time charging devices. 

Look for the Dual Rapid Car Charger at Gomadic's website for a cool $29.95; the Rapid Wall Charger is $34.95.

Post by Don Reisinger

LAN scenarios are becoming the driving force of laptop gaming, and of course, you want the fastest graphics chipset available in the hopes of waxing the competition. nVidia, today, announced the GeForce Go 7950 GTX, which will be the fastest mobile graphics chipset to date. It succeeds the GeForce Go 7900GTX, the previous speedster and reigning champ in the laptop gaming space.

According to nVidia, benchmark results of the Go 7950GTX(w/ Merom 2.0Ghz) are in line with the GeForce 7950GT(w/ Conroe 2.93Ghz) in desktops, giving gamers another reason to switch to gaming laptops. As far as specs are concerned, the core frequency is bumped up to 575Mhz(from 500Mhz) and the packaging footprint is identical to the Go 7900 GTX. Dell will probably be the first to get their hands on the new GPU, with Toshiba and various Taiwanese vendors to follow. With regards to high defition video, nVidia is still preaching that their chips will offload plenty of the work from the CPU, giving you a smoother and clearer picture.

On upgradeability, the Go 7950 GTX will not be in the form of an MXM module. End user upgradeability is something nVidia is looking to further down the line. However, Dell does have a program where they will upgrade the graphics chipset if a newer one comes out. Of course, you'll probably pay dearly for it.

It's only October, but I'm already anticipating the Season 6 premiere of American Idol come January 2007. In the meantime, at least there are ways to get my fix of the show (besides seeing Bo Bice in concert last month and pre-ordering Chris Daughtry's album)!

Attendees at this year's DigitalLife event in NYC (starting today) may be able to catch me playing Konami's Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol for PS2, before it hits stores in December. This single- and multi-player game lets you be an AI contestant, singing and performing through a full season of competition, with 40 songs to choose from. You'll even be criticized by Simon and Randy! (But no Paula?)

Players sing into a microphone and try to match the correct note and pitch to the chosen song.

"Players will be able to construct their contestant with new skin tones, clothing, hair styles and accessories in the updated Character Customization mode...Players can also import images of their face with the EyeToy USB camera (for PlayStation 2) to bring themselves directly into the actual competition."

Up to eight players can sing in the game's head to head and team modes; two players can sing together in Duet Mode. A single player game involves competing against other virtual American Idol contestants.

And what do you know: if you stop by the Konami booth (#1221) at the show, you can compete in the Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Virtual Contest for the chance to win some great prizes! The top prize? An all-expense paid trip to the taping of an American Idol episode in Hollywood!! I'm sooo there!

Konami will also be featuring its other games for play, including Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (Nintendo DS), Dance Dance Revolution ULTRAMIX 4 (Xbox), and Elebits (Nintendo Wii).

DigitalLife Show Details:

Where: Jacob Javits Convention Center
655 West 34th St.
New York, NY 10001

When: Thursday, October 12 – 1:00PM – 8:00PM
Friday, October 13 – 11:00AM – 8:00PM
Saturday, October 14 – 11:00AM – 8:00PM
Sunday, October 15 – 11:00AM – 7:00PM

It's October, the spookiest month of the year. The leaves are turning, the air's getting a chill, darkness falls earlier in the day and everything seems a bit more sinister. (On the east coast, at least.) It's time to go apple picking, eat donuts and drink hot cider, carve jack-o-lanterns, find that perfect costume, and go trick or treating. And what would Halloween be without horror movie premieres, such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (October 13), The Grudge 2 (October 13), and Saw III (October 27). And for a real tech thriller that's hitting theatres, check out GPS The Movie: a story about a group of college friends on a GPS scavenger hunt in the Northwest wilderness who stumble upon a small coffin that contains...well, you'll have to see the film to find out!

Did you know that the term "Halloween" is the shortened version of "All-hallow-even", which means the evening before All Hallows' Day? Apparently, Halloween originated from a pagan Celtic harvest festival held in Ireland, Britain and France. The Celts would celebrate the end of summer with bonfires to ward off evil spirits that walked the earth. I wonder if it works the same way with bad exes?

In honor of our favorite day of the year, besides Talk Like a Pirate Day, Scarelog is bringing you not one, but 13 days of Halloween filled with witches and goblins and spiders and ghosts. So get ready for both tricks and treats as the Weird Hunter and I have found the scariest, spookiest, and silliest Halloween gadgets around. The fun starts tomorrow, Friday the 13th.

Are you scared of Jen's cubicle? We sure are! Check out more pictures of her decked-out Halloween cube!

