My latest experience with Palm OS has been very similar to my previous dalliances, except that this time the hardware works. The Centro is very cheap but arguably much better than the Treo 680 in many crucial areas, and this has made the Palm OS experience much more positive this time around.

I have always been a fan of Palm OS but have also been very critical of Palm’s hardware and lack of innovation over the past two years. It is frustrating that Wi-Fi, 3G and many other top end features have not made their way to a Palm OS smartphone, but a couple of weeks with the Centro has made me realise that a phone is still a phone after all and that maybe I do not need super fast mobile broadband and the ability to multi-task many applications at once.

I have a firm belief that multi-tasking on a smartphone is more troublesome than useful. Some smartphones struggle to cope with multiple applications open at one time, and most are not set up to easily deal with moving information between different applications. Being able to push the home key on Palm OS and to know that is it fully closed with the open information saved is a big time saver in itself, and one that quickly becomes second nature.

Maybe it is just the way I use a smartphone, but I am struggling to think of times when I have needed to multi-task. It is useful when GPS is active, but besides that I never need it and probably never will. A smartphone is a phone and not a computer. It is a smarter option to make a phone do things in the simplest way possible and to not overcomplicate the architecture behind the user experience.

This is not a Symbian or Windows Mobile bashing article, because that would be silly considering both operating systems are arguably more reliable than Palm OS, but rather a comment on the fact that some people feel that the way Palm OS works is a failing. Many would argue that the way it works is the reason they stay with it, and that no other mobile operating system has matched it to date.

It must have something going for it because any other company producing such a slow rate of new devices would have been chapter 11’d long ago…

The word round the campfire today is that Sony Ericsson’s recently announced flagship handset, the Xperia X1, might be facing a delay of up to a year. The source of this unconfirmed rumour is the SEMC Blog, which claims to have a table of legitimate release dates for all of Sony Ericsson’s announced new handsets for this year.

The table lists the Xperia X1 as launching on February 10th 2009 which if true could be disastrous for the device. It wouldn’t look good for Sony Ericsson to let its new flagship handset slip that far and considering how quickly the technological landscape evolves in the mobile space, the Xperia might not seem like quite the showstopper is does at the moment in a year’s time. More at Unwired. Thanks to Luca.

Mozilla's Firefox Mobile will hit smartphones like Windows Mobile and Linux devices later this year and as Mike Schroepfer, Mozilla Vide President Engineering, unveiled this week, beside users also mobile carriers and operators are interested to learn more about Mozilla's latest mobile device project. Schroepfer is quoted, that Mozilla's mission is to break open a closed market but he knows that it won't happen overnight.

And while Windows Mobile devices includes a web browser already, namely Internet Explorer Mobile, it looks like operators and ODMs aren't satisfied with Internet Explorer anymore which must be the reason for adding Opera Mobile on their smartphones in addition.

Since Opera Mobile isn't available for free, unlike the desktop version, operators and carriers "want to know how much it will cost," Schroepfer said and added "That's an easy answer: mobile Firefox will be free". More at the unwired. Thanks to Luca.

EverNote is a stunning desktop application, and it is extremely effective on Windows Mobile as well. It looks as though a web version will soon be widely available and the demonstration videos suggest this is another killer version.

We're almost ready to let the whole world see the new Evernote. Until then, we're looking for a limited number of people to help us put the finishing touches. If you received an invitation to the closed beta, please follow the instructions in your welcome letter. Otherwise, leave your email address and we'll shoot you a note as soon as a spot opens up.

This story is unusual in that the customer 'may' actually have recourse on this one. I have little sympathy for the other recent cases where people should have know better.

A British businessman has been hit with a £11,000 (US$22,000) mobile data roaming fee after his wife used an "unlimited" data account to download several TV shows via a mobile phone. A report in the Sunday Times says that the wife of a business executive used his phone to start the file downloads while they were in the UK. However, he took his phone on a trip to Germany, and once back in coverage - the handset resumed the data download, at overseas roaming rates.

Had the download occurred completely within the UK, it would have been free of charge as part of their tariff.

The first the businessman knew of the problem was upon his return to the UK, when Vodafone called to advise him of the issue.

Today's free eBook is Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key (excerpt) by Kage Baker- "On the 16th day of April, 1671, a man walked down Tower Street in old Port Royal and came to the Bluebell Inn. He stood in the street a while, looking up at the hanging sign. The daubed blue flowers were unmistakable, and in any case he could read the name perfectly well, having had some education. Still, he hesitated to step inside.

His name was John. To some people he was known as John James. He had been a London bricklayer’s apprentice who killed a man and was sent to the West Indies as a consequence. He had been several things since then: redleg bond slave, runaway, pirate, and most lately patriotic gentleman of fortune, for he had just returned from doing his bit sacking Panama with Captain Henry Morgan.

This very morning he had gone ashore, bidding farewell to his late commander. Morgan had returned his salute with a gloomy wave, and headed straight for the nearest tavern for a stiff drink before reporting to Governor Modyford. John would have joined him, but for his new and earnest resolve to give up the life of a buccaneer."