Access has released an update to its Palm OS Garnet VM for Nokia Internet Tablets. New features in the Garnet VM Beta 2 (v1.01b) include full screen support, three hot-swappable display modes (portrait full screen, portrait windowed and portrait landscape), improved performance and various compatibility and app specific updates. Notable new apps that are now listed as compatible include: Google Maps, Snappermail, Pocket Tunes, Kinoma Player 4 EX and CorePlayer.

The Garnet VM is a “virtual machine” essentially acts as an emulator allowing you to run Palm OS applications on a Nokia N770, N800 and N810 Internet Tablet. it supports over 30,000 native software applications written for the Palm OS, including some of the most popular mobile applications on the market, such as Google Maps, Snappermail, DateBk5 and perennially favorite games like Bejeweled, PacMan and Sudoku.

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NTT DoCoMo, Inc. today announced that it will develop an operator pack for FOMA 3G handsets compatible with specifications established by the LiMo Foundation. DoCoMo expects to begin introducing handsets equipped with the operator pack in the second half of 2009.

The pack will contain a suite of Linux operating system-based software applications that implement i-mode, i-appli and other unique DoCoMo services. It will make use of existing assets developed by DoCoMo, including application software and MOAP (Mobile Oriented Application Platform) middleware now used in selected DoCoMo handsets. The new operator pack will incorporate elements of a Linux-version MOAP that DoCoMo has developed with NEC Corporation and Panasonic Mobile Communications Co., Ltd.

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ZDNet.co.uk has posted the first of a two part video series looking at the current state of mobile Linux at last week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

In the first video they look at how Trolltech is putting Linux apps on a Windows Mobile phone, how Access plans to port thousands of Palm OS apps over to the LiMo Foundation’s Linux platform, and how Azingo is running Series 60 apps on Linux. Scan to 3 minutes in for a good look at ALP in action.

Orange and Access have released a press release that finally drops the word that there will actually be a device shipping with the Access Linux Platform. While it’s not an outright admission, both companies have made statements that an upcoming Samsung i800 smartphone will be the “first fully open Linux-powered device from Orange.”

The press release itself is actually about the two companies joining the LiMo foundation, which we posted about yesterday. Read on to view the full release.

Update: In an interview Yve Maitre of Orange says the Samsung i800 will ship by June. The phone will also run the “Orange Application Platform” (OAP), a “unified interface” which will run across multiple Orange signature phones.

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ACCESS today announced the immediate availability of the ACCESS Linux Platform Development Suite (SDK and Tools) via a newly-created developer portal designed to provide support and services for third party Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). The ACCESS Linux Platform Development Suite is now immediately available to all registered members of the ACCESS Developer Network (ADN).

The Development Suite is a complete, integrated development environment (IDE) that leverages open source tools such as Eclipse and Glade, integrated and extended for the needs of mobile applications. The ALP Development Suite includes all the necessary components, tools, samples and documentation to develop, run, test and debug native applications for mobile devices based on the ACCESS Linux Platform.

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Several more members of the mobile Linux LiPS Forum are switching allegiance to the LiMo Foundation, this time including board and executive committee members, indicating that LiPS is losing steam. Orange and its parent France Telecom, Access and Open-Plug all plan to announce at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Monday that they are joining LiMo. More vendors uniting behind LiMo could help to speed up the rate at which the companies can bring Linux-based devices to market.

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Access and MontaVista Software today reinforced their shared commitment to accelerate the development of linux powered mobile devices by releasing a pre-integrated software stack combining the ACCESS Linux Platform with the MontaVista Mobilinux operating system. Because the new software stack pre-integrates the ACCESS Linux Platform framework and applications with MontaVista’s commercialized Linux operating system, it significantly decreases the weeks or months of engineering time required for do-it-yourself integration, and it also reduces associated costs and risks.

“The integration of the ACCESS Linux Platform with MontaVista Mobilinux provides mobile developers with more choices, faster time to market, less risk, and easier deployment in carrier networks,” said Toru Arakawa, CEO, president and co-founder of ACCESS. “While the ACCESS Linux Platform supports multiple Linux operating system kernels, this implementation with the field-proven Mobilinux software will further help device manufacturers and application developers bring innovative mobile products to consumers even more quickly in the fast-paced mobile industry. In addition, it will make it easier to port ACCESS Linux Platform on top of the many silicon platforms supported by MontaVista Mobilinux.”

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ACCESS, the Japanese company that has developed the ACCESS Linux Platform and owner of the former PalmSource, has signed a “memorandum of understanding” with NTT DoCoMo, Inc., NEC Corp., Panasonic Mobile Communications Co., Ltd., and ESTEEMO Co., Ltd. under which the companies will study the use of ACCESS Linux Platform as the basis for developing a shared Linux platform for mobile phones and an operator pack for NTT DoCoMo.

While it doesn’t sound like an outright deal to deploy ALP based devices, at least its a step towards getting the Linux based OS closer to some actual shipping hardware.

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Access announced today that it is releasing Palm OS Garnet VM software for the Nokia series of Internet Tablet devices. The Garnet VM essentially acts as an emulator allowing you to run Palm OS applications on a Nokia Nokia 770, N800 and N810 Internet Tablet.

Read on for our video demo of the Garnet VM in action on a Nokia N800.

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Emblaze Mobile a subsidiary of Emblaze a Israeli Technology Investment company, has announced a deal with Sharp and ACCESS to develop a new generation of mobile devices that aims to revolutionize mobile communication.

The company claims they have been working on a new mobile device design for the past five years in conjunction with several Israeli high-tech companies. Sharp will apparently be providing the hardware, while ACCESS will be supplying the operating system. While it doesn’t get into specifics, this could be the first possible public confirmation of a handset in the works utilizing the ACCESS Linux Platform. Emblaze says the device will be unveiled in 2008.

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