First And Only Access Linux Smartphone Cancelled

The public relations firm for European wireless carrier Orange has confirmed that the Samsung smartphone running on the Access Linux Platform, originally planned for later this year, has been cancelled.

Orange's PR firm, speaking to The Inquirer, attributed the cancellation of the Samsung SGH-i800 to "a number of advances in mobile technology" which would allow for "a more competitive Linux mobile" at some point in the future, based on the LiMo Foundation's Linux platform.



This is a major defeat for Access, which has yet to get a single ALP device on the market, or a solid commitment from a major brand.

The Samsung i800 was the first and only device announced that would have run the Access Linux Platform since the operating system's release in early 2007.

A Brief History of ALP
After Access purchased PalmSource in 2005, it acquired the rights to the Palm OS, and its successor, the Access Linux Platform (ALP).

This operating system offers a new user interface, access to thousands of Palm OS Garnet-based applications available now, and the ability to run native applications written specifically for this new OS.

Still, no major company has stepped forward to license ALP. Even Palm, Inc. it taking a different route, developing its own Linux-based successor to the Palm OS, partially based on technology purchased from Access.

Palm update enables Bluetooth voice dialing on Treo 800w

Screaming names into Jawbones -- while undoubtedly relaxing and a great source of stress relief -- hasn't been particularly effective at accomplishing anything for early 800w owners on Sprint who've discovered that their devices don't support voice dialing via Bluetooth out of the gate. Fortunately, Palm's been crazy on the ball with this one, releasing an update this week all quick-like to get the feature enabled. Don't let that stop you from screaming random names in public, of course.

.NET Micro Framework v3.0 Beta SDK and 3.0 Features.

The .NET Micro Framework team have made a Beta of the .NET Micro Framework 3.0 available to download from the Microsoft Connect Site (more information on the NETMF team blog)

What's new and interesting with v3.0 I hear you ask... The list of features planned for the v3.0 release can be found here and here's the short list.

* Interop
* Touchscreen
* Filesystem
* VS2008
* DPWS Tools
* Wi-Fi
* SSL
* Serial enhancements
* USB Device
* Fonts
* More cores
* Emulator and diag enhancements

Sidekick 2008 now available on eBay, too

It looks like those bummed they couldn't snag that Sidekick 2008 (a.k.a. Gekko) that hit Craigslist earlier this month now have another shot at one, as an apparently non-prototype version of the device has just turned up on eBay -- again, before one is actually available at a T-Mobile store. Currently, the bidding is topping $300 with the reserve not yet met, but if you've just gotta have one, you can swoop in and snag it for the Buy-it-Now price of $999. Or, you know, you could just wait and spend your savings on things you really need, like RFID-activated sliding doggie doors.

Skyfire for Symbian now in beta

While Skyfire continues to promise big things on the Windows Mobile front -- a front that needs as many high-quality browsers as it can get -- there's another beta getting underway at the company for a S60 version of its Flash-enabled web viewer. Like Opera Mini and Deepfish, Skyfire renders content server-side -- and in addition to Flash, it's packing support for Quicktime, Windows Media, Silverlight, and AJAX, so it should serve up a pretty PC-like experience. Unfortunately, that's an experience that only a select few in the private beta can enjoy at the moment, but Skyfire's now taking signups for Beta 2, so get in (or at least try to) while the gettin's good.