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Thursday October 12, 2006
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 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.
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October 12, 2006 10:30 PM
Palm OS (powered by ACCESS) works great with high-speed CDMA networks. Checkout the Treo 700p on Sprint or Verizon.
October 13, 2006 6:19 AM
True. But it doesn't work with UMTS because it can't handle the simultaneous voice/data streams. And not only are Cingular and T-Mobile both going with UMTS, I hear handheld developers are interested in selling products to Europe and Asia, too.
October 13, 2006 12:32 PM
I love love LOVE the Palm OS, much better imho, than Windows Mobile, and I shudder at a future of portable devices and smartphones that only run Windows Mobile...it makes me scared to think about. Still, I really hope that PalmSource-I mean Access, has something up their sleeve for this shortfall. Between this and the historic inability for Palm device owners to upgrade the operating systems in their devices (like my Palm Tungsten T3 that I'm stuck using 5.2.1, even if I was willing to pay for updates or new versions. It's sad, and it's sad even still that apparently I'm not missing horribly much in the newer versions-those are my two major gripes. Still, here's hoping that Palm and Access have something up its sleeve to get back in the game, and isn't prepared to roll over and show its belly quite yet. Love the "sometime before 2100" joke, too. ;)
October 18, 2006 4:01 AM
I want to start developing interactive graphic/media stuff on a palm-size stylus-using platform. Tablet PCs are too big and too Windows. The Palm OS isn't progressing, apparently. Pocket PC, too Windows. Should I... drop $400 on a LifeDrive, get a PocketPC something and live in a Windows world, hold out for Linux-based Palm something, or other. Any advice or references for getting started (e.g. platform selection) in handheld/PDA development is much appreciated.