Astraware and PopCap Games are excited to announce that it's open-season on gnomes with the release of Hammer Heads for Palm OS and Windows Mobile Smartphones and PDAs. Hammer Heads is billed as a frantic fun-fest for anyone with an aversion to those pesky creatures that live at the bottom of your garden. As the gnomes rise from their holes, just tap the screen to bash them with your hammer! Meet several types of gnome, each with their own unique quirks, collect power-ups to aid you in your quest, and earn special speed bonuses if you're handy with your hammer!

Shaun McGill, of the PDA24/7 web site, is running a series of daily feature editorials entitled "Does Anyone Care About Palm Anymore?" The first installment of this ongoing series deals with the Palm OS's failed efforts to capitalize on portable gaming. This nicely summarized article states what many Palm OS gaming afficionados such as myself are wondering are afraid to ask: "If Astraware and co. can make such high-quality puzzle and novelty games, then why don't they focus more on action and arcade titles?"

One particularly notable excerpt from the piece that is certain to stir up some heated debate:

Developers can blame the market all they like but if they show little originality the market will continue to drop and neither Palm or the consumer are responsible for that.

Roughly Drafted Magazine has written a fascinating piece sure to fan the flames of the Palm vs. Windows Mobile vs. Symbian vs. Linux vs. et al smartphone OS debate. For those not in an argumentative or finger-pointing mood, the article makes for a great quick and dirty summation of events through the platform's past decade.

Beginning with the formative years of Jeff Hawkins and Palm Computing, the piece acknowledges the early maneuverings of Hawkins such as his work at GRiD and the spectacular flameout of the Casio/Tandy Zoomer. The article then goes on to give a fairly accurate view of the rise of Palm during its early years with USR, the 3Com acquisition and spin-off, and the increasingly dire situation from 2000 onwards. The article also serves up a collection of photos of various Palm OS devices, acting as a helpful guide for readers unfamiliar with the variety of Palm OS devices released in the past decade.

Motion Apps' has already released another update for mVoice. Hot on the heels of last week's substantial 5.5 update comes 5.5.2. The most significant changes present in this new version are faster launching of the app and phone call recording. I can definitely vouch for the faster loading but I haven't noticed any improvements in recored sound quality in very brief, informal testing. I was able to successfully find, download and install the update using mVoice's integrated update checker from within the app. In the past (version 5.0.x) I had not been able to download minor version updates from within the app so it's good to see this bug addressed.

mVoice is available for $24.95. Owners of the previous version 4.x of mVoice can upgrade to the latest version for $9.99. Owners of the previous versions 5.00 and 5.01 can download the 5.5.2 update for free from Motion Apps. PIC reviewed mVoice 5.0 head to head with CallRec 3.1 last year here.

In what might be a disturbingly popular trend, several companies are offering Palm-related Valentine's Day promotions to appeal to the small handful of us brazen enough to mix romance and mobile technology. Palm Inc., in conjunction with their online and retail stores, is offering a special promotion for Valentine's Day. Anyone purchasing a new Treo through Palm's e-tail or retail outlets receives a one-year subscription to Zagat To Go. Zagat To Go is a product of the Zagat Survey, a listing of popular destinations, dining establishments and entertainment around the globe. This Zagat subscription is a $29.95 value. Applicable Treo models are the 680, 700w, 700wx, and 700p. The offer expires February 14, 2007.

Palm is also selling a Vaja i-Volution Treo 680/750 Valentine's Day Edition Case.

In what is quickly becoming an annual tradition, Astrware has brought back their popular Valentine's Day edition of Bejeweled. This cutesy, limited time promotion is basically a slightly modified version of the original. Heart-shaped jems replace the original version's gems and the user has the ability to give their sweetheart a speical customized message revealed within the game.

Rick Whitt's Directory Assistant for Palm OS has just been updated. This free and popular app made our must have freeware list awhile back and is a essential for any smartphone user.

Directory Assistant automates queries to the Residential and Business phone directories in the US. It will even preform reverse queries and look up names from phone numbers. You can easily dial from the results and even get maps and directions to results with a single click. Updates include support for Google maps and the Treo 680.

MobileLinuxInfo.com is the newest member of the MobileInfocenter network of websites.

MobileLinuxInfo covers all things mobile linux - mobie distributions of linux, portables, handhelds, phones, embedded devices and umpc's. It will provide up to date coverage of mobile linux news via feeds and original content, host a robust community forum and a wiki dedicated to mobile linux topics.

The Copper (orange) Treo 680 is now back in stock at the Palm online store. The previous messages about it being no longer available seem to have been removed from the site. The unlocked version is available for the standard $399 and is listed as shipping within 1-2 business days.

Colored versions of the Treo 680 are only available from Palm.com and Palm retail stores. All other carriers selling the 680 only offer the Graphite version.

FunkeeStory is a new application that enables Mac OS X users to sync their Palm OS Treo SMS messages with a Mac. The program allows for a one-touch backup - using a conduit that works with both the Palm Desktop and Missing Sync software. It allows your SMS messages to be saved, sorted and searched on your desktop. It supports international text as well as MMS messages that contain photos and audio clips.

FunkeeStory v1.0.5 is a Universal Binary for Mac OS X. It comes with a free trial and costs $19.95 to register.

Palm today announced the Palm Treo 750 smartphone, previously available on Vodafone's 3G/UMTS network since September 2006 in the UK and across much of Western Europe, will be made generally available across Europe via Palm's online store and from retail outlets in the coming month, beginning Feb. 6. This move broadens the customer base that will be able to benefit from the Palm experience on Microsoft's Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system and adds HSDPA capability, underlining Palm's commitment to its European customers.

New Software Treo Wallpaper Pack Kinoma Player 4 EX Business Anywhere - Billing, Invoices & Call Diary Holidays at Hand CityTime Ball Rush Aqua Beer Collector WiFiTalkie

Updated Software Destaller Pro Pocket DVD Wizard Resco Photo Viewer BuzzOff CalendarMirror for Outlook GoogHelper for Palm OS Music Bundle Pro JSJ Antivirus

On Sale DialByPhoto SilkScreen TreoMemo Vavilon Expansion Palm Finance Genius Yinghan Talking English-Chinese Dictionary Pennovate Notes Mobile High Speed