Brighthand is reporting that Access Co. Ltd is beginning to focus on an emerging market known as the Mobile Internet Device (MID) market. Access has traditionally focused strictly on smartphones, but has now begun trying to get its Access Linux Platform (ALP) more popular with handset makers.

One of ALP's strongest applications is its NetFront browser (with over 500 million deployments), but ALP is an entire Linux based operating system, not just a browser. Access was demonstrating its capabilities at the LinuxWorld Conference last week.

So what exactly is a MID? A MID is an internet device with typically a larger display than a smartphone like a Treo, but smaller than a laptop. Typical uses mainly involve web browsing and email. This class of device is expected to really begin to be seen later this year and into the next few years with analysts predicting some 90 million devices.

Could the now defunct Foleo have been an example of this type of device? Palm - what do you have planned in this space? Let's hope they are scrutinizing this type of market.

PalmPowerups reports good news for many Palm users. Treo and Centro users can already access SDHC cards allowing storage all the way to 32GB currently. However, other Palm users have been left out in the cold since the Palm OS for those devices has been limited to SD cards only. And that means 2GB maximums. PalmPowerups has released a free beta driver to allow these Palm devices to access SDHC cards. In addition to the ability to use larger memory cards, users will experience faster access, and card access will not shut off in low battery conditions.

PalmPowerups states:

Palm Inc has repeatedly refused to write an SDHC driver for their handhelds. This has long been regarded as a lost cause by most Palm owners. Luckily Palm Inc are not the only ones in power to help. PalmPowerups to the rescue! We've been hard at work creating an SDHC driver for your devices. It is very difficult and has been one of the most complex projects we've ever undertaken here. It is made harder yet since each individual device needs to be uniquely supported and programmed for.

The PalmPowerups article contains caveats as well as instructions including getting the proper FAT32 driver if needed for your device, and how to get the trial version running on various platforms (note: this requires several steps depending on your hardware, so it probably isn't for the newbie).

Read on for the full article

The new 3G iPhone is impressive, but it's not the new hardware that is the most exciting aspect. After all, both Palm and RIM have (or soon will have) competing hardware platforms containing GPS, Wifi, Bluetooth, and high speed network access. In the case of Palm and RIM they even have actual keyboards. So if the iPhone does achieve market dominance it will likely be due to the software available.

The App store in iTunes is now in full swing. With Apple reporting sales of 1 million 3G iPhones, and the downloading of over 10 million apps in the first 3 days, we are starting to see just how powerful the concept of a well integrated application store can be when you have a captive audience. When you consider that the iPhone 2.0 software necessary to access and install these apps is less than a week old, achieving 10 million downloads is certainly impressive. Granted approximately 25% of the 500 or so applications are free, but you have to believe that the quality of applications available will be going a long way to persuade iPhone and Touch users to spend some money on the non-free as well.

Talking about the initial availability of 500 applications, Steve Jobs was quoted as saying:

"This is the biggest launch of my career"

Read on for the full article

VITO Technology has released it's newest product - Winterface for Windows Mobile devices. Winterface gives your Win Mo device a new look and feel, and is actually a combination launcher, and task manager with plug-in capabilities. The product boasts the ability to customize virtually every aspect of the finger friendly user interface.

The software allows you to define many different screens containing icons for applications, settings and contacts. You can flip between the screens using finger gestures (hmmm, think I've heard of that somewhere before). Icons representing applications like the phone, email, SMS, battery, clock, calendar and memory can even show additional information, such as number of items, etc.

A single tap on any application icon launches the application. Tapping a contact's icon opens a menu with details and allows actions such as placing a call, sending an email or a text message.

As a task manager, Winterface allows switching between running applications, or closing applications.

Winterface costs $19.95 and has a free 14 day fully functional trial.

