ACCESS has posted new official screenshots of ACCESS Linux Platform v1.0 and new details on ALP. The OS is optimized for a 240x320 display but will also be able to support HVGA 320x480 and WVGA 800x480 sizes. There is also a list of native apps that will ship with ALP and a Windows based desktop syncing program. In addition, a 200 MHz ARM 9 chip is the minimum requirement but ACCESS recommends using a 400 MHz ARM 9 or greater applications processor. The company has yet to announce a licensee for the platform.

Pieter Knook, Microsoft's Senior Vice President, Mobile and Embedded Devices division, unofficially announced today that a Windows Mobile 6 upgrade was forthcoming for Palm's Treo 750. The comment was made during a webcast of the Microsoft 3GSM press conference in Barcelona, Spain.

The actual comment regarding the Treo 750 occured between 28:13 and 28:26 of Mr. Knook's talk. The Palm/Treo reference was quite brief and occurred during a rundown of Microsoft's handset partners. Being a very unofficial announcement, no details of the upgrade, such as pricing or availability, was announced. Palm's logo and branding, as well as the actual Treo 750 itself, was prominently displayed throughout the course of the Microsoft presentation.

ACCESS is featuring a number of ACCESS Linux Platform demonstrations in its booth at the 3GSM World Congress going on this week in Barcelona. ACCESS is showing ALP v1.0 running on Marvell PX3xx applications processor and the OMAP platform from Texas Instruments. They are also showing telephony, messaging and multimedia entertainment demos.

The company also announced that ACCESS Linux Platform is now the official name of its next-generation Linux-based software platform optimized for mobile phones and other converged mobile devices. In addition, ACCESS Garnet OS (also known as Palm OS Garnet) compatibility layer included with ACCESS Linux Platform, has been named ACCESS Garnet VM.

A MobilitySite.com user has posted two photos of what looks to be a Treo 750 running a beta build of Windows Mobile 6. The shots are of quite decent quality and clearly show the About screen indicating revision 5.2.1208 of the OS, beta build 17708.0.2.0 The About screen shows the standard 300mhz CPU and 48.93mb of memory so it appears the OS is running on a standard spec 750.

If this is not a hoax, Palm could have an OS update waiting in the wings for their flagship Treo device. Or else, Palm could be readying a mildly refreshed Treo 750 to be brought quickly to market as its first WinMob 6 device.

As reported last week, Microsoft today officially announced Windows Mobile 6 at Barcelona's 3GSM trade show. New features have all been confirmed, including HTML email, Windows Live integration and Direct Push technology. For Palm fans, the most interesting tidbit from the press announcement comes halfway through, where Microsoft state:

"Scores of additional mobile operators and device makers from around the globe, including Cingular Wireless, now the new AT&T, Chunghwa Telecom, Dopod International Corp., HP, LG Electronics, Motorola Inc., Palm Inc., Samsung, Sprint, Telefónica, Toshiba, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone, plan to ship Windows Mobile 6-based devices this year."

Palm has posted an update to their support site (curiously dated January 31st but only available as of February 9th) for owners of the latest Treo 680 and 750 smartphones. Essentially an official version of a hack reported over a month ago discovered by some TreoCentral members.

This update enables purchasers of the Palm GPS Navigator 2 kit to use it on the Treo 680 and 750. Treo 750 owners will have to provide their own miniSD card for external map storage due to the fact that this kit comes bundled pre-loaded fullsize MultiMedia card that will not fit in the 750's slot. An SD/MMC card reader is required to install the updated files.

Palm has updated their online store listings with the newest addition to their line of superb GPS Navigator kits. Supporting the full line of both Palm OS and Windows Mobile Treos--650, 680, 700p, 700w, 700wx and 750, the new GPS Navigator SmartPhone Edition 3 package ships with an updated version of the TomTom Navigator 6 software, as the earlier 6.01 version reviewed here only supports the Treo 650, 700p, 700w and 700wx. This new bundle will presumably also ship with the latest 2006 TomTom maps reviewed here.

Palm provides few details of the new bundle other than the fact that it still ships with a pre-loaded 1gb miniSD card with a supplied adapter. Seeing as how the only Treo curernly supporting miniSD is the 750, this move might be a harbinger of allfuture Palm devices moving to the miniSD standard. Fortunately Palm is still providing a USB SD reader in the box along with the same accessory bundle as before. The Bluetooth GPS receiver appears unchanged as well.

In light of the recent release of its new GPS Navigator 3 Smartphone kit, Palm has made two moves to clear out the stock of the older but still excellent GPS Navigator Smartphone Edition 2. Palm has quietly cut the price of their current GPS Navigator 2 kit on its store by $22 down to $278. Palm is also offering a $50 mail-in rebate to customers who purchase the kit from the Palm.com online store, giving it an effective final price of $228 + shipping. The price drop + rebate offer is being flaunted on the front page of palm.com, so this is an encouraging sign that Palm is trying to clear out inventory of the older bundle to make way for its successor. The same unit is also currently available from the PIC store for $249.

Palm has also released an update that allows the Navigator 2 kit to work with the Treo 680 and 750.

A review of the Palm GPS Navigator 2 kit can be found here.

IDC's latest Worldwide Handheld QView report is in and the numbers aren't good for PDAs. Despite some seasonal growth in Q4 '06, overall sales year-on-year still declined. In total, 5.5 million handhelds were sold in 2006, down 28.5% from 7.6 million sold in '05. Palm is still the market leader with a clear majority of sales, but year-on-year dropped almost 43% - most likely due to the fact the company didn't release any new handhelds in '06.

DialByPhoto version 1.0 has just been released from Gx5. DialByPhoto for your Treo lets you speed dial your favorite acquaintances that you call regularly with photo icons.

The app replaces the usual Treo phone application, while still leaving it available. It allows you to customize the layout and behavior of your dialing screen in a number of new ways. It also includes some nice call management features including Ignore by SMS and a built in list of predefined SMS responses. v1.0 also adds the ability to search the web and other online services from the phone screen.

DialByPhoto is available now for $14.95 (it is currently on sale for a few days for $11.95). It includes a free trial and is compatible with the Treo 650, 680 and 700p.

While beaches and volleyball matches in the sun aren't on most people's mind in February, that hasn't stopped RESETgame from releasing their new game Beach Volleyball. Beach Volleyball is a barefoot romp in the sand set on a beach set against crashing waves and palm trees. It is all very relaxing until your opponent starts lobbing balls at you like a crazed robot. The game features three levels of difficulty and a two player mode.

Beach Volleyball for Palm OS is available for most Palm OS 5 and higher devices. It comes with a free trial and is currently on sale for $10.95 (regularly $14.95).