PalmInfocenter will be undergoing server maintenance today, as we move the site to a new hosting environment. The site will see its first major hardware upgrade in a number of years.

If all goes well, readers should see little interruption. There may be some intermittent downtime this afternoon as we begin the process. In the meantime, we will be closing down the old machine and will temporarily suspend new comments, registrations and forum posts while we bring the new server online.

UPDATE: Welcome to the new server! All comments and forum posts have been reactivated.

Astraware and PopCap Games have announced the release of one of PopCap's flagship titles for Palm OS and Windows Mobile smartphones. Insaniquarium Deluxe offers hours of frantic aquarium fun as you feed your fish, watch them grow and protect them from alien invaders.

Insaniquarium Deluxe is billed as the craziest aquarium game ever - tend to your fish and keep them happy and they'll reward you with precious coins and jewels. Use the money you earn to buy upgrades for your tank or egg parts which hatch lots of different in-tank pets with special powers. These pets can help you feed your fish, collect coins, or even protect against the aliens that will invade your tank and wreak havoc. You can also use the money you earn to buy better weapons to see the aliens off quicker!

Palm's surprisingly successful Centro smartphone has received its fair share of accolades and satisfied customers but has not earned the ultimate sign of industry respect by being deemed worthy of copying by Chinese handset manufacturers…until now. Engadget's semi-regular "Keepin' it Real Fake" series showcases clone, knockoff, and copycat electronics from the Far East. Their latest report spotlights a Chinese-manufactured and designed Windows Mobile Centro clone oddly wearing US-based OQO branding.

Almost more surprising than its actual existence is the solid feature set attached to this new Palm Centro-inspired device. If the listed specifications are correct, this smartphone sports a PXA310 CPU precisely twice as fast as Palm's Centro (634mhz vs. 312mhz), a higher-resolution 2 megapixel camera (vs. the Centro's 1.3mp), GPS, Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional powering a 320x240 touchscreen, and both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities. In fact, one of the few areas where the Centro manages to eke out a win in the spec category is battery capacity, with 1150mAh li-ion battery to the G900's 1080mAh battery pack.

June Fabrics Technology Group has updated its PdaNet software for the Palm Treo 700p/755p and Palm Centro. PDANet allows your Windows computer to go online by connecting to your smartphone via a USB cable or Bluetooth. The app works nearly instantly with no setup necessary. PdaNet goes through the unlimited data plan on your phone and does not require any extra service.

PdaNet for Treo 700p/ 755p v4.12 is available with a free trial and costs $34.00 to register.

It is also available for the Treo 650 & 680 and Windows Mobile devices.

The Tucson Palm and iPhone Users Group will hold its next meeting on Tuesday, August 5, at 7 pm, at Something Sweet Cafe.

The Tucson iPUG holds meetings the first Tuesday of every month. The meetings are free and open to everyone. For more information, visit the iPUG website.

treoware has just put out a new version of its WineManager 2008 software for Palm OS devices. WineManager is a comprehensive wine collection manager and inventory assistant. It combines a number of tasks including the ability to assist with buying wines, tracking your current cellar content, and will even help you select the proper wine from your cellar for your meal. With more than 1800 classified appellations and 200 vintage charts, WineManager is able to provide information in virtually any situation. The program can even be setup scan and recognize your bottle's barcodes for easier management via the digital camera.

WineManager 2008 v1.1.7 is available now for Palm OS from treoware. It comes with a free demo period and costs $19.95 to register. It is currently on sale for $18.45 for a limited time.

Slow-Cooked Software has released a new version of its ScrapBook application for Palm OS devices. ScrapBook is an enhanced note-taking application for Palm OS, supporting nested folders, versatile search capabilities, and encryption. It basically provides a number of useful extensions to the feature set provided by the built-in "Memos" note-taking program and notes can also be exchanged with the built in memo pad.

ScrapBook v1.15b is available now for Palm OS 3.5 and higher. It comes with a free trial period and costs $15.00 to register.

NinerPad is a new note taking, task, project tracking and sketch pad application for Palm OS devices. It allows you to create notes on your device in your own handwriting. You can create folders and groups, apply tags, search and set reminder actions for each note. The app gives you a nearly unlimited size canvas. You can also export your notes for sharing or integration with other applications.

NinerPad v1.0R1 for Palm OS is available now from Niner Productions. The trial version is essentially a free lite version of the app without nags or an expiration. Registering the full version for $11.00 unlocks additional features such as the .gif export and mulitple workspaces.

The Motley Fool web site has posted a new article by Tim Beyers to its Investing section entitled "Palm Will Burn Your Portfolio". In short, the article pulls no punches when discussing Palm's stumbles over the past several years and simply calls Palm "The worst stock in the world". After delving further into the article to reach beyond the topic of stock performance, Beyers' piece goes onto paint a dismal picture for the handheld pioneer that essentially jump-started the entire modern PDA/smartphone sector in 1996. Also found within the article is a smattering of undated Gartner marketshare numbers to back up the article's tone.

This piece really hits hard at Palm's dismay performance during four consecutive quarterly losses by virtue of being focused on outright financial (non-)performance in contrast to more forgiving, tech-related pieces bolstering Palm's future outlook based on their past successes. None of the Palm OS core strengths such as compelling ease-of-use, 3rd party app flexibility, and the Centro's value relative to competing smartphones from RIM, Apple and Microsoft licensees are touted within the article.

A new entry entitled "Now You Know Palm Centro" in the previously-presumed dormant "Now You Know" series of Palm instructional books has quietly just hit the market. Amazon is already selling this book for $13.59, well below its SRP of $19.99 and ahead of the official release date of August 2nd.

The book is authored by Patrick Ames and published by technology and lifestyle publisher Peachpit Press. For a printed volume, the book appears to contain quite up-to-date information given the appearance of what is an unbranded Verizon Cobalt Blue Centro on the cover. This is the first volume focusing on the new entry-level Palm Centro. Ames is the author or co-author of all previous books in the Palm Press series.

Astraware has just released its first update for the original Bejeweled title nearly two years. The new version updates the classic gem swapping game with new graphics that add "even more sparkle and shine", to use the company's own words. The update also includes improved support for newer devices, added multilingual support (English, French, Italian, German, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese), various minor improvements and a behind the scenes code overhaul.

Bejeweled v2.61 is available now for Palm OS devices and Windows Mobile. It comes with a free trial period and sells for $19.95.