Handheld software vendor SplashData, Inc. has upgraded SplashPhoto, its image viewer for Palm OS handhelds. The company said SplashPhoto 3.5 ($19.95) has been optimized for Palm OS5/ARM-based handhelds and includes several other enhancements for viewing, organizing and sharing JPEG images.

SplashData said SplashPhoto supports virtually all color and grayscale Palm OS handhelds from Palm, Handspring, Sony, Kyocera, Samsung and others. The new version of SplashPhoto has been designed specifically to take advantage of the high-resolution screen and fast ARM processor found in new Palm OS5 devices, including the recently introduced Palm Tungsten T and Sony Clie NX70.

According to the company, SplashPhoto 3.5 takes advantage of the faster speed of the ARM processor by incorporating ARMlets, ARM native code that enables much faster processing of certain functions like decoding and displaying JPEG images. On a Palm OS5/ARM-based handheld, SplashData claims SplashPhoto can display a hi-res 320x320 JPEG image in 1 second.

SplashData has also released a software developer’s kit for third-party developers who wish to display images from within their Palm OS application. The SDK allows developers to call SplashPhoto from within their host application to display an image and then return control back to the host application.

New Features in SplashPhoto 3.5:
--Accelerated for Palm OS5/ARM-based handhelds.
--Support for Palm OS5 high-resolution (320x320) displays.
--SplashPhoto Desktop (for Windows and Macintosh) can now install cropped JPEGs on the handheld, as well as PDBs.
--JPEG images installed on the device now have cached thumbnails, resulting in much faster thumbnail views.
--JPEG images on the handheld can be edited, just like PDBs, with categories and notes and be marked as Private.
--JPEG images can be beamed to other handhelds running SplashPhoto.
-- JPEG images are decoded in the background when viewing a slideshow.
--Hi-Res thumbnails are displayed on hi-res devices.
--PDB images are now compressed, resulting in about a 20% file size reduction.
--Third-party Software Developer’s Kit (SDK).