News about what is happening in technology today!

While the mobile computing industry has been focusing on whether a federal judge will disallow BlackBerry service in the United States, there is also uncertainty surrounding the future of Palm OS after PalmSource Inc.’s acquisition by Tokyo-based Access Co. Ltd. last month.

PalmSource officials insist there is a future for the veteran handheld operating system, but some industry experts say deploying Palm OS-based handhelds is risky. Access, which is best known for its NetFront cell phone browser, has yet to provide a detailed road map for Palm OS.

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NEW YORK— When it comes to shopping, Kate Robertson is an online dream and a brick-and-mortar nightmare.

When her last child fell asleep, the mother of five and full-time teacher sat in front of her computer and within days of Thanksgiving, finished her Christmas shopping.

With about a week left before the holiday, the only things that will drag her out of her house in the Houston suburbs and into a shopping center are stocking stuffers.

“I don’t have the time,” said Robertson, 40, whose children range in age from 3 to 19. “I’m a full-time mother and teacher, and with little ones in tow, it’s just incredibly difficult to find alone-time to shop for them.”

Last year she did half her Christmas shopping online. This year she did it all, spending a few hours and $2,400.

There are a lot of Kate Robertsons this year.

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Slyck news is reporting that the file-sharing population has recovered from its mid-year plateau and is once again growing. At 9.45 million users, it is only slightly below its greatest height of 9.6 million users in August. Keep in mind however; these numbers do not represent the population of the BitTorrent community, which would surely add many millions more.

Google has launched mobile phone version of Gmail. The service automatically optimizes the interface for the phone you’re using and also ‘Lets you reply by call to people whose phone numbers are in your Gmail Contacts list‘. Technewsworld has a story on this. From the article: ‘Gmail is now a kind of hub for Google … GoogleTalk and a range of personalized services are all tied in together through Gmail registration. The more registration data collected by Google, the more relevant search results and ads can potentially be.’