Garnet
Latest
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 with LTE gets gussied up in Garnet Red
Samsung's just pulled back the curtains on yet another device clad in a shade of Garnet Red: the Galaxy Note 10.1 with LTE. According to the electronics giant, it's positioning the dark cardinal-colored tablet as perfect material for Valentine's Day, and thinks the device will particularly strike the fancy of the fairer sex. Come February 14th, the freshly minted tablets will be available for three carriers in South Korea, while a rolling release is penciled in for other markets across the globe.
Aceeca's PalmOS-based PDA32 gets reviewed, albeit in prototype form
Ah, the dream does live on. If we're being straight with you, we didn't exactly have the highest hopes for Aceeca's PDA32 to ever make it out of the dreamworld in which it was created, but apparently it's well on its well to commercialization. For reasons unknown, of course. The good folks over at TamsBlog managed to get ahold of a prototype device, powered by one of yesteryear's greatest operating systems and encased in a comically large shell. It's important to note that this isn't a finalized retail unit, but it's still fairly fascinating that an object like the one you're looking at above is actually about to ship in the year 2010 A.D. The overview is about what you'd expect, noting that the screen is above average, the enclosure itself is downright "fat," and the whole thing seems far more sensible in the enterprise realm than the consumer one. Sadly, there's no real talk of software performance, but we suspect that'll come when the final product ships out. Hit the source link for a fascinating look at a device you'll never buy.
Aceeca's PDA32 keeps the PalmOS dream alive
We'd heard earlier this year that Aceeca would be sticking with PalmOS for at least a few more devices, and it looks like those hopes have now finally become a reality in the form of the company's PDA32 device. In addition to a leading-edge, one-inch-thick design, this one packs a 320 x 480 display, along with a 400MHz Samsung S3C2440 processor, 64MB of RAM, 128MB of flash storage, an SD card slot for expansion, and optional Bluetooth and WiFi (in case you don't need such things). Still no official word on a release date, but a preliminary spec sheet that's turned up lists April 10th, and a price of just $199 -- belt holster not included.
Palm Pre Classic emulator demoed on video
Longtime Palm fans are gonna want to lock the doors and turn down the lights -- our friends at PhoneScoop just got the first demo of Motion App's Classic Palm OS emulator for the Palm Pre. Palm OS apps can be installed by just dragging the .prc files over the Pre in mass storage mode, and they're run as though they were on an SD card. There's no tethered HotSync, although there's a compatibility mode of some kind and apps will be able to pull data down over the air. Check the video after the break, including a demo of ePocrates, which we know a lot of potential Pre owners are interested in.
Edelweiss to launch first ALP-powered smartphone?
It's somewhat difficult to believe that the Access Linux Platform (also referred to as ALP) still has proponents out there, but apparently, Edelweiss could be gearing up to launch what would be the very first ALP-powered handset available on the open market. Slated to launch exclusively in Russia, the touchscreen-driven smartphone would boast a 3.5-inch 854 x 480 resolution screen, quad-band GSM / tri-band UMTS support, 8GB / 16GB of internal capacity, GPS and a 3.2-megapixel camera with Auto Focus. Word around the block has it that the device was actually designed by Emblaze and will eventually be manufactured by Sharp, but that's if the teaser site actually leads to anything tangible.[Via PalmInfoCenter]
Palm Centro heads to Verizon, in stores tomorrow for $99
Come on, T-Mobile, all we need is you to get on board now and that'll make a perfect Yahtzee! for Palm with its surprise hit, the Centro. Thanks to Verizon's expected announcement today, the top three US carriers now carry the diminutive Garnet device, which Palm actually says is "off to the strongest start of any smartphone in Palm's history" -- quite a statement, considering the Treo line's rich tradition. The Centro is also the first Palm phone to be eligible for the big V's "unlimited" E-mail and Web for Smartphone plan, which runs you a thrifty $29.99. After the full, delicious menu of rebates and discounts have been applied, Verizon's version will run the same $99 on contract that the boys and girls on Sprint and AT&T pay, and we can look for it to be available through all retail channels starting tomorrow.Update: Palm also has a brand new Facebook app launching with this phone (which will be available for the AT&T and Sprint models as well).
Sprint saying goodnight to the Treo 755p? UPDATE: Nope!
