Palm OS 6 Will Be Finished In Late December

Posted By: Ryan Tuesday, September 23, 2003 2:51:30 PM

PalmSource has announced at its developer seminar, currently under way in Munich, that Palm OS 6, code-named Sahara, will be complete by December 29th. The new version will focus on wireless technology standards, security and multimedia.

Developers at the conference are being given a sneak preview at Palm OS 6, in order to outline long term product plans and strategies for using the new os. PalmSource expects to have applications that can take full advantage of OS 6 ready when devices running it become available. Palm OS 5 was released to licensees in June of 2002. Devices that made use of the new operation system became available in October of the same year.

In previous talks about the upcoming OS PalmSource CEO David Nagel stressed that Palm OS 6 will focus on next generation communications and frameworks for new and upcoming technologies. Specifically, scalable communications, more robust security features, a new multimedia framework with a scalable graphics engine, interchangeable I/O features (such as the ability to incorporate many different methods of data input) and a new messaging framework.

Developers will also be able to write fully ARM native applications. With OS 5 developers have had to use armlet's, or snippets of ARM code, to speed up applications to take advantage of ARM processors. OS 6 will also include Multi-processing/threading features, web services (XML/SOAP), a reference Java VM and the PalmSource proxy-less web browser.

Larry Slotnick, chief product officer at PalmSource, has given a few more details in an interview with CNET Asia. Slotnick says the new OS will allow developers to set application priorities to overcome particular difficulties arising with resource-hungry applications such as media players and multitasking issues. It will also contain a standard method for developers to switch screen orientations to easily, allowing both portrait and landscape mode.

PalmSource will release a software development kit for OS 6 at its spring conference on February 10 next year. PalmSource will still continue to develop OS 5 after the release of 6 and is making a special telephony edition of OS 5 for mobile phones.

PIC has previously attained possible early draft screen captures of what OS 6 may look like.

Thanks to Gaurav for the tip

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Happy 2004!

rened @ 9/23/2003 3:20:18 PM #
can't wait to see the Tungsten C2 (or 3)

RE: Happy 2004!
flevy @ 9/23/2003 4:18:31 PM #
I can't speak to the C# but if you want to see the

Tungsten T3, go to:

http://www.pdaclub.pl/view.php?news_id=6908

RE: Happy 2004!
ozz @ 9/23/2003 11:38:47 PM #
Wow! That pic of the T3 looks Great! Oh, BTW, what language is that web site? Looks like Pig Latin! Ha!
RE: Happy 2004!
blue9 @ 9/23/2003 11:59:00 PM #
Polish I think (.pl domain)

Core Apps

Quik_Fix @ 9/23/2003 3:20:18 PM #
Please please please! let this be the one where they upgrade the 4 core apps! I want better contact handling! I think the #1 change I would like to see in Palm is the ability to have more than one mailing address per contact (home and work). I'm amazed that all this time has passed and the four cores are still almost IDENTICAL to OS 1.0! Maybe they're holding on to them to continually claim the "Zen of Palm", but I'd really love to see the change. Let's hope those screenshots that were around before really are of OS 6. I'll skip 5 and move right on up!

Oh my God. They found me. I dunno how but they found me...
RUN FOR IT MARTY!

Quik_Fix
quikfix76@msn.com

RE: Core Apps
hotpaw4 @ 9/23/2003 3:27:33 PM #
I've heard that they've been limiting changes to the core PIM apps so as not to break installations of HotSync, the Palm desktop or 3rd party PIM enhancement applications. But one of the May PalmSource conference speakers said that the new PIM apps will be breaking the 15 category limit; if true it seems that some things will be changing in incompatible ways in OS 6.
RE: Core Apps
Quik_Fix @ 9/23/2003 3:59:26 PM #
In my ideal world, they would upgrade the core apps and provide a wizard to import my old core app info into it.

Oh my God. They found me. I dunno how but they found me...
RUN FOR IT MARTY!

