PalmSource Releases Palm OS 5.4 to Developers

Posted By: Ryan Monday, January 26, 2004 10:39:41 AM

PalmSource has released a "pre-release" of Palm OS 5.4. The prerelease is now available to registered developers in the development seeding area. Palm OS 5.4 is primarily a maintenance release, but includes some new features.

PalmSourceIn an email sent to developers, PalmSource announced that a prerelease of Palm OS 5.4 is now available in the Development Seeding Area. OS 5.4 is is primarily a maintenance release that puts the features of the Chinese OS 5.3 into English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Japanese versions.

Like Palm OS 5.3, it supports Virtual Graffiti and screen resolutions of 160x160, 160x220, 240x240, 320x320, 320x240, 320x480. Also included are several upgrades to NetLib, a Bluetooth icon in the control bar, new PIM apps that support Virtual Graffiti, and several bug fixes.

PalmSource Developer Conference
PalmSource is expected to talk more about Palm OS 6 and other OS releases at the upcoming PalmSource Developer Conference. The developer and enthusiast gathering will take place February 10-12, 2004 in San Jose, California.

Thanks to Zan Hecht for the tip!

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Wow. This puts a bump in the OS6 roadmap

a_nonamiss @ 1/26/2004 11:15:03 AM #
This release really puts a bump in the OS6 roadmap. I guess we aren't going to be seeing those devices anytime soon. I wonder if it will be worthwhile (or possible) to upgrade my T3 to 5.4.

Arthur

Palm Pilot 1000 > Palm Pilot Professional > Palm III > Palm M100 > Sony Clié PEG-T415 > Palm T|T3

RE: Wow. This puts a bump in the OS6 roadmap
bcombee @ 1/26/2004 11:34:53 AM #
PalmSource has said that OS 5 and OS 6 development will continue, with both branches being maintained. They are already planning another major OS 5 release, centered around smartphone support, while different resources are continuing work on future versions of OS 6.

--
Ben Combee, CodeWarrior for Palm OS technical lead
Programming help at www.palmoswerks.com
RE: Wow. This puts a bump in the OS6 roadmap
s_teve @ 1/26/2004 12:22:37 PM #
here's the thing.

Are they going to release new handhelds that have the operating system or are they going to let us tungsten users update the operating system?

Will it be the same as the t3's interface with virtual graffiti?

Palmsource could be on to something

Would like to upgrade
zire71man @ 1/26/2004 12:40:24 PM #
Hey would like to upgrade.

Cheers :-P

Used to be visoredgeman then visorprismman, now zire71man!

RE: Wow. This puts a bump in the OS6 roadmap
abosco @ 1/26/2004 12:44:36 PM #
No matter what, an OS ROM update will have to be issued by the OEM, not PalmSource. If you need your T3 updated, PalmSource is making it possible, but PalmOne will have to modify it and give it to you. Send your emails to PalmOne, not PalmSource.

-Bosco
NX80v + Wifi + BT + T616
RE: Wow. This puts a bump in the OS6 roadmap
sremick @ 1/26/2004 1:32:49 PM #
5.4? I still can't even get 5.3 for my T3. I still have the 5.2.1 it came with.

Hmmm...

RE: Wow. This puts a bump in the OS6 roadmap
feranick @ 1/26/2004 2:32:36 PM #
As far as I can see it, now that PalmOne is in charge of the upgrades, I don't think it will deliver any upgrade for the current Palm users. Statistically the last upgrade was available long time ago. Today only the T|C and the T|T series could be upgraded. PalmOne seems more interested to get you to buy a new PDA instead of upgrading it. This is my feeling.

As far as PalmSource is going, I can see OS 5 being implemented for low end-smartphones, while the more advanced OS6 to higher ends PDAs and smartphones. It will be at discretion of the licensees to chose which one to use.

Nick

RE: Wow. This puts a bump in the OS6 roadmap
Strider_mt2k @ 1/26/2004 4:03:48 PM #
Look at all the issues that arise from botched update attempts!

I'm sure they don't want to have alot of folks bothering customer support, running up the bills more.

RE: Wow. This puts a bump in the OS6 roadmap
rsc1000 @ 1/26/2004 6:32:07 PM #
>>Look at all the issues that arise from botched update attempts!

I think you've hit the point exactly. the solution would be to charge for it - say $50 or so - to pay for those support costs.

RE: Wow. This puts a bump in the OS6 roadmap
I.M Anonymous @ 1/27/2004 2:45:16 AM #
"5.4? I still can't even get 5.3 for my T3. I still have the 5.2.1 it came with."

Well, considering that 5.3 was a Chinese Localization only, I wouldn't expect PalmOne to release an upgrade.

RE: Wow. This puts a bump in the OS6 roadmap
Texonite @ 1/27/2004 10:11:31 AM #
Damn T3 users...
We ALREADY HAVE OS 5.4 on ours T3s and it's THE SAME system as OS 5.3 (shure, without chinese). That release make differens ONLY for devices such as Lenovo (without physical graffiti and 320x320 screen) or for such devices in development.
Important! That's a great step forward in direction to replace the WindowsMobile in iPAQs _by_user_self

Future Online!

Sorry for my ENG :(

Hope PalmOne releases a ROM upgrade...wishful thinking?

skennedy1217 @ 1/26/2004 5:18:46 PM #
I just bought a T2 ($227 at Beach Camera) and hope that a ROM upgrade is available. I've been looking at Beyond Contacts and KeySuite...MUST have better Outlook syncronization...bad part is that I'm still using Outlook '97 at work and both of these require Outlook '98 or higher (damn the IT folks for dragging their feet on the XP upgrade). I want the upgraded PIMs! The status bar would be cool, too.

Unrelated but equally worrying news

hkklife @ 1/26/2004 7:37:38 PM #
http://www.brighthand.com/article/SanDisk_Wi-Fi_SD_Card_for_Palm_Delayed_to_Q2

Looks like the Wi-Fi card's officilly dead (IMHO0). Let's stick a fork in this one, folks, and start saving our pennies for a Tungsten with dual wireless built in.

I personally feel that we've seen the last Palm OS update, free or otherwise. Looks like PalmOne is going to follow the Sony method of released new half-baked handhelds willy-nilly every few months. While I do agree that their old release schedule was _too_ predictable and slow, following Sony's pattern is just stretching the company's resources and the consumer market too thin. Palm should release "new" handhelds in the usual April/Oct timeframe and then release one or two "updated" (think m515, Vx, IIIxe) models in January & July. That would please both the early adopters and the ones who like to make a cautious upgrade every few years. Envision a T|T4 coming out in April at $400...the refreshed model would come out a few months later (more battery life, OS & bundled ROM app upgrades etc) priced at $350 or $400 and the older model would drop down to $300 or $350 accordingly while supplies last. Of course, the above scenario will prove very ensouring to me if Palm doesn't release at least one "service pack" of ROM updates to users of existing or first-gen models. PalmOne should offer intangible benefits of the higher-margin & make higher priced Tungstens--perhaps better support options and/or guaranteed OS/app updates? Otherwise you'll just have people buying whatever Zire $100 gets them every other year.

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