Access Co., Ltd. has introduced a new version of its Linux-based operating system for smartphones. It has also unveiled an edition of ALP that will bring this OS to a new range of products.

Access Linux Platform 3.0 is a new version of this company's OS that is one of the successors to the Palm OS. The major new feature is compatibility with the Linux kernel developed by the LiMo Foundation.

The LiMo Foundation is made up of companies who are creating an open, hardware-independent, Linux-based operating system for mobile devices.

ALP 3.0 also includes improvements to its user interface, but there appears to have been no changes in its best-known feature: support for the ability to run legacy Palm OS software.

The Debut of ALP's Little Brother

In the years it has been available, ALP has not attracted the high-profile licensees Access was hoping for when it purchased PalmSource, So the company is trying a new tactic.

The standard edition of ALP is for high-end smartphones and Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), but a new edition, ALP mini, will be for devices ranging from feature phones and low-end smartphones to portable navigation devices, portable media players, and set-top boxes.

Its hardware requirements are a 200 MHz processor, 32 MB of RAM, and 32 MB of ROM.

ALP mini includes the NetFront web browser, and device makers have the option of including support for NetFront Widgets. There is also a suite of personal information management (PIM) applications.

However, unlike the full version of ALP, there is no mention of support for running legacy Palm OS software.

"With the introduction of Access Linux Platform mini and the enhanced capabilities of our LiMo-compliant Access Linux Platform v3.0, we can offer our customers a complete range of solutions extending from feature phones through low-end smartphones, to high-end smartphones and Internet devices that will further enable the next generation of mobile Internet use," said Toru Arakawa, CEO, president and co-founder of Access.