Quik_Fix
quikfix76@msn.com

RE: Core Apps
helf @ 9/23/2003 5:34:01 PM #
Apparently there with no longer be a 4kb limit in memopad too :D

RE: Core Apps
bcombee @ 9/23/2003 6:58:12 PM #
David Fedor's talk from today at Munich touched upon the PIM apps slightly. He stated that the PIM apps would be using a new "schema database" system that debuts in Palm OS 6. This allows other apps to add fields to the records and to get info out of the records in a way that doesn't require them to know the internals of the apps. He said other apps could add fields to the PIM records and that the PIM programs may make those available to the user. On the category front, he said Palm OS 6 would support 255 categories, and a single record could be associated with multiple categories among the 255, i.e. a person could be a "friend", a "business contact", a "Californian", etc -- you don't have to pick just one.

They didn't show any PIM apps, but David Fedor did demo an app that showed the scaling font technology (TrueType compatible) along with drawing rotation and alpha blending. During the first run, the simulator crashed, but after restarting it, the app ran to completion... he said that alpha OS version had a memory leak.

--
Ben Combee, CodeWarrior for Palm OS technical lead
Programming help at www.palmoswerks.com

RE: Core Apps
bcombee @ 9/23/2003 7:03:15 PM #
Just to add to this -- Palm OS 6 will support PACE, so most applications that work fine on OS 5 will also work well on OS 6. To take advantage of most of the new OS features, apps will need to be rebuilt as ARM native apps. Applications will not have direct access to screen memory for security reasons -- this prevents an app running in the background from reading the pixels of a secure foreground app, for example. Apps can have multiple threads, and they can run in a background process. OS 6 will have variable sized input areas; if a particular input area type doesn't need the whole standard "Grafitti" space, it can tell the OS it uses less height, and apps will have the ability to adjust their size to use the additional room.

--
Ben Combee, CodeWarrior for Palm OS technical lead
Programming help at www.palmoswerks.com
RE: Core Apps
Gekko @ 9/23/2003 7:06:44 PM #
Dear Palm -

1. Please remove 4k Memo Limit.
2. Please add native security/encryption.

Thank you.



RE: Core Apps
Scott R @ 9/23/2003 7:18:09 PM #
I don't need more categories, though being able to assign one person to multiple categories is good. I also don't want tons of new fields that I have to scroll past like the PPC has (anyone know what a Radio Telephone # is for?). Here's a few core things I'd like to see (in addition to the multitasking that will be there):

1) Dedicated Birthday field that ties automatically to your address book to notify you about someone's birthday.
2) Tap-and-hold functionality as part of the core API.
3) Revive WeSync technology and integrate it into the OS. Being able to keep up-to-date with everyone in your family's schedule and/or team members' availability is a killer feature.

Imagine that. All things that don't require super-fast processors or anything.

Scott

http://TapLand.com
- Tapwave Zodiac News, Reviews, & Discussion -

RE: Core Apps
helf @ 9/23/2003 7:33:11 PM #
No direct screen access at all 'eh? That kinda sucks :|

FONTS, baby!!!
mikecane @ 9/23/2003 7:36:18 PM #
Ben: SCALABLE fonts?!

Thank you thank you thank you thank you PalmSource!!!

RE: Core Apps
arielb @ 9/24/2003 12:47:05 AM #
yes you can use beyond contacts...you can have any field you use in outlook

RE: Core Apps
braicheff @ 9/24/2003 4:04:14 AM #
Excuse me? No direct screen access? You must be kidding, right? I mean, you REALLY must be kidding. This sounds like the beginning of the end of this otherwise perfect OS. Now tell me that they'll redesign the API to look like the Symbian academic-style sh*t and I'll switch to using calculators as nothing really worth it left out there. Psion went down, PPC/WinCE is out of question, Symbian is worthless, and now Palm is heading the same direction.

RE: Core Apps
asiayeah @ 9/24/2003 5:04:25 AM #
Palm OS 6 will remove the 4k memo limit as well as the 15-category limit.