Click another link or head back to the home page, if you can't bear reading nice things about a passenger vehicle weighing close to 3 tons. Here goes: If you need to carry a lot of cargo or pull a trailer, the 2007 GMC Yukon XL makes a fair amount of sense, especially with its variable displacement "active fuel management" technology that shuts down half the cylinders once you're cruising on the highway.

A vehicle this big burns less fuel and creates less pollution than smaller cars, when five, six, or seven people and all their cargo can make a trip in one vehicle instead of two separate cars. With five of the seven or eight seats filled, you're getting 100 passenger miles per gallon on the highway. On the other hand, when a parent along with perhaps one lone toddler drives 5 miles to preschool when they could be carpooling with a neighbor, that's not doing a whole lot for America's fuel independence. Why make all those nearly-empty SUV trips? If these SUVs are one of the GM siblings that includes the Yukon, it may be because they're fun to drive.

Big Improvement: GMT900 Platform

General Motors redesigned its SUV lineup of the GMC Yukon and Yukon XL, Yukon Denali, Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Avalanche and Silverado (pickups), GMC Sierra (pickup), and Cadillac Escalade in early- to mid-2006, as 2007 models. The so-called GMT900 platform vehicles are a vast improvement over the previous GMT800 generation, with superior cockpit accommodations, improved fit and finish, a nicer navigation system, a rearview camera, and power-folding middle seats.

Handling is more precise, and the frame is markedly stiffer to resist twisting in turns. Economy has improved, even though weight is up about 200 pounds. It's possible to get 20-plus miles per gallon through careful highway driving. In several trips on the Interstate, we found mileage to be in the high teens but not quite reaching GM's rated 21 mpg for city driving.

Long Wheelbase Preferable

If you plan to carry passengers regularly in the third row (just so long as they're not adults), then opt for the 222-inch Yukon XL version or Suburban, which provide an extra 20 inches of space, mostly in the cargo area. Just don't plan to do a lot of parallel parking. The non-stretch SUVs aren't exactly tiny (a foot longer than most minivans), but cargo space is limited.

Fill all the seats in the 202-incher, which can be seven or eight depending on configuration, and you'll need to limit each passenger to a single small piece of soft-sided luggage, strap the bags to the roof, pull a small trailer, or (isn't this what big SUVs are supposed to help you avoid?) take some of the travel party in a second vehicle. Ouch. The XL model runs about $4,000 more, although that includes a third row of seats not standard in the 202-inch Yukon. Four-wheel drive is a similar $3,800 step-up.

Dashboard Technology

Choose the right options, and you can have a competent Denso DVD-based onboard navigation system (and a so-so voice input assistant) as well as the OnStar Telematics service, which comes standard. Or by mid-2007, OnStar Turn-By-Turn, will be available; it lets you call an operator, give an address (or point of interest), and get downloaded directions that are played back on a small display, but not yet linked to the main navigation system. The backup camera is a must in a vehicle this big and requires the DVD navigation system ($2,250 including a radio upgrade). Separately, you can get backup Sonar ($245). I'd recommend both. The DVD display lacks a hood, and reflections are a problem.

There's a line-in jack for music players but no GM-available iPod adapter (third parties make black box adapters) and no integrated Bluetooth. Integrated Bluetooth could be an important safety advance, given the number of dimwit SUV-driving carpool moms and dads I've seen trying to handle a handheld cell phone, a Starbucks cup, and the leather-wrapped steering wheel simultaneously. Maybe they think mobile phone reception is better when you're sitting up high in a SUV.

Naturally, a DVD player is available for the back seats. It can be controlled from the front seats as well as the back, but that's a mixed blessing: Tap the wrong button, the DVD player inadvertently shuts off, and you'll hear howls of outrage from the rear-seat children's chorus. Bose audio is an upgrade option; it sounds fine. XM Satellite Radio is available and included on many cars sent to dealers.

Mostly Improved Interior

If your experience with previous GM SUVs included a crude finish, clunky handling, and on upscale models, leather seats that call for plus-size cowhides, you're in for a pleasant surprise. The cockpit now looks and feels like that of a big passenger car, equal to the best you'd find in an American sedan, if not quite up to the standards of an Audi or Lexus.

The seats are big, with lots of power adjustments, even though they're not particularly supportive; no matter how I played with the seatback adjustments, I couldn't get the lumbar support I wanted. The column-mounted shift lever is thick and so long that it obscures the upper-right corner of the navigation system. And it's only controlling a four-speed automatic, which probably costs the Yukon one or two miles per gallon compared with a more contemporary five- or six-speed. One model of the Yukon Denali and the Cadillac Escalade get a six-speed automatic and a more powerful V8.

The seats look great, but some of the door panels still have a plastic feel to them. And the carpet isn't as luxurious as on $50,000 passenger cars, which is where a well-equipped Yukon Denali tops out even if the base price starts in the mid-thirties.

