Access releases ALP 3.0... the mobile phone OS built upon the bones of Palm OS 5
Now that the next-gen mobile phone OS wars are heating up, whither Palm? Well, they're certainly not working on an OS anymore, but Access — the company that licensed the Palm OS 5 source code — have just released ALP, and have published some PDFs of the OS to browse through.
It all looks endearingly Palmy, with thoughtful marination in the new OS features that have come into vogue since Palm left the OS market, including smooth transitions, animation, higher res displays and the ubiquitous accelerometer support. As someone who once fondly owned a Palm m130,
I'd love to see Palm license the OS back and pump out some phones with it... for old time's sake, if for no other reason.
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As a former Palm owner (in one form factor or another, for 10 years), I find this mildly embarrassing in a "old girlfriend got a makeover" sort of way.
Actually, this would probably be better than my over hyped crap iPhone. Add a phone to my Garmin 3600, and I'd be a happy camper.
The list of things that I could do on my ancient palm5 based Garmin 3600, that I can;\'t do on my iPhone is staggering.
All of them are probably related to Stalin (uhh, Steve) Jobs' restrictions on the software, but as a user of the iPhone - I really don't care.
Apps could run in the background on the Garmin.
Yes, I know, they did't really run in the background, but the fact is my Garmin could play music and provide turn-by-turn directions on the GPS at the same time. If I connected to the web via an Enfora WiFi adapter, I could login to MSM or Skype, then go and do something else (use the calendar app, write a memo, listen to music) and remain logged into MSM or Skype. If I rec'd a memo from those services, it'd pop up on the screen. Doesn't work on the iPhone.
I could enter a note or appointment in a memo, and search for the information later. I could even search for a note I'd made, and the OS would find it whereever I'd put it - in a memo, a to-do item, or a calendar entry.
The bloody iPhone can't do that. I can't even search for appointments in the calendar app.
With third party apps, I could create and edit 'excel' files on my Garmin, synch them to my laptop, and then synch them back to the Garmin. And they stayed searchable, editable, 'excel' files.
On the iPhone they're essentially useless. Non-searchable, non-editable PDF's.
The iPhone is not a bad phone, it's a great browser (don't get people started on the lack of Flash though), but it's the worlds worst PDA.
coop
I feel your nostalgia, John.
I got my first PDA, after many years of pining, at 15. It was a Handspring Visor. I loved it and carried it everywhere. I still have a special affection for Palm OS. Still, seeing the Palm OS-based smartphones, I can't help but notice how sadly antiquated they seem compared to anything else on the market. It is best that Palm stay out of the software game. They haven't got the knack.
The truth, though, was that I never actually wanted a PDA. I wanted a pocket computer. The PDA was, for a long time, the closest approximation in existence. iPhone is much better. Now I have an iPhone that adds as much happiness to my world as any material object possibly could. It fills the hole in my heart worn away by so many childhood fantasies focused around Star Trek-style ultra-compact devices that seemed nearly impossible.
UI-wise, this actually looks a solid step up from Android's rather uneven interface.
While I would not entertain the idea that NetFront will even begin to match Mobile Safari at any point this century, the rest of the package looks promising, especially the neatly laid-out contact browser. Which, as far as I'm concerned, is the most important part of a phone.
Note to Access, though: Shrink that status bar.
If this OS was released on a state-side phone, I could see my dad picking one up for legacy apps. He has so many Palm programs that he regularly uses on his old Treo...
Yeah, I like my iPhone for fun, but when there's work to be done, it's done on my Palm T|X.
What IS it with Apple and their refusal to give us a PDA? Are they punishing us for finding fault with the Newton or something?
Sorry to say but the author of this article seems to have no knowledge about Palm.
PalmSource sold everything to Access some years ago but Palm Inc bought the PalmOS 5.4 Sources (Garnet) back from Access last year to be able to integrate a PalmOS "emulator" into their new and shiny "Nova" operating system they are working on for at least 2 years. This is known for some time (over a year...the codename "Nova" hit the streets several month ago)
Last week the news was posted that Palm will show something on CES in January 2008 (behind closed doors as it seems). The only thing they have to show is their new "Nova" operating system and hopefully also some new hardware that is using Nova.
Access on the other had has shown their OS "Access Linux Platform 3.0" (ALP) already but there are still no phones available.
The "Edelweiss" that hit the news in October is still not available in Russia (otherwise there would have been reviews).
More on the Edelweiss can be found here:
http://www.edelweiss-mobile.com/
While writing this I also have to agree with Coop who described exactly the current market.
The old PalmOS is still better then all the new operating systems available. The only problems with the devices like the Treo 650, Treo 680, 700p and Centro is that they don't have a good browser like on the iPhone and that WLAN is missing. I got around the WLAN problem by an Bluetooth Access Point from Belkin but sometimes when out in the fields buildin WLAN would be better. Also GPS integrated to most other devices is missing, but that's not really a problem as a GPS mice is not that big to carry. ;)