The folks over at Mozilla Labs recently posted a new concept smartphone – the Seabird – and we can’t help but be impressed by their thinking. While we’re sure they’d be the first to admit the device is years from possible hardware fruition (or it would have a battery life of two minutes), we can’t help but be impressed. We also couldn’t help but notice what was on the screen: Android. Yes, Mozilla, purveyors of all things open source used an open source operating system on their conceptual super phone. We’re disappointed that this dual-project infrared-sensing headset/remote-packing conceptual super device doesn’t pack an equally innovative conceptual open-source operating system with fantastical user interface options.

Our man Rene Ritchie over at TiPb holds a similar opinion. Now you might be thinking that as the editor of an iOS-focused website he’d be cheerleading against Android devices (partly his job), but he’s a pretty level-headed guy. And his editorial on the Seabird is a work of prophetical literature. It’s good stuff, and an alternative take on the huge marketshare gains makde by Android, so we’re going to point you over to TiPb right now to make the read. Oh, and we’ve got a video of the snazzy Seabird concept in action after the break. 

Source: Mozilla Labs; Via: Android Central

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The PS3 modding community is taking advantage of the Pre’s open source Linux framework and its native ability to act as a USB drive. Specifically, a user called "blake_zero" on the psx-scene forums has ported KaKaRoTo’s PSFreedom source code, originally created for the N900, to the Pre.

By way of background, in order to run homebrew (non-commercial) software and save games on the PS3’s hard drive, gamers must run some code to open the PS3’s OS in a way that Sony does not permit or support. After one group of Chinese hackers announced a USB dongle that enabled this in August, KaKaRoTo created a way last week to use his Nokia N900, and then released the source code of his effort. Within a day or two, the source code had been ported over to the Pre (reportedly using webOS Internals’ instructions for kernel compilation). After following the instructions for compiling PSFreedom on the Pre and connecting it to a PS3, the exploit is apparently able to run and modify the PS3’s code.

While we at PreCentral do not advocate breaking either laws or user agreements, we are always impressed with those who push the limits of technology, and are proud that our own Palm Pre’s features make it such a valuable tool for doing so even on other platforms.

Check out a video of the jailbreak in action after the break!

Source: psx-scene; Additional Coverage: Engadget; Thanks to Jose Acosta for the tip!

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Oldtimers from the days when there was just TreoCentral may remember the Access Linux Platform (ALP) developed by Access. We care about Access because they purchased PalmSource and subsequently the Palm OS and all work on the then next-generation Palm OS 6 platform. ALP eventually came from Access’ purchase and they’ve been struggling for years to get the OS onto devices. The latest version, 3.0, was unveiled way back in February. Of 2009.

It wasn’t until that November that the first and to our knowledge only licensee stepped up and revealed a handset running ALP: Emblaze and the First Else. Now, seven months later, the First Else has been unceremoniously killed by Emblaze, leaving ALP again as a promising OS that cannot be easily found on any branded, consumer-facing hardware products. In a world where even once-mighty Palm is struggling to gain traction, it’s even more difficult for a new player to enter the smartphone space with even a refined-and-refined-again version 3.0.

Does this spell the end for ALP? We’re not going to put an entry in the obituaries just yet, but we’d be mighty surprised if ALP doesn’t die a quiet, lonely death over the next few months.

Source: Engadget

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So HP seems to be on a bit of a buying spree as of late. Having just grabbed up the instant-on Hyperspace Linux OS from Phoenix Technologies, HP has turned around and partnered up with upstart video conferencing firm Vidyo. Vidyo’s current technology is very much desktop focused, with a strong focus on providing high-quality low-latency video streams for corporate customers.

Obviously, HP has a very strong corporate presence, as does Video (something the official press release talks up quite a bit). But their intentions with Vidyo’s software are unclear, as HP has confirmed that the first deployment of Vidyo conferencing software will be on the consumer-friendly TouchSmart line of touchscreen all-in-one desktops. That’s cool and all, but things get interesting once HP’s Halo (HP video conferencing) marketing manager Darren Podrabsky speaks up:

"No official statements from me, but this is a software-based technology. We’ve talked about the desktop. Think mobile. Think about your phone. HP just acquired Palm. Think about how many legs something like this has. Feel free to speculate."

And speculate we shall. Mobile video chat has always been some sort of holy grail, and at least from the appearance of things at last week’s WWDC conference, one Apple has jumped into wholeheartedly with FaceTime on the iPhone 4. Could HP be interested in baking video chat/conferencing into future Palm products? No doubt they are, but even adapting the software-based Vidyo technology to work well on a mobile device is no small feat, so don’t expect to see something from this right off the bat.

Via: WebOSroundup
Source: ChannelWeb

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HP has reached an agreement with Phoenix Technologies (BIOS-programmers) to buy their instant-on Linux-based Hyperspace platform for a cool $12 million. Hyperspace is not a full-on OS and is meant to be used in conjunction with another operating system, i.e. slow-booting Windows. The instant-on capability of Hyperspace is its most-intriguing feature; with just the touch of a button the OS boots in a few seconds, giving the computer user near instant access to the internet, their music, and a few other basic tasks.

