PalmSource Exhibiting ALP at LinuxWorld SF
PalmSource will be exhibiting the Access Linux Platform at LinuxWorld San Francisco, August 14-17th. There will also be a special PalmSource Developer Day, which includes a number of sessions on ALP and will give Palm OS developers a first chance to try out existing Palm OS applications on ALP.
The PalmSource Developer Day will take place on Wednesday, August 16th, and is targeted towards Linux Application Developers who are interested in taking their applications mobile. Attendees will get an overview of the components of the new leading platform for mobile devices--the ACCESS Linux Platform (ALP) and will receive early access and hands-on experience building applications for this new platform. Topics for this one-day event will be presented by Tom Chavez, Sr. Product Manager for PalmSource and Keithen Hayenga, Licensee Services Engineer for PalmSource.
The programs and topics include:
“Introduction to ACCESS Linux Platform (ALP).” This is a hands-on session that will describe the ACCESS Linux Platform (ALP) and details its open source architecture. PalmSource will also demonstrate ALP and transform a typical Hello World application into an ALP application ready for mobile device deployment. Attendees will run sample applications as well as have the opportunity to build one together as a group.
“Deep Dive into ACCESS Linux Platform (ALP).” In this session PalmSource and attendees will take the ALP application from the Hands-On intro and add GUI controls with Glade, introduce special mobile device event handlers and show debugging an ALP application via Eclipse on the Simulator.
Compatibility Station. A unique and special experience for attendees, PalmSource will invite Palm OS developers to try their existing applications on ALP and discuss compatibility strategies with onsite PalmSource engineers.
“Extending an ALP Application.” In this final session PalmSource will add more features to the application from the Deep Dive Session, including accessing a SQLite database for information storage and retrieval. PalmSource will provide go-forward advice and guidance to help you plan and prepare your projects to support ALP.
LinuxWorld San Francisco takes place August 14-17 at the Moscone Center in downtown SF. The one-day PalmSource Developer Day conference is free to attendees who purchase a conference package. Single day tickets can also be purchased separately for $95.
You can find past PalmInfocenter coverage of the Access Linux Platform at LinuxWorld Boston earlier this year as well as an overview of the Access Linux Platform.
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RE: Count me in!
I assume ALP will be demo'ed in the Exhibit Hall?
RE: Count me in!
I'm planning to fly in for the Dev Day. The sessions actually sound pretty good and I'm looking forward to talking with the PalmSource folks. It'll be interesting to check a couple of Palm OS applications out at the Compatibility Station, too.
David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog
RE: Count me in!
David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog
RE: Count me in!
My thoughts exactly.
I wonder if, aside from demoing the ALP platform on a simulator, they'll have some pre-production handhelds of any kind on show in the developer sessions (obviously not on public display on the show floor). I think we all need to feel some optimism that ALP will actually arrive on handsets outside of the Asian market.
Words can hardly express how crucial this leg of PalmSource's journey really is... their whole future is in question, so this event is the key PR opportunity they need to herald the coming of the next big thing (or the next big non-event) in handheld computing.
I only wish I could be there to see events unfold!
KultiVator
RE: Count me in!
Prepare to be amazed!!!!!!
p.s. If you want to find Beersie, just hang out over by the buffet table.
RE: Count me in!
Pat Horne
Admin...
Palm m125>Palm Zire71>Tapwave Zodiac 1>Palm Zire 72>Sharp Zaurus SL-C1000
[url=http://yatuc.com/3d_]Zaurus for sale![/url]
[url=http://yatuc.com/y2]Palm screen repair guide.[/url]
No public SDK yet?
They really have to do it aggressively, otherwise Palm OS Developers will find it easier to switch to other more mature and easily accessible platforms, such as Windows Mobile or the Symbian. Right now, there's still very little incentives for a 3rd party software developer to move to the ALP yet...
--
With great power comes great responsiblity.
RE: No public SDK yet?
IMO, it'll be a pretty big achievement to have a public SDK ready in the next 5 months. I'm impressed that they're ready to give hands on exposure at a developer conference to the SDK and tools they have right now.
David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog
RE: No public SDK yet?
Pat Horne
RE: No public SDK yet?
We should have a lot better idea how far along things are after this conference.
David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog
RE: No public SDK yet?
Agreed, and I don't understand why that option aroused even the slightest interest among anyone here. Who would want Garnet sitting on top of Linux? What would be gained?
The real question is what is this platform all about, and how much "Zen of Palm" went into its DNA. The biggest story will be MAX, it's APIs, and its GUI environment. So far we know nothing about the GUI and what it will look like. We've seen a few vague screenshots of something that may or may not be ALP and then dead silence.