Audacity Audio has announced a new product for most Palm devices - Audacity Communicator. Audacity Communicator is an addition to Audacity Audio's suite of voice recording type applications. Communicator seems to be most targeted to mobile professionals, and those with personal secretaries or assistants:

Audacity Communicator is a productivity tool for the mobile professional. It is designed for lawyers, doctors, salesmen, executives, etc. to document and communicate while in the field. Using your Treo, record with the Audacity Professional voice recorder and the Communicator software transfers the file using the cellular data network. It happens transparently and automatically in the background so it doesn't disturb your normal handheld usage. The file is placed in your normal desktop Audacity Recordings folder and then alerts your secretary or transcriptionist.

Read on for the full article

CellSpin has announced availability of their mobile blogging application for Palm OS devices. They state that the software will work with the Centro, Treo 680, 700p and 755p devices. A large list of supported phones is available here. It's a free application, and a free download once you are a registered user.

The mobile application allows you to post content from your device to multiple sites simultaneously. From the Palm OS device, you can select to post text, photos, and videos as well as audio content.

The software works by adding supported sites to your CellSpin account either from the website, or from your Palm device. You can add sites such as Twitter, Pownce, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, Picassa, eBay and various blog services. Once you have created your photo, video, audio or text content on the Palm, you choose which of the configured services to post to using the Palm application.

Looks like a pretty neat way to post your content to a number of popular services all from the "Palm" of your hand (oh come on ... I hear all of the groans, but I couldn't resist the pun).

The Official Palm Blog states that Windows has released a beta version of SideShow for Treo devices running Windows Mobile 5 or 6. SideShow allows your smartphone to act as another display device to your computer and to control its applications such as Windows Media player, PowerPoint and others. SideShow uses bluetooth between your smartphone and the computer.

The Windows SideShow blog mentions a couple of neat uses of the software - the ability to use your smartphone to control a PowerPoint presentation while viewing the speaker notes, or using it as a remote control for Windows Media Player.

Microsoft has enabled managed APIs via their SDK, so the hope is that developers will jump on board and write some cool new software using this feature.

Our friends over at WMExperts previewed this software earlier this month, including a link to a nice set of screenshots.

Computrace Mobile from Absolute Software is being made available for Windows Mobile versions 5 and 6 devices such as the Palm Treo 750. Computrace Mobile is part of Absolute Software's suite of security products that allows an organization to manage and track handheld devices. The software allows remote deletion of data in case of theft. (Note: Click on pic to the right to open full size.)

Once the software is installed on a device, the device's configuration can be retrieved remotely. This allows a remote administrator to query the missing device, and if needed, force deletion of its data if theft is suspected.

From the website's description, it would seem that the Computrace suite of security utilities device goes beyond some of the currently available Palm utilities such as Butler, TealLock, Warden and others, which allow remote locking and deletion via text messages. Computrace allows a remote administrator to query the device as well.

Absolute Software's Computrace suite includes "LoJack for Laptops" - software that can report its location whenever connected to a network, allowing law enforcement a chance at recovery. Whether or not a similar capability will be made available for handhelds is not stated - but seems like a logical future possibility.

No price is given for Computrace Mobile.

Ok, so all of the new 3G iPhone hype has died down (at least a little bit). And everyone is now limited to watching the various iPhone demos floating around until July 11th at least. Plus you own a Palm OS device, so what's the point? Enter TouchLauncher by ahsirg's software. TouchLauncher provides a bit of the look and feel of the iPhone on your Palm OS Treo or Centro. There have been other iPhone look-a-likes floating around, but this one goes beyond just an icon set.

TouchLauncher allows you to start applications much like you would on an iPhone. It allows you to scroll between launcher pages by sliding your finger as well. You can use drag and drop to rearrange the applications, to display information, categorize icons, rename, delete and beam the items.

With TouchLauncher, you can add icons representing contacts and web pages too. Adding contact links requires the use of TouchBook (additional software).

