Palm's Ed Colligan hypes new OS to investors

Our main man Ed Colligan is on the scene once again, this time giving some serious lip service to investors on the future of Palm and its "upcoming" new OS. According to reports, Ed informed the crew of dudes and dudettes (via the company's Q1 FY08 conference call) that the Centro systems team and Foleo engineers are "totally focused" on delivering the Linux-based OS (Palm's in-house work, not ACCESS's ALP), and announced that it will be available by the end of the next calendar year. Fleshing out his bold statements, Colligan noted that the new platform will retain the ease of use and developer support of the badly ailing current Palm OS, and that it will enable the company to deliver the UI across various products, including Foleo-like devices. The Palm honcho went on to say that development has gone, "As well as possibly could be expected," and added that the company has no plans to hand over the smartphone market to anyone else, telling investors that its next generation of products will be "revolutionary device types." Just like Fox Mulder, we want to believe -- but it's going to take a lot more than honeyed words to hold our interest, Ed. Hey -- feel free to invite us over to the pad for some hands-on.

[Xenium @ Oct 2nd 2007 1:41AM]

I am tried about Ed's words.

[JAmerican @ Oct 2nd 2007 1:44AM]

Less talk more show. Ed will never ever offer devices in other form-factors other than slate so what's the point. I used to use Palm OS all the time. The Dash is my first WM device and I love it. While RAM is an issue, I hope to get the Kaiser if it comes to T-Mobile USA. Ed and Palm OS are old news. Sad, I used to think it was worth waiting for devices HTC had already made available.

[randy @ Oct 2nd 2007 1:45AM]

A month ago the future of Palm looked pretty bleak. But now with all these arrogant iPhone control freaks at Apple flipping out and deleting people's ringtones during 'firmware' updates and sticking irremovable 'iTunes store' advertising buttons on people's home screens, I'd say the future is looking pretty bright for a friendly company like Palm to invent something better.

[JAmerican @ Oct 2nd 2007 1:54AM]

Friendly?

Microsoft has been more friendly to its developers than Palm has to its developers or customers. The Foleo says it all. As I wrote before, I've used Palm devices for most of my life. The best devices were the Sony CLIEs. Other than that, I haven't been very impressed with Palm's devices. People who buy Treos constantly for the minute updates must be under the same trance that Apple has with its iPods. Palm needs to kick out its CEO and get someone who actually loves their work. Then we will see improvement. I've never seen a company keep a CEO for so long that has only kept the company stagnant or in the gutter. To think I was going to actually put money on Palm stock long ago.

[strider_mt2k @ Oct 2nd 2007 10:31AM]

What planet did they have to go to to find people who would actually invest in Palm?

-or is there a country where the people are as disconnected and clueless as the company itself?

-or were there "cocktails" before the presentation?

[DonDon @ Oct 4th 2007 12:51AM]

I agree with J, Ive had Clie's since 2000 till they died, best Palm OS devices ever. Picked up a HTC Hurricane a few years back and havent touched a Palm OS device since. Palm needs to step up their game, the aging OS and tired looking devices will only hold for so long.

[cswallow01 @ Oct 2nd 2007 1:52AM]

Yeah, I think the iPhone issue bought Palm some time, but probably not too much more. My contract with AT&T is up next month, but I'm afraid to buy the 680. The OS is old. Compatibility and development of certain apps in the future are unknown, IF Palm releases a new OS. The 680 doesn't support the Palm Wifi cards. I don't particularly want Windows Mobile. I'd tend to go more toward Symbian.

I hope Palm survives. I can't imagine how the Folieo would've kept Palm alive.

[Sam Winter @ Oct 3rd 2007 6:33PM]

buying a treo right now? are you kidding? Don't get me wrong, I've had two palm devices over the years and even had a Treo 700w. The only possible reason why anyone would do such a thing is because they are on Verizon Wireless USA A.K.A. the network with the 2002 mobile phones (ohh its so painful) and they don't want a blackjack or whatever. Other than that, You'd be CRAZY to buy ANY treo at this point in time with all the other incredible phones out there. If you haven't before, I definitely recommend trying out any of HTC's smartphone/pocketpc devices as they are SO much better than a treo.
Also look at Samsung's smartphones. If you happen to be on Verizon Wireless, I'm sure you are aware they are receiving 3-4 new smartphones (including 2 new HTC devices) over the next month or two.

[WhiteStar @ Oct 2nd 2007 2:38AM]

End of NEXT year? Yeah... I don't tink I'm gonna wait

[Ryhan @ Oct 2nd 2007 2:47AM]

A new OS would help, but hardware is equally as important, while the blend of the two is crucial. Simply look at the iPhone; the software and hardware blend together into an intuitive,happy bunch of well-placed pixels. (As much as everyone bugs on the iPhone, it is admittedly extraordinarily intuitive) (I dont feel like arguing that point either) Though features are important, Palm must first make its devices more user-friendly (please no more tiny treo keyboards! Its hard enough to make a call) Look at the Helio Ocean; nice-sized keyboard, simple keypad for your phone, and great software which makes the whole package wonderful-er :D. Then comes the rest of it; like in the original Palm V, which also had a nice "feel" to it, and the right software/feature set. As a former Palm fanboy, I hope that Palm will be able to get a fresh start with new hardware AND software, blasting away the competition with a truly creative, intuitive product like it did 8 years ago. Until then, Palm will not regain the business of this former,old friend...

[Morten @ Oct 2nd 2007 3:00AM]

Ed Colligan, don't talk about new devices. Bring them to market. And let others decide whether they are "revolutionary".