If Access shows off the same environment with little more explanation, good luck enticing developers.
-------------------------------
PocketFactory, www.pocketfactory.com
Elitist Snob, www.elitistsnob.com
RE: No public SDK yet?
Uh... just a guess: people who have Palm OS software they want to use?
You're an Apple buff, Kent. Why don't you ask yourself this question: why do so many Mac users want Windows sitting on top of their new MacBook Pro? I think you know, and there's your answer.
David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog
RE: No public SDK yet?
Don't believe the PR-crap about firmness/longevity of loyalty.
Make a new mousetrap and the world is yer oyster.
or something like that...
RE: No public SDK yet?
So you don't think anyone would care if ALP dropped GHost and Palm announced tomorrow that it's all Windows Mobile from here on out, eh?
I don't place a huge amount of stock in Palm OS loyalty, but I think there's something to be said for smoothing the transition to a new OS so you don't alienate a sometimes passionate and vocal group of customers you already have. Within a couple of years after ALP or Palm's Linux OS comes out no one will care if they ever see another Garnet application again, but you gotta get them to that point first.
In the final analysis ACCESS is going after a much bigger market than existing Palm OS users and only need that group to prime their pump a bit when ALP is first released. That may be part of what concerns Palm, actually.
David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog
RE: No public SDK yet?
Ya know, that theory makes sense to me. I keep asking myself why Access sank $300M+ into Nagel's going away party. They appear aloof from the the Palm OS community that they paid so dearly for. Evidence points to the strong probability that Garnet will not be supported. Do these people have more $$$ than brains?
Your analysis is one of two that I can fathom. Maybe the biz-plan calls for using the Palm OS world as a launching pad for the first "mainstreamed" mobile-Linux-dominates-the-world platform. Maybe they saw that Palmsource (Palm OS) had the feelgood household name, plus they were quite some distance down the pike to actually bringing mobile Linux into reality.
Don't know if they'll pull it off, but it seems that they are ...
#1 Using Palm OS reputation, name recognition, and dedicated and large following to "prime the pump". All to bring the mobilinux dream to fruition.
#2 Palmsource had already sold it's soul to the Linux underpinnings and at least the ball was rolling?
... if they are able to pull it off and bring ALPOs to the table as a true player with WinMollasses & Symbian, then $300M is pocket change.
Pat Horne
RE: No public SDK yet?
> Linux OS comes out no one will care if they ever
> see another Garnet application again...
That essentially was the point of my post in the context of the other prior posts discussing "Palm(OS) developers developing".
RE: No public SDK yet?
They didn't pay for the Palm OS community. They paid for Access to China via CMS.
They paid too much because they got caught up in a bidding frenzy.
May You Live in Interesting Times
A good sign
I think it's a very good sign that PalmSoft is giving reasonably low level programming lessons on ALP this quickly. Sounds like the've got all the basics up and running, the PalmOS virtualization and general application API's.
I pray to god Palm comes to their senses and gets their act together and deploys this version finally. I get so depressed thinking about moving to another platform after 10 years of productive PalmOS use, but if this doesn't come off there will be no choice.
RE: A good sign
I wouldn't worry too much about whether Palm adopts ALP or does their own Linux platform, though. Either way I think we can expect future Palm devices to have backward support for old Palm OS applications (for a while) and developers doing cool new things with the new platform.
David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog
RE: A good sign
Well that depends entirely on how "cool" or viable the new platform is, doesn't it? What makes you think developers are going to get on board? I certainly don't that's going to happen anytime soon, if ever. What I'm betting will happen is this...instead of developers writing for the new platform, they'll simply keep developing for what they know; Garnet. Think about it, if PACE layer works really well, as it should, why bother learning do develop for an entirely new API environment. If your app runs on Garnet it should behave on ALP, or so we're led to believe. Besides, if you visit just about any mobile software dev website you'll notice the vast majority are writing for other platforms now. Developers who write strictly for PalmOS are few and far between, so I doubt migrating to ALP is a big priority for PalmOS developers right now. Most are probably wondering how much longer they'll continue supporting the platform.
-------------------------------
PocketFactory, www.pocketfactory.com
Elitist Snob, www.elitistsnob.com
RE: A good sign
I don't think anyone outside the US cares about Ghost on ALP.
I don't think ACCESS is going to introduce ALP into the US first. (It's a toss up, in my mind, between China and Japan, but if they show ALP on a Hier phone at LinuxWorld, I'll bet on China.)
The reason why developers would want to move from Ghost to the ALP interface, if they did, would be support for features on the phone that Garnet doesn't support.
