The Cairo headquartered Sakhr Software Co. announced the development and release of the new Arabized Palm operating system -- Arabic Palm OS 2.0 -- in a press release earlier this week.
Sakhr's new Arabic language Palm OS can be installed over English Palm OS 3.5 to allow Palm handheld owners to write in both Arabic and English. Sakhr has released the new OS free, in an apparent bid against Microsoft's potential introduction of an Arabized OS for Pocket PCs such as the Hewlett Packard Jornada.
In the late '80s and early '90s, Sakhr released an Arabic support solution for Windows 3.x, but was outbid by Microsoft's later release of its own solution. At the time, Microsoft's solution was easy to pirate, while Sakhr's was dingle protected, which eventually led to the domination of the former firm's software and the abortion of the latter.
The Arabized Graffiti, unlike the Latin version, allows users to jot down Arabic characters in three different strokes, due to the differences in the calligraphy of the Arabic language.
Other features of OS Sakhr are support for color usage with an advanced graphics system that supports up to eight bits of color and or gray scales, a more user friendly interface, a new Agenda that combines a view of the day's appointments with the day's ToDo tasks, and an Alarm dialog that has larger buttons to facilitate finger operation.
The fully Arabic interface system Sakhr is faster in comparison to earlier Sakhr releases, has more powerful Graffiti -- powerful Arabic character recognition -- and has an enhanced Online Help function that provides assistance to on whatever application there is in the system.
Similar to the Latin version of the Palm OS, Sakhr has incorporated a Graffiti game, which helps users learn the mechanisms of writing Arabic graffiti into the system. The new release also allows users to customize their character recognition with a new Graffiti tool, where Arabic language Palm users can teach the system the shapes they like to use in writing Arabic characters.
And to add an Islamic touch to OS Sakhr, the system features applications like Arabic email, measurements converter, Hijri and Christian dates converter and Al-Mu'adin for Islamic prayer timing.
The Sakhr Palm OS 2.0 supports Palm device models ranging from Palm III, Palm IIIx, to Palm V, Palm Vx, and Palm VII. Also, the system can be used in Visor hand held devices, which are less expensive machines using the Palm OS.
Sakhr plans to add more new exciting Arabic applications into the operating system in the near future such as a bi-directional English-Arabic dictionary and some highly useful Islamic applications -- (Albawaba.com)
On the Web:
Sakhr's Arabized Palm OS 2.0
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
