PalmSource sale won't kill Palm OS

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.

Colin Dunstan · 09-10-2005, 04:20 AM

Smartmoney is also positive over the buyout, quoting various stock analysts:
http://yahoo.smartmoney.com/onedaywo...0909&afl=yahoo

Quote:

"We think that the market was discounting [PalmSource's] intellectual-property assets because of poor management execution," says Sam Saunders, an analyst at New York brokerage Fulcrum Global Partners. "But, if you look at the research-and-development assets on the balance sheet, we think the price of $18.50 a share is warranted."

Bob Russell · 09-10-2005, 08:16 AM

Thanks for the link Colin. Good stuff there. Like this...

Quote:

According to Fulcrum's Saunders, Access's steep bid for PalmSource was driven as much by competing offers as it was by the value of the assets. Several well-known companies were also interested in PalmSource, he says, though company officials declined to name names.

"We think the bid was competitively shopped around and Access likes them for the installed based of Palm users," says Saunders, "as well as its market-leading personal information management functionality and the Linux operating system it's developing." Currently, the Palm OS powers more than 39 million mobile devices.

I wonder who else was bidding. For all we know, it may be the only buyer that will help PalmOS to continue and succeed. I hope it does!

Brian · 09-10-2005, 08:33 AM

Could it be that Palm wasn't interested in acquiring PalmSource? They bought the full rights to Palm name back and are hiring a bunch of Linux developers, so maybe they are developing their own new Linux based Palm OS, possibly with plans to incorporate Numenta technology?

I think the news of Access acquiring PalmSource could be very positive in the short and long terms as I believe the most successful mobile operating systems will be based on the open source and open standards model for a number of reasons, least of which is the democratization of access to technology and information that is hindered by closed-source operating systems and non-standard formats.

The mobile web is about to explode, and mobile browser/OS integration will be very important. Opera is releasing Opera Mini for many platforms, Google acquired Dodgeball and Android as they continue to roll out more mobile services, and Christian LindholmYahoo!'s new VP of Mobile Products (and a former Nokia employee), is excited about the future of the mobile web.

Hopefully, Access will give PalmSource the cash infusion, management changes, and kick in the pants needed to get Palm OS Linux out the door sooner rather than later, so they don't miss the mobile web wave that's coming. The market seems to be catching up to the reason PalmSource was split from Palm in the first place, so the potential for a huge payoff for Access is huge.

Brian

jonrkc · 09-29-2005, 01:01 PM

Brian, your words give me a faint spark of hope in the midst of gloom caused by hearing the Treo news the other day. I don't know all the in's and out's of these complex marketing/buyout ploys and developments--all I know is that I hope a Linux system, or at least some open-source system, will prevail in enough of the market that those of us who, like myself, prefer and in fact insist on open source wherever possible, will still have our PDA's!

I also hope there will still be PDA's that are PDA's, and phones that are phones. It's not just because I'm 65 years old and set in my ways that I like things to do one thing and do it well; I've always had that preference. Maybe I've always been set in my ways....

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.

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09-10-2005, 08:33 AM	#4
Brian MobileRead Editor Posts: 447 Karma: 84 Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Massachusetts Device: Treo 700p, Zodiac2	Could it be that Palm wasn't interested in acquiring PalmSource? They bought the full rights to Palm name back and are hiring a bunch of Linux developers, so maybe they are developing their own new Linux based Palm OS, possibly with plans to incorporate Numenta technology? I think the news of Access acquiring PalmSource could be very positive in the short and long terms as I believe the most successful mobile operating systems will be based on the open source and open standards model for a number of reasons, least of which is the democratization of access to technology and information that is hindered by closed-source operating systems and non-standard formats. The mobile web is about to explode, and mobile browser/OS integration will be very important. Opera is releasing Opera Mini for many platforms, Google acquired Dodgeball and Android as they continue to roll out more mobile services, and Christian LindholmYahoo!'s new VP of Mobile Products (and a former Nokia employee), is excited about the future of the mobile web. Hopefully, Access will give PalmSource the cash infusion, management changes, and kick in the pants needed to get Palm OS Linux out the door sooner rather than later, so they don't miss the mobile web wave that's coming. The market seems to be catching up to the reason PalmSource was split from Palm in the first place, so the potential for a huge payoff for Access is huge. Brian

09-29-2005, 01:01 PM	#5
jonrkc Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Kansas City, Missouri, USA Device: Lenovo ThinkPad tablet; Nook Simple Touch; several others	Brian, your words give me a faint spark of hope in the midst of gloom caused by hearing the Treo news the other day. I don't know all the in's and out's of these complex marketing/buyout ploys and developments--all I know is that I hope a Linux system, or at least some open-source system, will prevail in enough of the market that those of us who, like myself, prefer and in fact insist on open source wherever possible, will still have our PDA's! I also hope there will still be PDA's that are PDA's, and phones that are phones. It's not just because I'm 65 years old and set in my ways that I like things to do one thing and do it well; I've always had that preference. Maybe I've always been set in my ways....

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