May You Live in Interesting Times
RE: A good sign
But worldwide Linux has already cleaned the clock of Palm OS and Windows Mobile and some much bigger Linux plays are in the works. Any mobile software developer who isn't watching Linux right now and trying to understand this market is going to miss a pretty good ride, in my opinion.
Since you asked: What ALP should deliver than Palm OS cannot is (a) robust multi-tasking including support for multiple simultaneous network streams, (b) applications that don't take down the whole system when there's a bug, (c) a SQL database engine for powerful business applications (extra $$$ on WM or Symbian), (d) state-of-the-art multimedia capabilities, (e) the latest hardware getting to market faster because Linux drivers are written first, (f) an influx of innovation from Linux developers. Those are the big things. There are lots of smaller ones like remote device management, better one-handed operation, an interface that conforms with standard user expectations like the presence of soft buttons. I'm probably leaving a lot out, but you get the idea: ALP is aimed at operators and device vendors who want the power of an operating system like Symbian or Windows Mobile, but don't want to depend on rapacious Microsoft or competitor Nokia for it.
It's going to be very interesting to watch how this drama unfolds and I'd like to get a front-row seat, which is one reason I'm heading out to PalmSource Developer Day next month.
David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog
RE: A good sign
I don't know about you guys but I've had it with all of these great technological achievements release in the Asian markets. Of course I do know that most of their makers began their businesses in the Asian market.
You see, I've kind of gotten really frusterated with how the US and Europe miss out on really great products for some stupid reason (a million are popping into my head).
The only way for this to work is for a global release. For all I care if ALP isn't in the US market it's as useless to me as Cobalt.
RE: A good sign
If Access wants this to succed ALP has to be released in the US and Europe. I've seen too many phones and products that are released in Korea, Japan, and China never make it to the states let alone Europe.
Unfortunately, all that proves is that ACCESS doesn't have to release in the US and Europe to succeed. The Asian market is much bigger than either North America or Europe.
Still, ACCESS is very global already in the way it markets its products, so while I agree with Marty that Asia will probably see ALP devices first, I wouldn't count out that we see them making their way over to this side of the Pacific before long. And some of the European operators seem to be enthusiastic about Linux on phones.
I agree with Marty, though: I don't get a good feeling right now about Palm being the company that brings ALP to the US. They've got other plans that we'll hear about next year, I think.
The good news is, I do think Palm is thinking about putting that David Nagel button on an upcoming Palm OS Garnet Treo: http://tinyurl.com/fofyu
I understand that this provides speed-dialing directly to Nagel's personal cellphone where delighted users can thank him personally for all he has done for the Palm OS platform. The same button shows up in the new Mac OS version of Palm Desktop so Apple users can chime in with their words of heartfelt thanks! ;-)
David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog
So Marty...
David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog
Pick your Linux
Since a lot of the components of ALP are (or will be) open source, I wonder how long it will take Linux hackers to reverse engineer the parts that aren't and get them running on some nice hardware we do have here in the US?
If Linux continues its steady incursion into phones I can see a day not too far when there is active trade of hacked ROM images that people will use to replace one Linux OS with another on their phone.
David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog
RE: A good sign
dunno. wasn't planning on it, since i'd rather go to OLS (which is this week and I'm not making it, alas,) but I might see if my boss'll mind if i go up for a day.
May You Live in Interesting Times
RE: A good sign
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
Navigating your Palm with nothing but brainwaves?
Surfing the Web with nothing but brainwaves
Kiss your keyboard goodbye: Soon we'll jack our brains directly into the Net - and that's just the beginning.
By Chris Taylor, Business 2.0 Magazine senior editor
July 24 2006: 11:33 AM EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (Business 2.0 Magazine) - -- Two years ago, a quadriplegic man started playing video games using his brain as a controller. That may just sound like fun and games for the unfortunate, but really, it spells the beginning of a radical change in how we interact with computers - and business will never be the same.
Someday, keyboards and computer mice will be remembered only as medieval-style torture devices for the wrists. All work - emails, spreadsheets, and Google searches - will be performed by mind control.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/07/21/technology/googlebrain0721.biz2/index.htm?cnn=yes
RE: Navigating your Palm with nothing but brainwaves?
Our thoughts are already void of privacy hence the need/want for a secure we-com virtual wallet industry.
With brain waves floating about like sound waves how much more privacy will this offer?
Insider trading is illegal. If one can simply target an individuals mind then intellectual theft is a potential issue.
The equity of some intellectual property is greater than the entire value of some nations economies.