Runs E85; Should You Bother?

Our test XL (5,600 pounds) managed in the mid- to high-teens for miles per gallon, in mostly highway driving. That's with gasoline. The XL can also run on E85, a mix of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. But E85 packs less energy per gallon than gas, and you'd do well to see 15 mpg. Ethanol-based fuel makes a lot of sense if you grow corn, distill corn, or worry about America's energy independence. But Consumer Reports found its reduced energy content makes $3-a-gallon E85 equal to $4-a-gallon gasoline.

The engine, a 5.3-liter, 320-hp V8, shuts off half its cylinders while you're cruising on the highway. I found the switch unnoticeable other than on an instrument panel indicator. Older buyers who remember the unreliable horror show of the V8-V6-V4 engine on early 1980s Cadillacs can rest easy; this is a technology that works. The FlexFuel engine comes in most Yukons; the Yukon Denali gets a gasoline-only 6.2-liter V8. Towing capacity is excellent: 6,500 pounds or 7,200 pounds for the four-wheel-drive Yukons.

The ride was fairly smooth, although given all GM did to improve the car, I wish it had also switched from a solid rear axle (where bumps at one wheel affect the balance on the other) to an independent rear suspension. Road-noise masking is good for a big SUV, but not as good as in large passenger cars.

Handling is only fair, body-lean is noticeable when cornering, and the brakes get a workout. The Yukon and its siblings benefit from the now-standard stability control, called StabiliTrak. You shouldn't buy an SUV without stability control. Tire-pressure monitoring comes standard, but side air curtains don't; they come only on higher trim-level Yukons.

GM Online

GMC's Web site is a mixed bag. Owners get service alerts, and OnStar subscribers get vehicle status and diagnostic reports; no one gets more information than OnStar subscribers driving GMC cars. But you can't register your new vehicle for these goodies until about 60 days after taking delivery; maybe GM servers use slower electrons than those of the competitors. And the buying site, while clearly laid out, can't cope with the bewildering variety of trim levels and options. Some of what most buyers would consider options are really parts of style levels, and you don't know if the option is available until after you're five levels (out of six) into the process.

With the Yukon, first you chose a 2006 or 2007 model (even though 2006 isn't available to custom-build and hasn't been for months), then one model from five (Yukon, Yukon Denali, Yukon XL Denali, Yukon XL Half-Ton, and Yukon XL Three-Quarter Ton); then rear-drive or four-wheel drive type (except when it's part of the model); then a style such as Yukon SLE 3SA, SLE 3SB, SLT 4SA, or SLT 4SB, which is where you might find ultrasonic parking assist standard or maybe not; then the body and interior color; then options, the majority of which are already checked but grayed out or not explained (do I want a 3.23 GU5 rear axle or a 3.73 GT4 rear axle for $100 extra?); then a summary.

The screen layout shows a tab for each of the six buying steps, but you can move among them by pressing Previous and Next arrows, not by highlighting the next tab. Compare this with choices for the Acura MDX, another three-row SUV, albeit more compact. With the MDX, the buyer needs to decide among a technology package, a sport package, and an entertainment package, then decide if he or she wants a dealer-installed iPod adapter.

The "search dealer inventory" option seems to favor dealers, not buyers. Rather than see which vehicles come closest to your criteria within, say, 25 or 50 miles, you see all the inventory at a single dealer; then you can back up and search a second dealer, then a third. In the past, when I've searched General Motors sites for cars, the Monroney (window) stickers displayed for available vehicles sometimes showed options combinations I couldn't create online. Live and learn, apparently.

Should You Buy?

The GMT900 line represents a big step forward for General Motors in quality, ride, design, ergonomics, and comfort. Mileage is a little better than before, helped by the variable displacement cylinder deactivation feature. The extended wheelbase version makes sense if you're going to use the third row (for children only) and still need cargo capacity. For adults, this is a four- or five-passenger SUV, which means you populate only the first two rows of seats, in which case you should have enough cargo space, since the third row can and should be folded flat.

GM deserves credit for reaching out to new technology suppliers to help make the GMT900 platform successful. For instance, Delphi is closely related to GM and makes navigation systems; but for these models, GM chose Denso, which is one-fourth owned by Toyota.

So if you tow a trailer frequently and carry half a dozen adults and kids, the Yukon XL is one of your best choices. The backup camera is a must. While 222 inches long may not feel all that big to someone sitting in the back two rows, it makes backing out of parking spots challenging. The key technologies to get are the variable displacement engine (standard), the navigation system, OnStar, a backup camera, and ultrasonic sensors.

To read a review of the Acura MDX SUV, click here.