Palm Linux phone by end of year

Bob Russell · 10-08-2005, 07:59 AM

"Palm will ship Linux-powered mobile phones this year, say sources claiming to be close to the company. The devices will be powered by Wind River Linux, and pending carrier reaction, may well be the first Linux-powered handsets distributed widely within the US."

Don't expect a Linux Treo. It's probably going to be a Linux feature phone, not a "smart phone" like the Treo. And it's probably a continuation of work that CMS has been doing since before PalmSource bought them.

"As part of its transition to Linux, PalmSource acquired China MobileSoft in a deal consummated on Valentine's Day of this year. At the time of its acquisition by PalmSource, CMS already had about 70 customers using its mobile phone stacks on RTOSes in China, as well as an entire Linux phone OS in the works, according to PalmSource Engineering VP Michael Kelley. Our anonymous sources confirmed that Palm's first Linux-based handsets will use a version of Linux developed by Wind River."

It's good progress, and reminds us that no matter what happens to Palm, we will be seeing a lot of mobile devices based on Linux as well as Windows Mobile. And, with some luck, PalmOS on Linux also. With that sort of competition, along with Symbian and Blackberry/RIM and others, the consumer should see some pretty exciting devices over the next decade to come!

See the full article here.

(Via Palm Addict. If you want Palm news, be sure to visit them!)

Brian · 10-08-2005, 08:47 AM

The article mentions Palm using Wind River Linux for "feature phones" yet during the Analyst Day presentation it was stated several times that Palm is a mobile computing company and not a feature phone manufacturer.

If Palm is going to release devices running Wind River Linux, either Ed Colligan and Jeff Hawkins were intentionally making misrepresentations to industry analysts (which I highly doubt), or they have some other plans that don't include "feature phones".

Could it have something to do with Palm's "secret third business"?

Bob Russell · 10-08-2005, 11:28 AM

One of the things I was wondering when I was reading that was whether or not maybe the author was referring to PalmSource "releasing" a Linux phone (platform), rather than Palm inc. After all, it's PalmSource that bought CMS, not Palm Inc. And we know they were trying to be the platform for feature phones.

10-08-2005, 07:59 AM	#1
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Palm Linux phone by end of year "Palm will ship Linux-powered mobile phones this year, say sources claiming to be close to the company. The devices will be powered by Wind River Linux, and pending carrier reaction, may well be the first Linux-powered handsets distributed widely within the US." Don't expect a Linux Treo. It's probably going to be a Linux feature phone, not a "smart phone" like the Treo. And it's probably a continuation of work that CMS has been doing since before PalmSource bought them. "As part of its transition to Linux, PalmSource acquired China MobileSoft in a deal consummated on Valentine's Day of this year. At the time of its acquisition by PalmSource, CMS already had about 70 customers using its mobile phone stacks on RTOSes in China, as well as an entire Linux phone OS in the works, according to PalmSource Engineering VP Michael Kelley. Our anonymous sources confirmed that Palm's first Linux-based handsets will use a version of Linux developed by Wind River." It's good progress, and reminds us that no matter what happens to Palm, we will be seeing a lot of mobile devices based on Linux as well as Windows Mobile. And, with some luck, PalmOS on Linux also. With that sort of competition, along with Symbian and Blackberry/RIM and others, the consumer should see some pretty exciting devices over the next decade to come! See the full article here. (Via Palm Addict. If you want Palm news, be sure to visit them!)

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10-08-2005, 08:47 AM	#2
Brian MobileRead Editor Posts: 447 Karma: 84 Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Massachusetts Device: Treo 700p, Zodiac2	The article mentions Palm using Wind River Linux for "feature phones" yet during the Analyst Day presentation it was stated several times that Palm is a mobile computing company and not a feature phone manufacturer. If Palm is going to release devices running Wind River Linux, either Ed Colligan and Jeff Hawkins were intentionally making misrepresentations to industry analysts (which I highly doubt), or they have some other plans that don't include "feature phones". Could it have something to do with Palm's "secret third business"?

10-08-2005, 11:28 AM	#3
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	One of the things I was wondering when I was reading that was whether or not maybe the author was referring to PalmSource "releasing" a Linux phone (platform), rather than Palm inc. After all, it's PalmSource that bought CMS, not Palm Inc. And we know they were trying to be the platform for feature phones.

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