Do some really want to exchange ideas for their freedom?
E-T
e-tellurian
completing the e-com circle with a people driven we-com solution
RE: Navigating your Palm with nothing but brainwaves?
Some already do. Ever heard of GNU/free software ?
And generally speaking all the science is built on the free exchange of ideas. Where could we be if Sir Isaac Newton had his Falling Apple Law patented ?
I can't go. Always working.
Would be nice to meet the geniuses behind the great Palm OS. :-D
WHAT was that 'THUNK' I just heard!!?
== "...Contemporaneously with the license agreement, we entered
== into a co-development agreement with PalmSource to develop a
== next-generation Palm OS for use in future Palm products.
== PalmSource did not timely meet certain of the milestones under
== the co-development agreement, relieving us of our obligation to
== make minimum royalty payments under the license agreement after
== calendar year 2006. We are presently in negotiations with
== PalmSource to expand our development and distribution rights to
== the current version of the Palm OS. If we are unable to
== successfully conclude these negotiations, it may adversely
== affect our ability to develop and distribute new products based
== on a next-generation version of the Palm OS. Regardless, we will
== continue to release new products based on the current version of
== the Palm OS..."
Bwahahaha!!! It's now hitting the fan, folks...
Cobalt blew up in our faces and totally effed up the PalmOS market. We wanted Palm Linux (because Linuz sounds kewl). We lost out in "buying" PalmSource when the poison pill in the new contract failed to scare off Access. We want our OWN "PalmOS" and Access is letting the old PalmOS wither and die. We are going to have to play hardball with those dumba$$es at Access so we ca cherrypick the parts of PalmSource IP we need to create a Pal-branded "PalmLinux™".
This is a high stakes game of "chicken":
1) Palm is PalmSource/Access' only significant remaining licensee.
2) PalmOS is effectively now a lame duck OS.
3) Besides the income from Palm's license, PalmOS is otherwise more or less worthless to Access. (Don't let the last minute addition of PACE to Access' bizarre modular ALP-OS fool you - the only benefit of PACE is to lure PalmOS faithful into the clutches of ALP-OS, keeping the faithful sheep PalmOS devotees quiet while plans are quietly made to EOL PalmOS)
4) SOME money from for worthless IP is better than NO money if they were to jump to Windows Mobile exclusively. The only question is how hard can Access squeeze its Golden Goose before Goosey either croaks or flies away to the Windows Mobile pond.
5) Palm needs a proprietary OS to differentiate itself from other smartphone sellers.
6) Palm lacks the $$$ to compete mano a mano with the likes of Nokia et. al. (new phones every six months, etc.).
7) Palm cannot differentiate itself enough to survive as JAWL (Just Another WindowsMobile Licensee).
8) Between PACE, Cobalt and PalmLinux, there should (barely) be enough viable code to cobble together a simple, functional next-generation PalmOS.
9) The smartphone market could evaporate at ANY moment.
10) Palm has run out of time - the Grim Reaper (Sony Ericsson, Nokis, Motorola, LG, Samsung) has arrived.
These are interesting times, indeed.
TVoR
RE: WHAT was that 'THUNK' I just heard!!?
Palm still has the ability to differentiate themselves from other WinMob licensees but they aren't executing well. Their problem is they simply cannot keep up with the pace of innovation from competitors, especially Motorola, Nokia and even HTC to a lesser extent. It's taking Palm an entire year to rollout just one product cycle. We're approaching the eleventh hour and the other half of the 700 series is just beginning to trickle out. Worse...that produce (their flagship product no less) is already obsolete. At a time when the Treo should be relegated to the bargain, it's carrying then entire company revenue stream. Suicide!
Had Palm managed to introduce a broader array of competitive smartphone offerings...even just one model that addressed the Moto Q (which Palm had more than a year of warning) as I originally anticipated, they would have had a good fighting chance. As it is now, I see no hope for Palm moving forward unless drastic changes are made to both their product roadmap and development/distribution process. They need to innovate and get the product in the pipeline faster instead of relying on a single device as a cash cow. Well this cow just ran out of milk, boys. You can stop pulling at her utters and it out to pasture!
-------------------------------
PocketFactory, www.pocketfactory.com
Elitist Snob, www.elitistsnob.com
RE: WHAT was that 'THUNK' I just heard!!?
Cobalt? I doubt that got furhter than that December delivery to meet the CEO's mistaken promise of delivery that year and nothing else.
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Count me in!
Does anybody know what requirements there will be to access the Developer Day? I'll probably only get a free Exhibit Hall only pass. Hopefully that will allow me into the Developer Day.
-Donald