Day: October 31, 2006

Continuing to demonstrate its commitment to supporting the development of open source components optimized for the mobile and embedded device markets, ACCESS CO., LTD., today announced it plans to release an Application Framework to the open source community under Mozilla Public License (MPL) v1.1. Security features that extend the Linux kernel are planned for release under the General Public License (GPL) v2.Developed as part of the ACCESS Linux Platform, the Application Framework has been designed specifically to meet the requirements of mobile phones and devices. In addition to providing a set of services to install and manage applications, the Application Framework from ACCESS can integrate communication between applications, enabling a seamless user experience for music, messaging and other advanced features. The Application Framework is also designed to enhance application security to prevent unauthorized use of phone services or tampering with critical system data.The Application Framework release from ACCESS is expected to be available for download before the end of end of this year (2006) at:http://www.access-company.com/about…e/download.html“As a company committed to the growth of the mobile Linux software platform market, Orange believes that ACCESS’ decision to open source the Application Framework will benefit the entire mobile Linux ecosystem,” said Yves Maitre, vice president, devices for Orange.Accelerating Mobile Linux Market Growth, Avoiding Fragmentation and Fostering Mobile Linux EcosystemAn application framework – a way to install and manage applications, along with providing the ability for applications to interact with each other and the user – is a core part of any fully integrated mobile operating system platform. Currently, there is no open source solution available for commercial software in mobile and embedded devices.“We created the Application Framework to ensure that applications can be well integrated and securely managed, not just by us, but also by third party developers, operators and all participants in the global mobile Linux ecosystem,” said Mike Kelley, executive officer and senior vice president of product development at ACCESS.“We evaluated what is available today and recognized that an application framework designed specifically for mobile devices was needed. We believe open sourcing the Application Framework will benefit all mobile Linux developers, manufacturers and operators; which in turn should help foster the growth of the mobile Linux phone and device market while helping avoid potential fragmentation,” continued Kelley.As part of its efforts to help grow the mobile Linux market and foster a global ecosystem, ACCESS has decided to contribute its Application Framework to the open source community. By open sourcing the Application Framework, ACCESS’ goal is to help speed the development and adoption of mobile Linux phones and devices while taking the first step to help prevent fragmentation. The next step in preventing fragmentation will be to work with industry standards organizations, such as the Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum and Open Source Developers Labs (OSDL) to determine how they may adopt the Application Framework.“The Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum welcomes any initiative that can lead toward building a robust Mobile Linux Ecosystem,” said Haila Wang, president and chairman of LiPS. “Consistent with its practice to review open-source solutions in order to help handset makers and operators to bring phones to the market more quickly and at lower cost, LiPS is looking forward considering this important contribution from ACCESS.”“Mobile Linux market share is continuing to increase and with steps taken by companies like ACCESS that demonstrate ongoing commitment to the open source community and the development of a robust mobile ecosystem, the numbers will continue to rise,” said Stuart Cohen, CEO of OSDL. “ACCESS gets it. By opening its Application Framework, it will help to both increase the use of its own platform and the subsequent growth of mobile Linux.”Need for Application Framework for Mobile Linux Market—Making Linux Applications MobileSmartphones and mobile devices have small form factors with limited memory, storage and display space, and as a result, these devices must do things differently than a PC. Furthermore, the usage model for smartphones and mobile devices is very different than a PC, typically made up of short tasks interrupted by many events such as receiving calls or messages while browsing.Users tend to concentrate on tasks rather than applications. For example, the user will take a picture and send it, rather than launch a camera application and spend a lot of time in it. This difference affects how mobile applications need to be represented and launched, how they inter-communicate, and what resources they require. The Application Framework from ACCESS has been designed to address these needs.Benefits for DevelopersACCESS has also developed the Application Framework with developers in mind. Leveraging the application framework should allow developers to create applications that seamlessly blend within the device environment and the applications already installed. This capability is expected to make it possible for users of ACCESS Linux Platform-based devices to extend the capability of their mobile phone or device while retaining a high level of integration and consistency.Maintaining ACCESS’ philosophy of reducing industry fragmentation, the ACCESS Application Framework is designed for use with GTK+. Currently, GTK+ powers the extremely popular GNOME desktop, and its use in the ACCESS Linux platform is expected to enable developers to leverage existing expertise and code.”Through the GNOME Mobile and Embedded initiative, the GNOME Foundation is fostering innovation and collaboration in the mobile and embedded device market. By contributing their Application Framework to the community, ACCESS is showing their dedication to the success of Free Software, GNOME and the GMAE initiative,” said Dave Neary, chairman of board, GNOME Foundation. “I’m delighted to see a high-quality software development framework put into the hands of embedded software developers worldwide, and to see ACCESS showing themselves to be a good citizen in the Free Software community.”ACCESS Application Framework ServicesThe Application Framework from ACCESS consists of several services or “managers” that are being designed to install and manage applications and enable applications to interact with each other and the user. These include (please see attached for description of each component):Bundle ManagerSecurity Policy Framework (SPF)Exchange ManagerNotification ManagerApplication ServerAttention ManagerAlarm ManagerGlobal Settings ServicesACCESS and the Open Source CommunityACCESS is an active member of the open source community. The Company is a founding member of the Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum and Open Source Developer Lab’s (OSDL) Mobile Linux Initiative group. In addition, ACCESS has made a number of contributions to the open source community including:libsqlfs Library: Created as part of the ACCESS Linux Platform, the libsqlfs library is an add-on to the popular SQLite package. The libsqlfs software library was designed to provide a more flexible and convenient way to implement an Open Mobile Alliance-Device Management (OMA-DM) compliant registry.Open Binder: A component object framework, similar in general concept to DCOM and CORBA, but better scaled for use on small devices. Open Binder provides a unique inter-process communication (IPC) paradigm implemented as a kernel-loadable driver, and incorporates a broad range of programmatic utility classes and frameworks. ACCESS has released the Binder driver and its associated frameworks to the open source community.Please visit http://www.access-company.com/about…urce/index.html for more information about ACCESS and the open source community.