While it’s more than likely that HP will use the purchase of Hyperspace to further differentiate their laptop products, we can’t help but wonder what this might mean for soon-to-be-purchased webOS. HP was mum on what exactly they intend to do with Hyperspace, but we’re cheering from the sidelines for at least some of the technology from the instant-on OS to find its way into painfully-slow-to-boot webOS, which is also based on Linux. Additionally, since the two operating systems are Linux-based, there’s the intriguing possibility of Hyperspace being leveraged to quickly and easily add webOS to HP’s other portable products. Imagine a dual-booting HP tablet running webOS and Windows 7…

Via: Ars Technica
Source: Linux for Devices

Thanks to everybody that sent this in!

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Yup, that’s Firefox of the Linux variety, running on a Palm Pre. It’s the work of Dave Townsend, a developer for Mozilla that works on Firefox (among other open source projects). We don’t have much other info on it, but given the interface, we and Palm Developer Relations Team chief Dion Almaer came to a pretty easy conclusion about it: this is the kind of stuff you can do with the PDK. To quote Kool-Aid Man, OH YEAH!

UPDATE: Dave has posted a "how I did it" article on his blog. Instructions are absent, which is understandable given the hobby project not-even-in-alpha status of this project. All-in-all, it was about two days of work porting the Android project version of Firefox onto webOS, and it’s still buggy and the cramming of the Firefox UI onto the Pre’s screen isn’t exactly a great system. But it’s potential, and potential is something we’re rather fond of here.

Thanks to Bo for the tip!

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The folks have WebOS-Internals have done it again. Today, dtzWill announced in the our forums that they’ve managed to get an X.Org Server working on the Palm Pre. Basically, this means native Linux X11 applications will be able to run on webOS!

One such example of an X11 application is shown in the above video. OpenOffice could prove a perfect alternative to the seemingly-mythical DocumentsToGo by DataViz. Of course some optimization for usability may be needed, but this is more than we’ve seen from anyone else in terms of strong productivity and office tools.

Keep in mind, however, that the X-Server is not yet ready for the average user, and thus is still in the WebOS-Internals testings feed.  Rod Whitby has stated:

Just a note to say that we do have a roadmap of being able to install native Debian X11 GUI applications (like OpenOffice) via Preware. But don’t hold your breath, cause it looks like we need to write a whole new FUSE filesystem driver to be able to do it. Think weeks to months, rather than days.

So if you’re a user with knowledge on the workings of Linux and aren’t afraid of getting your hands dirty, it might be worth looking into the vast potentials X11 applications can offer.

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In some ways, Palm and Nokia might be polar opposite companies: one is a perennial underdog who has mainly seen modest success in the US market, the other is a global giant who sells more phones than most anybody yet can’t see to gain any traction in the US. Then again, I also see the companies as very similar: both were pioneers in the smartphone space and are facing difficult times ahead, both appear to be betting the farm on new and untested Linux-based operating systems, both have straight-up loyal (if not fanatical) groups of users pulling for them. Heck, I even picked Nokia as the company I’d like to see buy Palm if Palm were for sale (they’re not).

All this has been in the back of my mind this week as I mulled over my time with the Nokia N97 Mini and the Nokia N900. I also need to thank the generous and kind Nokia Experts commenters, who have been super-helpful in getting me to look at Nokia phones in a different light.

So let’s do this: Round Robin Round Two!

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I’ve been a loyal Palm user for many years. Going back to the old Palm M105 I’ve been a Palm diehard, up through the Tungsten T, Tungsten T3 (best PDA ever), a Treo 650, Treo 755p, and now the Palm Pre. Don’t get me wrong, I really do like the Palm Pre and believe that it is the best smartphone on the market and webOS certainly has more potential than any other platform, but years of observation have left me somewhat jaded on the future of Palm.

This time one year ago I was lost as to what my next phone was going to be. My Sprint contract was close to being up for renewal and while I was still a fan of the old Palm OS, it simply couldn’t compare to the offerings from Apple and Google. Problem is, Android a year ago was still pretty darned rough around the edges and even then I didn’t like the idea of being locked in the Apple iPhone ecosystem. And Sprint, oh poor lowly Sprint, they didn’t have a single new phone that I found really appealing. My Treo was by no means in bad shape – the 755p was a tank, after all – but I’m a self-professed technology whore and I had a bad hankering for the latest.

Thankfully, it wasn’t much longer before Palm revealed webOS and the Pre. I though I was saved, and through the next six months that it took for Palm and Sprint to finally ship the phone I read everything I could about it, jumped back into discussion of the phone and Palm, and eventually came to be a writer and editor for PreCentral. The Pre finally landed in my hands on launch day and I couldn’t have been happier.

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Palm has picked up another outside hire, this time poaching AMD’s engineering manager for Linux Core Engineering, Matthew Tippett. Matthew joined graphics chip-maker ATI in 2003 (ATI was purchased by processor-builder AMD in 2006) to build graphics drivers for Linux systems. But now he’s moving from Toronto, Canada to Sunnyvale, California to join Palm, heading up one of Palm’s Linux Kernel teams.

What could Palm want with a Linux engineer specializing in graphics chips? Well, there is that PowerVR SGX graphics chip sitting inside the Pre doing absolutely nothing, and webOS is at its core a Linux OS. We imagine that Matthew’s going to be kicking Palm’s webOS development on the graphics front into high gear – something that sorely needs to happen so that the processor can stop having to deal with the rendering and just deal with the thinking part of being a fancy smartphone.

Read: Phoronix, thanks to everybody who sent this in!

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