HOMBRE, which stands for Hands On Mobile Runtime Environment, is a 65 kilobyte environment for building mobile applications. It can run on almost any handset and actually uses the handset’s on board applications and API calls to play video, audio, and access network features.

The UI itself is quite nice and reminiscent of Helio and Adobe’s Web 2.0 reflection-tastic UIs you find on the MVNO and Samsung’s phones. HOMBRE is coded in XML and they’re currently looking for developers and offering up to $50,000 to the best app.

As a former developer, I’m intrigued by the product but a little dubious. Unfortunately, I also always think of the magazine “Honcho” when I heard the name, but that’s because I have the mind of a twelve-year-old.

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