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Bob Russell · 09-09-2005, 06:40 PM

News.com is loudly proclaiming that the sale won't kill PalmOS. I'm hopeful, but not yet convinced that they won't focus entirely on phones. There is the risk of delays or changes in the full robust OS favored by Palm affictionados. The Linux conversion for phones will take a huge effort by itself, so we have to wonder how many resources can be afforded for longer term gains with the full OS for Treo-like devices and pdas. But, come to think of it, that's the same situation we had before the acquisition. And with this deal they might have additional resources to build the OS for longer term purposes. Surely they won't sacrifice the more powerful devices of the future just to get phones out now.

We'll have to wait to see what happens, but for now Access is saying "it wants to finish creating the Linux-Palm operating system hybrid that PalmSource started when it finalized its acquisition of China MobileSoft this year. The company gave no time frame for completing the work." And "Eventually, Access said its plan is to combine its Linux-based NetFront browser with the Palm OS version 5x--also known as Garnet. The representative said Access may even revisit the Palm OS version 6, known as Cobalt, which was not broadly licensed by PalmSource."

I think those are the words that they have to say right now, pretty much regardless of what they plan long term. They can't risk loss of developers, 3rd party providers, current licensees, and other parties critical to current income from PalmSource. But that doesn't mean it's not true.

The future looks bright for PalmOS... but still very uncertain.

Read more at the news.com coverage.

09-09-2005, 06:40 PM	#1
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	PalmSource sale won't kill Palm OS News.com is loudly proclaiming that the sale won't kill PalmOS. I'm hopeful, but not yet convinced that they won't focus entirely on phones. There is the risk of delays or changes in the full robust OS favored by Palm affictionados. The Linux conversion for phones will take a huge effort by itself, so we have to wonder how many resources can be afforded for longer term gains with the full OS for Treo-like devices and pdas. But, come to think of it, that's the same situation we had before the acquisition. And with this deal they might have additional resources to build the OS for longer term purposes. Surely they won't sacrifice the more powerful devices of the future just to get phones out now. We'll have to wait to see what happens, but for now Access is saying "it wants to finish creating the Linux-Palm operating system hybrid that PalmSource started when it finalized its acquisition of China MobileSoft this year. The company gave no time frame for completing the work." And "Eventually, Access said its plan is to combine its Linux-based NetFront browser with the Palm OS version 5x--also known as Garnet. The representative said Access may even revisit the Palm OS version 6, known as Cobalt, which was not broadly licensed by PalmSource." I think those are the words that they have to say right now, pretty much regardless of what they plan long term. They can't risk loss of developers, 3rd party providers, current licensees, and other parties critical to current income from PalmSource. But that doesn't mean it's not true. The future looks bright for PalmOS... but still very uncertain. Read more at the news.com coverage.