--
With great power comes great responsiblity.
RE: Core Apps
helf @ 9/24/2003 9:21:18 AM #
braichef : hehe.. ti89 calcs are really nice.. :P

RE: Core Apps
JKingGrim @ 9/24/2003 12:02:53 PM #
No direct screen access at all 'eh? That kinda sucks :|

Excuse me? No direct screen access? You must be kidding, right? I mean, you REALLY must be kidding. This sounds like the beginning of the end of this otherwise perfect OS. Now tell me that they'll redesign the API to look like the Symbian academic-style sh*t and I'll switch to using calculators as nothing really worth it left out there. Psion went down, PPC/WinCE is out of question, Symbian is worthless, and now Palm is heading the same direction.

No direct screen access is not bad. Its good. You know those apps that worked on 160x160 but only appear in a small box in the corner on hires screens? This happens because the app is attempting direct screen access. Has it ever happened to you on windows when a video is playing on a media player, and then you try to switch to another app, but the video still plays on top? The media player was attempting direct screen access. Without direct access, apps can still write to the screen, they just cannot write directly to the system buffer. There is ABSOLUTELY NO loss of functionality.

RE: Core Apps
arielb @ 9/24/2003 3:31:06 PM #
it's a sad but inevitable reality that we need to compromise in order to get security. We'll need firewalls for our PDAs since they are increasingly being connected to the internet. There are even anti-virus programs for the 2 viruses out there!

RE: Core Apps
mikecane @ 9/24/2003 7:13:11 PM #
And won't no coding access to the screen mean that PalmSource is actually looking forward to screen resolutions *higher* than 320x480?

PalmOS Tablets?

RE: Core Apps
vixensjlin @ 9/24/2003 8:40:18 PM #
Scott R:

For your first wish:

Try HappyDays. It is free, it works very well for annv. days and birthdays. It connects Datebook and Address book very well, remainds you as wish.

RE: Core Apps
Scott R @ 9/24/2003 8:48:32 PM #
"Try HappyDays. It is free, it works very well for annv. days and birthdays. It connects Datebook and Address book very well, remainds you as wish."

Thanks. I already use that. The problem is that this doesn't automatically sync with your calendar. It requires an extra step for you to run HappyDays and have it automatically update your calendar for birthdays.

On the PPC, if I add a new contact and fill out the birthday field, the birthday will automagically pop up when that day comes around.

Scott

http://TapLand.com
- Tapwave Zodiac News, Reviews, & Discussion -

Birthdays
Lucky Dragon @ 1/6/2004 2:01:23 PM #
"On the PPC, if I add a new contact and fill out the birthday field, the birthday will automagically pop up when that day comes around."

My Tungsten T3 works the same way: When I set up a new address book record, I can add in the person's birthday and it will program a reminder in Date Book automatically... I suspect they will they add this functionality into OS6 as well.

RE: Core Apps
smith847be @ 1/6/2004 5:42:47 PM #
Scott R: Note: PalmOS 5.2 series has a calendar-tied birthday field in the address book. Unfortunately, however, that is the only date field (no anniversary, etc).

Native files support?

Konstantin @ 9/23/2003 3:45:52 PM #
Did I missed it or there is nothing said about native file support in PalmOS 6 ?

RE: Native files support?
Admin @ 9/23/2003 3:56:13 PM #
I'm not at the conference so I'm relying on outside reports.
Is there anyone there that can post what is going on?
RE: Native files support?
hotpaw4 @ 9/23/2003 4:03:02 PM #
Several VFS aware applications already support "native" (to Windows?) files (for JPG's, word docs, etc.). And there's already a RAMdisk app which allows one to have a virtual VFS card in storage memory, IIRC.
RE: Native files support?
helf @ 9/23/2003 5:34:39 PM #
yes yes, we know that. we are talking about native supprot for files in RAM with no 3rd party help. I could careless about this, but tons of people want it.

As long as I don't have to start putting "dlls" in a system folder and an app in anotehr then ill be happy.. :P

RE: Native files support?
JKingGrim @ 9/24/2003 12:10:12 PM #
Don't rule it out just because its not mentioned. Im keeping my fingers crossed.

RE: Native files support?
ganoe @ 9/24/2003 1:27:09 PM #
> Don't rule it out just because its not mentioned.
> Im keeping my fingers crossed.

Well don't hurt yourself doing it. If you really had to buy a third party app for it (like already exists), would it be that difficult???

