We got a quick look at the latest version of the Access Linux Platform (
ALP) today, running on an early build of TI's OMAP 3-based Zoom hardware. Access seems excessively enthused with widgets, and really isn't doing a bad job at them, featuring transparency galore and even a second home screen for housing a separate set of them (perhaps "work" or "home" or "really great world clocks"). The machine also run's Access' own NetFront browser, which isn't quite as butter as we've seen WebKit get lately, but might be about on par with Microsoft's new builds of Internet Explorer Mobile. Unfortunately, aside from a jerky, barebones "flickable" photo browser, that's all Access is showing off of
LiMo-compliant 3.0 at the moment, and we didn't get a look at that Garnet OS compatibility layer we all know and love. Still, if you suffer from some irrational fear that we'd be
short on
mobile operating
systems here at MWC you can at last rest at ease. Video is after the break.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Oli D @ Feb 19th 2009 7:47AM
Pico ITX?
cb88 @ Feb 19th 2009 12:56PM
no... ARM board way more performance per watt than any x86
Shaka @ Feb 19th 2009 7:51AM
WANT. Thats a nice big screen for movie playback, pdf and web browsing. On top of that it is linux I just wish they showed more of what the hardware is capable of.
Freakin Ijit @ Feb 19th 2009 7:53AM
Didn't you guys "report" yesterday (or was that The Boy Genius?) that Samsung is coming out with a handful of Android phones AND "a Limo-compliant" one as well?
Didn't Samsung recently shelve an Access-powered (thus Limo-compliant) phone?
Could it be making a comeback?
Freakin Ijit @ Feb 19th 2009 7:55AM
Yes, heres' your link:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/17/samsung-at-least-three-android-phones-and-a-limo-handset-in-200/
tcc3 @ Feb 19th 2009 8:24AM
I hear ALP comes with a free copy of Duke Nukem Forever.
cbl555 @ Feb 19th 2009 9:41AM
that's reason enough for me to put it on my wish list.
'Come get some!'
William @ Feb 19th 2009 8:37AM
Ah! Finger scrolling. I see Apple lawyers on the prowl!
Calagan @ Feb 19th 2009 8:42AM
Hmm... 30ºC in Tokyo: hard to believe they shot the video today?
JAmerican @ Feb 19th 2009 9:16AM
Is it me or do I see Andriod rip-off. Thank God Palm didn't stick with their OS.
bjay @ Feb 19th 2009 9:31AM
Android ripoff? where?
Jon Acheson @ Feb 19th 2009 10:29AM
It's you.
iKurt Mark III @ Feb 19th 2009 11:28AM
More like an OSX ripoff on the iPhone. It uses finger gestures to navigate your way through.
Hackettman @ Feb 19th 2009 12:25PM
That is f'ing smooth right there.......
Errorkid @ Feb 19th 2009 1:43PM
Hope that's sarcasm ... found the whole demo kind of jerky in motion. What's also typical in Linux is the amateuristic interface: 2 panels before you access the menu and then scroll back one ?!? Transparent widgets ?!? I saw a lot of gloss but no innovation, years behind as usual.
whiskey @ Feb 19th 2009 2:49PM
Haven't they learned yet? We want the demos to include DooM!
Seriously though, this looks amazing. Throw in some Pidgin, a light version of Gimp to touch up your pics right there on the phone, the ability to play emulated games and I will definitively think about it. Throw on it Gedit, Apache, PHP5 and MySQL and I'll maybe buy it. Include with it a Dock where you can connect it to a bigger monitor (even if the resolution is capped at say 800x600 or 1024x768), a mouse and a keyboard and I'll definitively buy it. Include with it a tool to customize it's appareance (e.g. develop and install skins and icons) and this will totally be a must.
cb88 @ Feb 20th 2009 10:33AM
You mean Doom 3 once its opensourced right ;-)
snowglyder @ Feb 24th 2009 10:39AM
Looks pretty nice. That slide menu for the browser is a little awkward though. You have to pull it up twice to switch to a different function, and then slide it away if you want to zoom. If they're going to stick with that style, they should at least make it transparent so you can see how you're effecting the browser in real-time.