Feeling pressure from its smaller, sexier, newer cousin -- and every other smartphone, for that matter -- it looks like the Palm Treo 755p has taken its final bow on Sprint. With the Centro stealing the overwhelming majority of the Garnet limelight as of late, it seems there may be little business justification for another Palm OS device on Sprint's network; ironically, Verizon's version just launched four months ago, so we wouldn't sound the final death knell for the devicejust yet. For what it's worth, the classic Treo form factor lives on Sprint thanks to the 700wx -- another Palm device that's getting just a little long in the tooth (like 2006 long in the tooth). We'll admit, we'll probably shed a quick tear or two when the old-guard Treo line finally takes a permanent vacation in favor of newer, more modern looking designs, but we're not really mustering much eye moisture for the 755p here.[Via Brighthand]Update: We've gotten word straight from the horse's mouth that the 755p isn't discontinued -- it's merely out of stock, hence the disappearance from Sprint's site. They're "addressing [the] temporary outage of inventory," though, so if you've got a hankering for the larger Garnet piece in Sprint's lineup, hang tight!
StyleTap beta for Symbian gearing up, Garnet pwnage nears completion
Turning our attention away from the unobtainable iPhone version for a moment, let's take a look at something far more real that StyleTap has in the cards: Symbian support. The Palm OS emulator is already a well-worn member of the Windows Mobile community (pictured), and seeing how Symbian's got a huge installed base, it makes sense that they'd want to attack it next. There's no word on exactly what models and flavors will be supported, but it certainly seems like having a touchscreen would be a good idea -- sorry, N95 owners! The beta program kicks off May 12 and StyleTap's soliciting applications now, so head on over to the site if you have some insatiable desire to be the first kid on the block rocking all your favorite Garnet apps atop a P1i.[Thanks, Jason]
Blue Palm Centro in the mix, but not in the US
Seems a little bizarre that AT&T would choose to launch white and lime over this more conservative choice -- but they did, and our Mexican friends get to reap the benefits. The blue variant of the GSM Centro is available via Telcel and Movistar -- exclusivity's apparently not an issue here -- and offers specs that are otherwise unchanged from its international cousins. Eh, on second thought, we think we like the white better anyway.[Via IntoMobile and Palm Infocenter]
Palm Centro now official on AT&T
Wow, sure enough, those green buttons are straight up legit -- who'd have thought? The long-rumored GSM cut of the Palm Centro is now officially available on AT&T in the wake of Sprint's expiring exclusivity, giving a whole new world of customers access to the freakishly small (yet strangely adorable) Garnet handset. Unlike Sprint's version, the GSM Centro tops out with EDGE data for a moderately less snappy browsing experience; otherwise, though, your $99 on contract is going to buy you a 1.3 megapixel camera, microSD slot, Bluetooth 1.2, support for AT&T's push-to-talk service, and a full (albeit miniaturized) QWERTY keypad. So who's liking this more than the white / gray scheme we'd seen before?%Gallery-16374%
AT&T's Palm Centro en route for launch next week?
Can't you just feel the excitement in the air? AT&T stores are apparently starting to spout off about white, $99 Centros being available starting next Tuesday, February 19, and it seems like a pretty plausible date. We've separately been told that the cute lil' Garnet handsets are expected to be shipping to stores some time this week -- just in time to make the 19th a reality for customers eager to get their paws on the latest tech Palm has to offer -- while previous intel had indicated that it'd definitely be available some time before early April. In other words: yeah, we believe it.[Thanks, anonymous tipster]
Palm Centro, now in spicy European GSM flavor
Palm's GSM Centro has been about the worst-kept secret in the entire smartphone industry for the past few weeks, and indeed, it's now official -- for Europe, anyway. The unlocked handset features a quadband GSM / EDGE radio with nary a trace of UMTS in sight (this is still Garnet, after all), 64MB of user-available storage, a 1.3 megapixel camera, and a 320 x 320 display -- in other words, the same Centro we all know and love (or tolerate, or despise, depending on your point of view) with just a little bit less CDMA and 3G data to its name. It'll hit the British market on the 14th of the month and the remainder of Europe by the end of February for €299 or £199 (roughly $440 or $392); no word on when the official AT&T version will be available yet, but US folks desperate for one of these unlocked versions in the meantime shouldn't have a lot of trouble importing it, we'd imagine.[Via Treonauts, thanks Andrew]
Virtual Palm OS on your Nokia N-Series tablet -- hoozah!