RE: Native files support?
JKingGrim @ 9/25/2003 8:00:42 PM #
Yes it would. Those third party apps don't actually make the entire RAM a real file system. They set aside a portion of the RAM that imitates a file system. To give the entire RAM a file system with real files and folders would confuse every single POS app that asumes the RAM is just a list of databases. With the help of PACE, it probably can be done in a way that will not render all current apps useless, but it requires much thinking.

RE: Native files support?
bcombee @ 9/26/2003 5:30:17 AM #
I was thinking about this problem earlier. It is technically possible to make a VFS volume driver that would expose a subset of the Palm OS device's databases as files in a single folder. Since Palm OS 3, there has been a file streaming API that lets you treat special databases as files. This is used internally by the beaming system to hold data while its being received, and apps like Palm Photos (on the Z71 and T|C) store JPEG files as file streams.

This could be an interesting program to write. It wouldn't have the dedicated storage issue that a RAM disk driver has, but figuring out a way to expose the flat Palm OS DB list as a directory structure may be difficult, but if you use a meta database to hold directory settings or store the info in the file stream's AppInfo block, it could work.

--
Ben Combee, CodeWarrior for Palm OS technical lead
Programming help at www.palmoswerks.com

RE: Native files support?
ganoe @ 9/29/2003 1:06:33 PM #

> They set aside a portion of the RAM that imitates a file system.

If it looks and smells like a file system, it is a file system.

> To give the entire RAM a file system with real files and folders would
> confuse every single POS app that asumes the RAM is just a list of databases.

Uh ... not necessarily (since you'd be changing the OS in the process anyhow), but what's your point? Databases aren't "files" in the abstract sense, and there's no reason to treat them as such (especially since there's already functionality to beam them and copy them to/from regular files). So why in the world would you want them in a user accessable file space??? Do you really have some great need to put your address book database in an "Addresses" folder?

UPDATE

bluecat @ 9/23/2003 4:29:03 PM #
Hope that 6.0 will work on my ol' Tungsten. Would be nice..... Will there be an upgrade.... anyone?

RE: UPDATE
crustyedgeofinnovation @ 9/23/2003 4:41:25 PM #
i hope so

www.departmentofcomfort.com
RE: UPDATE
hucsman @ 9/23/2003 5:03:52 PM #
Well, upgrading will be entirely up to palmone. I do believe that they have a good record on providing OS upgrades for their consumers of older devices, plus any ARM device should be able to technically be upgraded. I think the only major upgrade they didnīt offer was from OS4.1 to OS5 but that is because it is impossible hardwarewise. Of course, that was way before when palmsource and palmone were not independent of each other. Maybe someone could give them a call and see what they have to say about 5 to 6 upgrade? (I canīt, I donīt live in the US).

RE: UPDATE
Scott R @ 9/23/2003 7:23:41 PM #
"I do believe that they have a good record on providing OS upgrades for their consumers of older devices..."

Actually, that used to be the case, but no more. How long was OS5.1 out for, and was an upgrade ever offered for the Tungsten T? OS5.2 is out for a while now and I haven't heard about updates to that either.

Scott

http://TapLand.com
- Tapwave Zodiac News, Reviews, & Discussion -

RE: UPDATE
Dmitri_J @ 9/24/2003 3:53:17 AM #
I think it's not good to announce new OS without chance to upgrade from the current one. I want to by new PDA, but I have to be sure in this opportunity.

I wish you good hangover.

accessories

midtoad @ 9/23/2003 5:04:48 PM #
Maybe by the time they release PalmOS 6, the drivers will be out for hardware accessories to support PalmOS 5 !

Seriously, PalmOS 5 was released in June 2002 and there are *still* lots of accessories (e.g. PocketTop keyboard, Micro Innovations keyboard, Logitech keyboard, Targus thumbboard) that do not support it, and thus can't be used on Tungsten models.

Palm isn't doing a very good job of bringing along the builders of accesories.


Stewart Midwinter
PDA user since 1992 (Sharp PC-3100)
Palm Tungsten T, Handera HE330 and Compaq Aero 2110

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