Read on for the full article

MSNBC is reporting this story - "Cell phone users outside U.S. secretly tracked". The story reports that 100,000 people (again, to avoid panic here, living outside the USA) had their whereabouts secretly tracked via their cell phone usage. The big news from this study (aside from the privacy and ethical questions it raises) is that most people rarely stray far from home. Nearly 75% of the people tracked stayed mostly within a 20 mile wide circle for the half year covered by the study.

The report does not disclose where the study was performed other than to say it was in an "industrialized nation". Good thing, as I suppose you'd get wildly different results if you were monitoring say a remote tribe's cell phone usage patterns. Hey, that brings up the question - maybe we could have been monitoring Osama bin Laden's cell phone usage to track his whereabouts - oh never mind.

Researchers said that they gathered the data by tracking calls and text messages via cell phone towers for a six month period. They also tracked an additional 206 cell phones via tracking devices in them, and monitored those locations every two hours. An undisclosed private company provided the cell phone records.

Read on for the full article

While upload speeds (HSUPA) are typically not as important to smartphone users, AT&T has stated that they expect to have all of their 3G coverage areas upgraded to the faster HSUPA standard by the end of June. Perhaps just in time for the 3G iPhone release? This upgrade would bump user's upload speeds to as much as 2 megabits - at least in theory. AT&T says they predict typical end user speeds to be in the vicinity of 800 Kbits.

Not all devices that support HSDPA (the download spec) also support the HSUPA spec, so check your potential device's specs to be sure. Palm does have support for HSDPA on it's WM6 devices (like the Treo 750), so the upcoming 800 series should be poised in that area as well. We haven't seen formal mention of Palm supporting HSUPA, but hopefully it will be included in the upcoming devices.

Read on for the full article

IDC has posted a survey indicating that despite all the hype the iPhone receives, it's market share for the first quarter of 2008 has actually declined. According to the survey, the iPhone's market share shrunk from 26.7% at the end of last year, to 19.2% in the first quarter of this year.

The reason for this drop? Strong increase from RIM's Blackberry line is one reason. The survey showed Blackberry's market share increasing from 35.1 % to 44.5% in the same period. Many believe that RIM's market share increase is due to new, more consumer friendly models, and as a result, appealing to a larger audience than it's traditional business only segment.

Read on for the full article

iStyles just announced that their high resolution adhesive vinyl skins are now available for your Palm Treo and Centro. iStyles has long had skins available for a variety of devices, but new to the list are the Treo and Centro. From the looks of their web site, there are 100 designs available. The skins are full color and printed on a premium vinyl for adhering onto your device. The company claims they use a patented re positionable and removable adhesive so they can be removed goo-free.

The iStyles are definitely "out there". But they look to be a way to show your own unique tastes, and probably offer some protection against at least case scratches. I have to admit, some of them look pretty cool.

The Skin set includes coverage for the front and back of the device for maximum effect. Each skin also includes a special download code for a free matching background wallpaper that works with any theme that allows the wallpaper to fill the entire screen. Well we wouldn't want them to clash now would we?

Looking for a way to show off your political views using your phone? Paul Loeffler at The Official Palm Blog has an article detailing how to add some politically oriented ringtones to your phone.

According to the article, Slate is providing the ability to easily download bi-partison political ringtones for a variety of phones. You basically can either text a message from your mobile phone to Slate's list of shortcodes, or from your phone's browser, you can select your favorite ringtone. Paul verified that the ringtones do work on the Centro, so the Treo should be set as well.

Once you've downloaded the ringtone, your next phone call will be the talk of the party (haha, party, get it?).

The ringtones are free from Slate, and all of the details are in this article.

Not sure I'm committed enough to anyone's campaign just yet, but for those of you who are - enjoy.

Palm.com reminds us all to understand the new rules put in place on January 1, 2008 by the U.S. Department of Transporation regarding rechargable, and as it pertains to us Palm and smartphone users, lithium batteries. The primary reason for the new regulations on lithium batteries seems to be related to fire hazard concerns.

Basically, when the lithium battery is in your Palm/Treo/Centro device you can either carry it on-board, or place it into your check-in baggage.

