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Feb. 12, 2007

Access is finally shipping its next-generation Linux-based operating system and development kit for mobile devices. The company is showing off version 1.0 of Access Linux Platform (ALP), and various tools and high-end mobile applications processor support packages, at the 3GSM World Congress this week in Barcelona.

Access first announced ALP exactly one year ago, at the 2006 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona. At the time, it said the "ALP" name was temporary. However, the name stuck, perhaps because it subtly evokes the "Palm" trademark that Access sold to devicemaker Palm about a year ago.

ALP 1.0 screenshots
(Click to enlarge)
Access says ALP 1.0's task-oriented user interface builds on the "legendary" usability of the original Palm OS user interface. The OS also features an interesting and completely open source-licensed Hiker Application Framework (HAF) that aims to help third-party developers target the platform, by providing standardized mechanisms for application installation and management.

ALP 1.0 function block diagram
(Click to enlarge)
Also shipping today is a Product Development Kit said to provide everything needed to build devices based on ALP 1.0, including:

All platform components (including a Linux reference kernel)
Reference drivers and development kit
Application development kit
A complete Eclipse-based set of development tools
Documentation

Down the road, Access plans to ship an SDK (software development kit) aimed at helping third-party application developers target the ALP 1.0 platform. Also planned for later release is a "Garnet VM Compatibility Kit" which appears to represent the final frontier for Palm OS. Together, the SDK and Garnet VM will provide an upgrade path for hundreds of thousands of Palm OS application developers, Access says.

Initial chip support

Also at 3GSM, Access says that it and its silicon partners are demonstrating ALP 1.0 running on two interesting next-generation mobile application processors. One is Marvell's PXA3xx (Monahans-P) family of ARM11-based application processors for GPS devices, mobile phones, and media players. The other is the Texas Instrument (TI) OMAP3430, based on ARM's Cortex-A8 architecture, and said to offer three times more performance than ARM11 processors, within the same power envelope.

The OMAP3430 is touted as the first mobile application processor to be fabricated on 65nm CMOS process technology. It is based on ARM Ltd's Cortex-A8 core, which was touted as capable of bringing "desktop-level computing performance" to low-cost, high volume consumer devices when it was shipped about sixteen months ago.

TI OMAP3430 function block diagram
(Click to enlarge)
Access says the OMAP3430 runs at faster clock speeds than previous OMAP processors, while lowering the core voltage and adding new power reduction features.

Markus Tremmel, worldwide manager of TI's cellular systems ecosystem, stated, "The combination of ACCESS Linux Platform and the OMAP3430 applications processor [offers] completeness, customizability, and flexibility."

According to Access co-founder and CTO Tomihisa Kamada, "The ACCESS Linux Platform software has been designed from day one specifically for mobile phones and converged devices. We believe this approach has enabled us to deliver an integrated, commercial-grade Linux-based platform that is optimized to provide true flexibility, openness, and customizability."

Availability

ALP 1.0 and the PDK for ALP 1.0 are available now for licensing, according to Access. An SDK and Garnet VM are in beta testing. Pricing was not disclosed.

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