Jason Brooks

Central to the success of Linux on the desktop is the continued improvement of the GNOME and KDE environments. The first alpha release of GNOME 2.0 (source code is freely downloadable from www.gnome.org) provides a look at what users of this open-source desktop environment can expect in GNOME 2.0, slated for release late next month. […]

Facing slowed sales in the handheld computer space, Handspring Inc. is staking its future on the Treo 180, the first in a new line of products that sport cell phone capabilities in lieu of the Springboard expansion slots that define the companys Visor handheld devices. In eWEEK Labs tests, we were impressed with the Treos […]

Palm recently announced that it had finished forming a separate, mobile operating system entity called Palm Solutions Group. And although the corporate structure intended to market and develop Palm OS is complete, its not clear how this venture will fare. Im sure Palm will welcome a change from the ever-shrinking margins of the hardware business […]

Everyone seems to agree that itll take an infusion of Bluetooth-bearing mobile phones to shift the young cable replacement technology into high gear. So where are they? The Ericsson Inc. T39m that we tested came from Europe. Configuring and using Bluetooth can be a complex task, but the T39m does a good job of shepherding […]

Heralded with great fanfare during the last few years as the wireless communications technology that would network our ever-smaller and more mobile world of computing devices, Bluetooth products are finally beginning to emerge in the market—albeit at a much slower pace than Bluetooths marketing folks have had us believe. As a short-distance, low-power wireless connectivity […]

Ive predicted that 2002 will bring with it more usable brands of desktop Linux, thanks in part to KDE 3.0 and GNOME 2.0 desktop environment releases. After putting the initial beta release of KDE 3.0 through its paces, Im feeling secure with my prognostication. Most of the differences in the feel and operation of KDE […]

Handspring Inc. is shifting its focus from PDAs for the masses toward more profitable higher-end handheld devices with integrated cell phone capabilities. Judging from eWEEK Labs tests of the GSM-based Treo 180 communicator, Handspring has not only taken a solid first step in the smart-phone direction, but also has gotten the jump on future competitors […]

The blockbuster MacWorld keynote address of Apples Steve Jobs is a few days behind us now, and Im feeling rather disappointed. Although Id pretty much abandoned any expectation of an exciting new handheld computer from The Steve and Co., I must admit that Apples preshow hype stoked a sort of guarded hope in me. Lets […]

Evolution 1.0, an e-mail client and personal information management application from Ximian Inc., is one of the slickest open-source products eWEEK Labs has reviewed, providing companies running Linux- or Unix-based desktops and workstations with a compelling analogue to Microsoft Corp.s Outlook groupware product. However, Evolution, which began shipping in December, is just as notable for […]

Recently Nokia has been talking about the mobile operating system developed and marketed by Symbian, a consortium of mobile device makers of which Nokia is a member. Nokias Symbian-powered 9290 Communicator is set to ship in early 2002, and the mobile phone firm is touting an upcoming set of development tools for Symbian. Its nice […]