by Playfuls Staff |
11th April 2007
Palm Inc. officials have announced the smartphone and handheld maker is to develop a new operating system for its devices, based on the Linux operating system. Palm used[more] the "Palm OS" operating system and has also put out Treo smartphones running Windows Mobile.
"We think there is a big wave coming in this whole mobile computing revolution, which is becoming a bigger part of the overall mobile phone business. We have an enormous opportunity going forward," he said at a meeting with analysts in NYC. "You can expect us to do business development around the world."
Palm Chief Executive Ed Colligan said the new operating system was in the works for years in secrecy. There have been multiple reasons for Palm's efforts to develop a new operating system.
First of all, the Sunnyvale-based company doesn't own the Palm OS and spent $44 million last year for a permanent license to use it. Furthermore, the operating system was subject to criticism for its lack of major improvements over time. The Palm OS was owned by spin-off Palmsource, which was acquired by Access.
Some have speculated the Linux kernel operating system may be a solution closely linked to the Access Linux Platform, but Palm Inc said "this is a separate project from Palm Inc and is not related to the ACCESS Linux Platform, which is being developed by ACCESS, formerly PalmSource." Palm will also continue to use Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Mobile OS, which is in high demand by business customers and global telephony carriers.
Ed Colligan remarked that we could expect to see new products "very soon" this year on both existing and the new linux based platform. Unlike previous Palm operating systems, Palm does not intend to license the new Linux-based platform to other handheld vendors, Colligan said.
Palm, which shifted its focus from handhelds to smartphones, faces increasing competition from Research In Motion, Nokia, Samsung and Motorola. And now, it will soon face more heat from Apple's iPhone, expected in June, which Palm officials labeled an "entertainment device" that they say is unlikely to challenge Palm's core business. One of the reasons they think iPhone won't replace their products is that Apple's product lacks a full keyboard and thus is unsuited for people who type text often. However, Colligan insisted he is taking the iPhone seriously as a competitive threat.
The platform is described as a "new foundation for Palm." It will combine aspects of Palm OS Garnet and a Linux core. Palm plans to "evolve" the Palm Developer community to the new platform.
