PalmSource focusing 100% on Linux-based smartphone OS
posted July 1st 2005 10:40AM
We already mumbled something yesterday about how
PalmSource was having a rough year, but apparently
the company is going for broke and pouring 100% of their efforts into developing Linux-based versions of the Palm OS
for smartphones. Earlier this week Interim CEO Patrick McVeigh revealed that they're, "delaying all development of
products not directly related to this," and that they expect to roll out a version of their Linux-based smartphone OS
for low-end phones by summer of 2006, with a 2nd version for high-end handsets to follow sometime later in the year.
Ok, we get that the smartphones (and not children) are the future and all that, but what we're still trying to figure
out is how palmOne (which is soon to become just "Palm"
again) fits into this. They've already been notorioiusly cagey about switching over to
Cobalt, the next version of the Palm
operating system (pictured at right), but let's face it, they can't stick with Palm OS 5 forever, can they? This
announcement means that Cobalt is more or less dead (halting development on an OS that isn't even out yet is hardly an
encouraging sign), so if palmOne/Palm decides it can't wait as long as a year and a half for PalmSource to bust out
their new high-end OS for smartphones that could very well them leave with little choice but to switch over to Windows
Mobile.
[Via Palm Addict]
wow palm has gone the apple route and decided they can't keep up with ms by developing their own os so they will swith to another infrastructure. yet another example of ms taking over another market. i just hope this means the new treo will have windows mobile 5.0
They need to change the user interface. The current one looks so 1996ish.
How about some stability folks....
Looks like mobile phone Linux is set to explode this year and next. Palm has just joined Motorola (JUIX?), Mobilinux, Qtopia and about half a dozen other flavours of the OS. Only pity is that most of these are not for smartphones, otherwise the hackability quotient would be irresistible!
I've been wondering exactly what was going to happen to the Palm OS platform (not Palm/Palmone/PalmSource/Palmolive/Palm but the platform) over the last few weeks.
As a new owner of a Treo 650 I've been really impressed with the hardware. However as a long time Palm user I've been pretty frustrated how buggy the OS has become. I won't even get into the state of the companies that run these things, it's pitiful.
With this announcement I think it's pretty clear that the soon to be renamed (perhaps just for fun this time) PalmSource will no longer be making the Palm OS. Obviously they're going with Linux underpinnings but I mean to say that it probably won't even be called the Palm OS. It'll just be a new, Linux-based mobile OS potentially with a Palm-like interface and & compatibility.
Where does that leave PalmOne/Palm? Beats me. Maybe they purchased the rights to the classic Palm OS (eg. Cobalt) along with the Palm name so they'll continue development? Or maybe they'll go Windows Mobile now. Then again, maybe by time all this pans out no one will care. PalmSource will vanish and PalmOne will be a commodity hardware manufacturer like HP.
No matter how you look at it, though, I'd say the Palm OS is dead.
The Palm OS to the user is completely irrelevant. Most user just know the interface. The open-source movement had already commoditize the operating system. Using Linux as the Palm OS means Palm can deploy the Palm OS (with the Linux kernel) to the 101 hardware platforms that are already ported to Linux. User don't care as long as the experience is the same. Palm OS is not dead. It merely evolves into a Linux kernel with a higher GUI layer using the classic Palm interface. This is no different from the evolution (or devolution) of Windows 3.1 using DOS into the current Windows XP.
FYI, the millions of TIVO user and "insert your brand" routers don't even know it is running Linux.
I have no doubt that the next version of the Treo will run Magneto. However, I also have no doubt that it will eventually run Palm/Linux as well. The big question for Palm users is, will Palm/Linux have a Palm 5 emulator that a) run Palm 5 applications fast enough to be useful and b) be bug-free while doing so? My forecast is, a) yes, b) no
You hear that? That's the sound of MS taking over another market due not to their innovation, but the other company's ineptitude.
please #8 ms has really stepped up their mobile os and added great features. i do agree though that palm stopped inovating.
Cobalt (the OS) isn't dead, Cobalt (the kernel) is. What this means is that the new Linux-based Palm smartphones will be able to use any hardware, parts and peripherals already compatible with Linux. It'll also mean that the open source community can develop drivers instead of relying on Palm (how many years did we have to wait for the WiFi SD driver??). Cobalt on Linux kernel is still Cobalt, it'll still use the Protein API.
"FYI, the millions of TIVO user and "insert your brand" routers don't even know it is running Linux."
Right but the Palm OS brand is still dead. Obviouslly the OS itself will live on in *some* form (even if just as an OS inspired by the classic Palm). However since Palmsource has lost all rights to the name and people associate the name Palm with hardware not the OS (or so PalmOne says) I can't see how the Palm OS will live on. With a core OS change all you have is merely a nod to the original OS at best.
This is sad.
And it's just Stupid.
Without a Palm OS how will Palm (palmOne) differentiate from other manufacturers?
They will just become another manufacturer of generic MS Smartphone phones. Their TREO form-factor will be emulated by other manufacturers.
And this idea of seperating the company into the hardware manufacturer from the OS developer is just plain stupid. They both just become weaker because of that.
Apple didn't have to seperate itself into appleOne and AppleSource !!
Making Palm OS a linux-based OS is no doubt a smart move. The question is whether Palm(Source) will still be around in 2006 to licence it to anyone.
To survive in this market, Palm should concentrate on smartphone deveopment by releasing a set of Treos with different form factors and configurations (Wi-Fi or UMTS, maybe?). Yes, the Treo has its flaws, but it is nonetheless a very useable device. More so than the Windows Mobile and Symbian devices I have encountered.
As #7 pointed out, I'm concerned about application compatibility. PalmOS as a platform has a well established software library with numerous useful commercial and freeware products. With the switch to a different architecture, it'd be interesting to see how Palm (the company) keeps the existing user base happy.
On the other hand, Palm the company and the O/S platform are long overdue for some major changes anyway, with the lack/slow implementation of innovation and up-to-date features (WiFi, capable multimedia support, etc.), all it really is well known for is rock-solid stability and simple-to-use applications.
Hopefuly the switch to focus on smart phones will not be the end to the Palm PDAs...
All this whining about PalmSource. Oh my. I think PalmOne has a HELL of a lot more things to worry about then PalmSource.
PalmSource is reaching an advent of a new platform, that will be able to accomodate many devices and manufacturers. However, PalmOne keeps delivering yesterdays technology and high prices. Outside of the Treo, what does PalmOne produce that is likely to run MSFT (or any other OS) and be competitive?
Excluding the Treo, who the hell is buying PalmOne devices for the hardware alone ?
This article should be completed with the evidence that Palm on Linux IS Cobalt, but based on Linux kernel instead of the proprietary one.
Devices with Cobalt 6.1 are expected to be released by end of this year from Oswin and GSpda, following devices will be with Cobalt on Linux.
Palm0ne is going to release a WM Treo within next weeks, but IMHO this device will not have a long life.