“We are pleased to announce the 0.9.1 ScummVM bugfix release. There were lots of important bugfixes and small improvements. We are also glad that three additional platforms are now officially supported: Nintendo DS, GP2X and GP32. You can already download official DS and GP2X binaries, and the GP32 port will be available soon. Some of the most significant bugfixes are: Many fixes for Humongous Entertainment games and better support for international versions of the games Improved detection of the FM-TOWNS version of Indy3 Several fixes for The Feeble Files and more non-English versions are supported now Some parts of the Kyrandia engine were rewritten so the game needs less CPU power now, and thus works better on lower-end devices The PSP, PS2 and WinCE ports were greatly improved The PalmOS port is again up-to-date and features separate build for Tapwave Zodiac The WinCE port supports 2002 devices againFor the complete list read the release notes. As usual, the builds are located on our downloads page.”

“It’s a measure of how good the core TomTom application is that, even with no respect at all for the S60 style guide and even with patchy support for non-‘standard’ S60 displays and even costing more than its competitors, it still garners enormous respect and a pretty high score.The fact is that the central TomTom navigation routines (common to their GO range of standalone products) are simply of superb quality. In the last week I’ve travelled hundreds of miles and TomTom NAVIGATOR 6 has yet to make a single mistake, of any kind. Add in faster-than-average on-screen reporting of current position, exceptionally clear voice instructions and a lower RAM footprint than the likes of Navicore and Route 6, and you’ve a recipe for success.If you’ve used TomTom MOBILE 5 before, or any recent PDA or GO version, you’ll know just what to expect, as the interface is identical. One indication of how much thought has gone into the menus and options is that on Navicore and Route 66 I’m always thinking ‘Now where did I see that function/option’ whereas with TomTom’s system I just go there. Perhaps this is because I’m admittedly slightly more familiar with the latter, but I’m of the opinion that the menu systems in its competitors are something of a mess.” Read more here:

“Picture the typical PDA phone owner. You’re probably seeing some guy in a three-piece suit, running around on Wall Street with an intense need to stay in touch with the office. I don’t think that SavaJe is appealing to that segment with the Jasper S20. Powered by JAVA, this brick of a candybar is clearly designed with mobile gaming in mind, because it comes preloaded with no fewer than thirty action-packed titles. When you’re not playing games, you can take pictures with the 1.3 megapixel camera, chat it up using Bluetooth, or just stare at the 260k-color 176×220 TFT display. No mention of Push Email, Outlook synching, or PIM functions.” via mobilemag.com

“The Korean maker Independent Pioneer has announced the release of its first ultra mobile PC IPbook A1 at the home market. The IPbook A1 is powered by VIA 1 GHz processor, 40 GB HDD, 512 MB RAM and supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 1.2 wireless standards, and optionally GPS and DMB opportunities.The device is peculiar for its price – 799,000 Won, i.e. some $844. To compare, the Q1 by Samsung costs about 1,000,000 Won. So we see a nice trend of falling prices. I’d remind you that initially UMPC-devices were positioned as quite inexpensive products – $500-800. The release will be on November 1.” via mobile-review.com