You read that headline right, now you can run a Palm OS Garnet VM on your Nokia N-series N770, N800, or N810 tablet. Access just released a beta copy of their Garnet Virtual Machine software. Yes, Snappermail, DateBk5, Pocket Tunes, whatever -- all 30,000+ Garnet applications are supported. Free to download now and free when it hits production status at the end of the year. Thanky thanky Access.Update: TabletBlog has a first-look video walkthrough up after the break. So much Graffiti, so little time. [Via IntoMobile]
Palm's Ed Colligan confirms: no new Palm OS till end of 2008
Just in case you missed the mention in our post about Palm's Q1 FY08 conference call, or the earlier report about the company's new OS getting more delays, take notice: Ed Colligan did indeed confirm that we won't be seeing a new operating system on Palm devices until the end of next year. Of course, with a track record like this crew has, we're not holding our breath, and would seriously suggest you follow suit.Read -- Palm admits new OS 18 months awayRead -- Colligan Talks About Next Generation Palm OS Progres
Palm's Ed Colligan hypes new OS to investors
Our main man Ed Colligan is on the scene once again, this time giving some serious lip service to investors on the future of Palm and its "upcoming" new OS. According to reports, Ed informed the the crew of dudes and dudettes (via the company's Q1 FY08 conference call) that the Centro systems team and Foleo engineers are "totally focused" on delivering the Linux-based OS (Palm's in-house work, not ACCESS's ALP), and announced that it will be available by the end of the next calendar year. Fleshing out his bold statements, Colligan noted that the new platform will retain the ease of use and developer support of the badly ailing current Palm OS, and that it will enable the company to deliver the UI across various products, including Foleo-like devices. The Palm honcho went on to say that development has gone, "As well as possibly could be expected," and added that the company has no plans to hand over the smartphone market to anyone else, telling investors that its next generation of products will be "revolutionary device types." Just like Fox Mulder, we want to believe -- but it's going to take a lot more than honeyed words to hold our interest, Ed. Hey -- feel free to invite us over to the pad for some hands-on.
Palm's new OS getting more delays?
The hits just don't seem to be stopping for Palm these days. In the last few weeks we've watched the Foleo debacle unravel, seen the underwhelming Treo 500v announcement, and gotten word that the Elevation Partners partial sale has gone through (a small ray of light, really) -- but it appears we're not done yet. According to a scathing report in The Guardian, Palm is now projecting a 12- to 18-month wait on the new, Linux-based version of its OS (Palm OS II to you and me), which is a considerable extension compared to the dates we heard back in July (which, of course, were just more delays in a long line of empty promises), and puts the oft-hindered software closer to a 2009 release. No offense guys, but you've been talking about this OS for about five years, all while Windows Mobile, RIM, and Symbian have lapped you... repeatedly. Maybe you can get the open source community to lend a hand? They're quite crafty.[Via Brighthand]
More Palm Centro details leaked for Sprint
The cats at the Morning Paper claim to have a piece of marketing collateral which spills, or at least, reshuffles the beans on the Palm Centro for Sprint. EV-DO, check. Palm OS (Garnet), check. Touch-screen, check (obviously). Really, the only things we haven't seen before is the list of Sprint services it'll be packing: Sprint TV, On Demand, IM, Mobile Email, and Google maps in the slimmest Treo, er Palm OS device yet. But Garnet on a Q4 2007 Palm release? Puh-lease.[Thanks, Sheldon]
Engadget chats up Palm's follies
We love you Palm, we really do -- but lately you've just been making it so darned hard. What's gotten us so worked up? Check out our open letter to the makers of the one and only Foleo over on Engadget!
New ACCESS Linux Platform screenshots emerge
For those still remotely interested in the ACCESS Linux Platform, we applaud you, and to reward you for your faith, ACCESS has reportedly launched a web portal chock-full of new screenshots from the forthcoming ALP. Admittedly, a few of the captures look mighty similar to those we saw back in February, but the new "User Experience" demonstration vividly depicts the screens found when visiting your Contacts, Photos, Music Player, Dialer, Home / Incoming Call screens, and Launcher. Go on, hit up the gallery for some high-resolution footage.[Via Treonauts]%Gallery-5845%
More blurry pictures of the Palm Gandolf -- the Treo 800 series?
Man, this thing just gets uglier every time we see it. This here is apparently the very latest, piping hot batch of blurry shots of the Palm Gandolf, the multifaceted new platform that Palm appears to be readying in both Garnet and Windows Mobile flavors with the carrier's choice of either GSM or CDMA under the hood. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be getting any prettier as it gets closer to an official debut -- quite the opposite, actually, and the keyboard is said to be a good deal smaller than its predecessors', eliminating one of Palm's few remaining talking points for the Treo line. The device is now rumored to be taking on the "800" moniker, a move which appears to call this out as being the Treo line's new king of the hill. Anyone else think this abomination of industrial design looks more like a "500" at best?[Via Slashphone]