Bringing spare lithium batteries on-board

If you want to bring spare batteries on-board with you, be aware that there are some weight restrictions. Most consumer lithium ion batteries will meet the weight restriction if they are less than 100 watts, which would certainly include Palm batteries. Larger laptop and some professional audio visual batteries could exceed this restriction though. Check the exact details at this U.S. DOT website [edit: Thanks to Greg Hausman for pointing out that it's not the total weight of the battery that is the concern, but the amount of lithium (ELC - Equivalen Lithium Content) that the battery contains.]

Read on for the full article!

Dmitry Grinberg of PalmPowerups fame, author of many great software titles, announces that the great Palm skinning utility - SkinUI v2.2.0.0, is now freeware.

I've used SkinUI on my Palm Treos and Centro in the past. It provides a very nice, stable way of customizing the look and feel of your device. There are a bunch of skins available from the PalmPowerups website, 1src, and others (just Google "SkinUI skins").

Dmitry says:

SkinUI is now freeware, as a little treat to all you guys. You've supported me and my programming for five years now, and I only hope that you enjoyed this time at least as much as I did. Thanks.

This is a sort of a farewall post, just a bit ahead of its time. nuRom for LifeDrive is done and SDHC driver for Palms will be my last official project. I will, of course, continue to fix and update old projects, but unless something changes dramatically do not forsee many new ones. I've done all I wanted, and I’ve had plenty of fun along the way.

Long Live PalmOS!

Time to check it out again, and load up some new skins.

Here's a new one. A company offering to help you out with your Treo/Centro's software issues - regardless of whose software is involved. Pretty bold mission there - but the folks at GoTreo, makers of fine software like

• RingCare
• Launcher X
• VolumeCare
• ProfileCare

have created a new service offering - SafeGuard LIVE to go along with their software - SafeGuard.

What is SafeGuard LIVE!?

SafeGuard LIVE! is a service provided by the staff at GoTreo Software that is dedicated to providing personalized support to Treo/Centro users that are having device stability problems. If the problem is software related, we have expertly trained people that can find the problem and help you stabilize your device!

Read on for the full article

Larry Dignan of ZDNet, in a recent blog article, raises the question - what's up with all of the out of stock instances of smartphones? He states that Palm, RIM and Apple are all reporting certain out of stock instances.

Many believe that these shortages are likely related to upcoming new models, but shortages of existing models affect the sales (at least in the short term) for these companies. It could also be that manufacturers are keeping tighter controls over their inventory during tough times.

Sprint's website has had limited availability for the last few weeks. Contrary to previous stories, the 755p is still available, but typically out of stock. And this for a model that has sold well in the past.

Read on for the full article

Receiving cell phone alerts for certain emergencies has been adopted by the FCC. They have created a framework for a national system which will provide alerts to cell phone users.

The system is called CMAS (Commercial Mobile Alert System) and is voluntary for the various wireless providers. Basically, the system will send text message blasts to subscribers in the event of national disasters such as hurricanes, terrorist attacks, child abductions or Amber alerts.

The current system is designed to send text messages, but future plans include the ability to provide audio and video information.

Individual users will be able to opt-out if desired.

So far Verizon, Sprint and AT&T have stated they would participate. T-Mobile has not yet formally agreed, but rumor has it they will shortly. Wireless providers will have 10 months to comply with the various CMAS rules once a federal agency is appointed to gather and generate the messages - so look for this interesting new alert system in the coming months.

CoreCodec has released version 1.2.3 of the very popular CorePlayer Mobile for Palm. This release has a huge number of fixes, and significant new function as well.

Highlights include:

• New integrated YouTube browser and playback
• New Flickr RSS support
• New Advanced streaming support
• Google GData support
• Better optimization of AVC playback
• New AVCHD support

Read about all the fixes and additions here: CorePlayer Mobile v1.2.3CorePlayer Mobile v1.2.3 change log.

CorePlayer Mobile for PalmOS is available here.