Show of hands: who remembers WebTV? It was a great idea that was ahead of its time. Today, though, it seems like every product under the sun is Internet-connected, whether there’s demonstrable benefit or not. Sure, there’s an in-dash computer in a Ford F150 pickup allows service techs to browse the web. Is that a good idea?
Tech companies are struggling with the question of whether it’s gadgets or services that consumers want. As the New York Times observes, “If the most exciting thing about your phone or truck or TV is the Web sites you go to and the software applications you download, then the device itself is less important.” → Read More
http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?enablejs=true&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcrunchgear%2Eblip%2Etv%2Frss&file=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Frss%2Fflash%2F797589&showplayerpath=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Fscripts%2Fflash%2Fshowplayer%2Eswf Here we get a hands on with the Samsung Access on AT&T running MediaFLO. Music provided by Danger. → Read More
At this week’s LinuxWorld Conference & Expo in San Francisco, ACCESS CO, LTD, announced the availability of a mobile Linux evaluation kit based on the ACCESS Linux Platform. This is optimized for the Marvell PXA30x and PXA31x application processors, and allow OEMs, ODMs and mobile operators to evaluate the benefits of the platform and Linux applications for mobile devices. “Today, customers are looking for turnkey solutions to reduce time to market and at the same time, the flexibility to differentiate their products,” said Toru Arakawa, ACCESS CEO, president and co-founder. “Marvell’s scalable, high-performance PXA3xx processors, running the ACCESS Linux Platform evaluation kit, provide a turnkey solution that integrates the technology our customers need to create exciting native Linux applications and devices without compromising on performance and usability.” ACCESS → Read More
Gemini Mobile has announced that it has raised an additional round of financing of $5 million from Japan’s ACCESS Co. Ltd., Aplix Corporation and Normura Securities. This round of financing follows the recent $20 million from Goldman Sachs, which was to underscore the continued support for Gemini’s wireless software. In addition to the new financing, ACCESS and Aplix are working on efforts to distribute Gemini’s messaging product and its new eXplo software, which is the world’s first 3D community platform for mobile phones. This application allows for users to chat, share photos and shop in a rich graphical world that is located on their phones. The eXplo application is being used as the foundation of a new 3D interface from SoftBank Japan, called S! Town. This mobile 3D site launched late last year. Gemini Mobile → Read More
For those of you unfamiliar with Pandora, it’s pretty much the best Internet radio service out there next to iTunes. It helps you find artists similar to those you currently listen to and it does a pretty darn-good job of doing it. But there is bad news for those of you who use Pandora and don’t live in the United States. As of today, you’re now banned from listening to Pandora. Upset? Don’t blame Pandora. It’s a small company and they only have limited resources for the absurd licensing fees they must pay for each track. Pandora will continue to try to push for its service to be available in other countries, but it doesn’t look like that’ll happen for quite awhile. I feel a bit saddened — wait no I don’t. I live in the US. I’m going to go rock out to some Van Halen. Pandora to block international listeners from May 3rd [Photos & Ponderings] → Read More
, has made yet another move to make Palm fanboys cry: The Palm OS is now called the Garnet OS. WTF. This means that the last vestiges of the operating system that started the modern handheld and smartphone computing industries is nothing more. Gone are the masturbatory jokes and good-natured puns. While the Garnet OS is in every other way the successor to the Palm OS, losing the Palm name and inference means that any marketing cachet with the brand that Access had is long gone. That means it’s going to be even more of an uphill climb for the manufacturer to make any headway against Symbian and POS that is Windows Mobile 5. Great. Thanks, Access! ACCESS renames Palm OS to Garnet OS [Palm InfoCenter] → Read More
Palm OS and cell phone developers have been waiting patiently for ACCESS to release the development environment for ALP, or ACCESS Linux Platform, the company’s successor to the aging Palm OS. ACESS had told developers that it would release the package by the end of the year, however a statement on its Website today says that the deadline will not be met. Further, the statement notes that it should be available in the first half of 2007. This, combined with Palm’s recent omnivorous Palm OS 5 licensing deal, is bad news for fans of the platform, though it’s by no means a sign of the end. When ALP does finally surface, it should mark the first operating system truly designed for handhelds and smartphones from the ground up since Symbian. It brings multi-tasking and multiple application layers to (theoretical) Palm devices for the first time. It will, that is, if we ever see it. Release of ACCESS Linux Platform for Smartphones Pushed Back [Smartphone Today] → Read More
In an unusual move, Palm today announced a $44 million licensing deal with Access to license the source code of PalmOS 5 (Garnet). There has been speculation that Palm would eventually license the hibernating OS 6 (Cobalt) to take advantage of its multi-tasking nature and built-in one handed navigation, or be an early licensee of Access’s next-gen mobile OS, called ALP (Access Linux Platform). Instead, Palm now has the rights to not just include OS 5 on its snazzy Treo smartphones, but to mess with said OSes guts. The OS is stale by any standards, but this unique deal gives Palm the ability to use any or all parts of Garnet, meaning it might be working to brew its own operating system, an unusual move indeed. → Read More
PalmSource, the manufacturer of the Palm OS, is undergoing yet another name change. Access, the Japanese mobile software maker and parent company of PalmSource, is apparently absorbing the company into its Access brand. While the Palm OS will still be called such, PalmSource will now be known as Access. This divestment of the Palm-themed monicker is not a good omen for Palm fanboys, as many see the Palm OS, especially the upcoming Linux-based version, as salvation from the the Windows world. The next iteration of the operating system had better be kickass, or it may be the last. Newest Identity for Palm Software Maker: Access [C|Net] → Read More