To be honest, I don't expect "revolutionary" from Palm. That was 10 years ago. But now I think about it - just an idea - why not bring out a really strong product in the good old PDA scope? With data-only HSDPA/3G capability. Like a LifeDrive II. Now with a proper technical design, even. 4-inch screen. (Can Garnet handle that? No?) And then hit head on into the upcoming Internet Tablet battle? Maybe talk to Opera - speed them up a bit? Naaah. Better to try to kick Nokia's, HTC's and Apple's smartphone asses instead. Because they are, all three of them, a litte thin on innovation, so no doubt that is where to attack and be revolutionary.

1 cent.

/Morten

[Rick @ Oct 2nd 2007 3:04AM]

I really hope Ed is not acting like a Palm Distortion Field (pDF). IT HAS NEVER WORKED FOR PALM. When they released the Palm Tungsten T, that was radical! Not a lot of talk, just an amazing release. Since that time, nothing has been new. The company has been playing either catchup or merely content to sit with its lead with the Treo. It has taken a sharp jolt from Apple to make this company move at the speed of light to do something.

If Apple never came along, there would have been no further innovation in this space. The Linux OS has been talked about for 3 years now and.....NOTHING!

I've been nice about this company, but it's now time to put up or shut up! Enough of the smiling CEO telling everyone that everything's alright and more innovation!

LDD.

[dj-kenpo @ Oct 2nd 2007 3:16AM]

Ed's really not doing palm any favours, and thus not helping the consumer at all.

linux is a huge shift for them, hopefully it will pay off and allow more apps to be easily ported over, and allow coders to reuse chunks of code from other projects. I guess we'll see though.

[Rich @ Oct 2nd 2007 4:46AM]

So the current version of Palm OS has another 18 months to run?

Ouch.

[Will @ Oct 2nd 2007 4:58AM]

Palm, I love you- But there is no way I can wait that long. Im probably going to buy a blackberry next week :(

Ill miss you, and my Treo. But I cant take the crashes anymore. I hope we can still be friends.

[Bob @ Oct 2nd 2007 6:20AM]

Goodbye Palm TX, Hello Nokia N800. My desktop & laptop computers have already made the leap to Linux, might as well get a new Linux handheld as well. Ijust don't use a cell phone enough to justify getting a Centro or Treo smartphone. I'm done with Palm.

[sishaw @ Oct 2nd 2007 7:28AM]

End of NEXT year? He must be kidding. Who knows what Nokia, RIM, Apple, LG, Motorola, and etc., will have come up with by then?

[omf @ Oct 2nd 2007 8:11AM]

Uh, yeah... like Palm has until the end of next year to bring out a new product.

[ItsTheOMGShow @ Oct 2nd 2007 8:28AM]

I hate defending Palm.. but they have half a mil in the bank and they're currently selling plenty of Windows Mobile devices. They won't be raking it in, but they'll be fine.

[omf @ Oct 2nd 2007 8:58AM]

They're hemorrhaging customers/mind-share more quickly than their bank accounts.

What will the appeal of a new mobile OS be a year from now with the number of WinMob devices growing seemingly by the minute these days?

Palm was in a fantastic position years ago. They dropped the ball and never found it, though.

[Surur @ Oct 2nd 2007 9:31AM]

Palm will actually be $400 million in debt in a few weeks. The share holders are getting that $500 million, and another $400 million besides, because Palm clearly is not using that money for anything better, such as developing their product line.

[Harper @ Oct 2nd 2007 9:52AM]

I've been a Palm user for quite a while (Handspring Visor > Treo 180 > Treo 650), but lack of development and the hollow promises of their CEO is killing them. I've had enough.

So, as my Cingular contract ended last month, I just eBay'd my 2 year old Treo 650 for $180 this past weekend, then renewed with AT&T for another 2 years and picked up a refurb Treo 680 for $30 in the process. That device will be heading to eBay shortly and I hope to clear another $100 there. Then, I'll be picking up an iPhone and basking in the fact that Palm helped pay for 70% of it!

PS. Sorry to hear that your sales are in the toilet, Palm......but what do you expect?

[Doctor Memory @ Oct 2nd 2007 10:48AM]

The end of 2008?

Um, no. Stick a fork in Palm, they're done.

[Ron Amadeo @ Oct 2nd 2007 1:53PM]

Next year is too slow. RIP palm.

Lesson to everyone else. If you make software, NEVER STOP DEVELOPING IT! Why palm has gone so long without updating their OS is incomprehensible.

[Ron Amadeo @ Oct 2nd 2007 1:01PM]

Hey when do we get to see a Palm Deathwatch?

[Dr Buzz0 @ Oct 2nd 2007 3:57PM]

The "End of the next calender year" so basically we're talking late 2008? or, given that it's the beginning of October now, roughly a year and three months, assuming it doesn't hit any delays or problems... which major software projects often do. That's.... ridiculous.

I understand it can take a while to build a new OS from the ground up... well, in this case not really because they're starting out with Linux and Palm OS Garnet, both already established...

But come on guys! You needed a new OS two years ago. At least consider licensing the Access Linux Platform. If for no other reason than it is already in existence. What the hell will even be left of palm in another year and a half????

[David Jacobs @ Oct 2nd 2007 5:54PM]

By the end of next year the 3G iPhone will be out. Game over. Palm will be dead. It was nice while it lasted but Palm f*cked up bad.

[Scott Knaffla @ Oct 3rd 2007 7:18AM]

Wow, December 08 for new Software, I heard they are going to have some new hardware to run that new OS on by December 2010. :)
I don't think anyone else will have come up with something better by then. :) :)
Sorry to hear that, I am a Palm user since the 500 back somewhere in the 90's; and have had about 10 palms since. Currently topped out with a 700p, but I get crashes, and the software runs slow.
Too little too late, sorry palm, another long time user bites the dust ...
(and goes to rim ...)