Is Linux Palm's savior?

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for Cobalt 6.1, which debuted late last year, PalmSource repeated the snafu, the developer said.

After Cobalt 6.1 came out, PalmSource soon announced it had acquired China MobileSoft and, as a result, would offer Linux.

"When they announced they would offer the Palm OS on Linux, licensees wanted to wait for that, so the same thing is happening," the developer added.

Hong Kong-based device maker Group Sense PDA said it would ship a smart phone based on Cobalt in the United States by the fourth quarter. But will it be tempting enough for carriers, who, as Burden said, "hold all the purse strings"?

Device makers and cellular carriers will likely want to go with a more tried-and-true OS for new cell phones, such as those from Microsoft, Symbian and Research In Motion, Burden said.

Sibling squabbles ahead?
A major source of concern for the company is its relationship with its No. 1 licensee and former sister company PalmOne. The handheld maker renewed its operating system license from PalmSource through 2009 for a minimum royalty of $148.5 million.

The deal ensures steady revenue. However, sources have said PalmOne has evaluated both Microsoft-based operating systems and at least one version of Linux as a potential alternative operating system to the Palm OS for its handheld devices.

Sources familiar with the tests said PalmOne has been quietly exploring operating systems to augment the Palm OS for some time. The company has also been exploring partnerships that could let it use a tailored version of the Linux operating system to run on its devices.

PalmSource has a Linux solution in the works. Cobalt will also be ported over to the new PalmSource Linux operating system once it has been developed, McVeigh said.

PalmSource's China MobileSoft acquisition was designed to expand the company's global presence and put Linux applications squarely in its product plans.

While the Palm OS will run as a software layer on top of Linux, and PalmSource plans to contribute to the Linux community, the company won't release the Palm OS code to the public.

PalmSource could have a Linux-based operating system available in 18 months, said Pablo A. Perez-Fernandez, an equity research analyst with Stanford Financial Group.

"It would cost less to develop and give them more opportunities especially in China," Perez-Fernandez said. "However, it's a risky strategy since they don't have any licensees yet...they wouldn't see a big increase in revenues for four to six quarters."

The Linux-based operating system would allow PalmSource to tap the potentially large feature phone market, which encompasses phones that aren't advanced smart phones like the Treo 650 but that include digital cameras and other capabilities beyond sending and receiving calls.

The operating system would allow carriers to incorporate a standard operating system into feature phones, which make up a majority of the phone market. By 2008, worldwide shipments of feature phones will reach 575 million units, far bigger than the smart phone market, Perez-Fernandez said.

The risk? Plenty of development remains to be done on the Linux operating system.

"There's a lot of interest," Perez-Fernandez said, adding "but that's very different from commitment."

[JuggerNaut]

Time to resurrect BeOS!

It is now time for Palm to open the vault and unleash the latest and
greatest of BeOS and start competing against Windows on the
desktop. Come on Palm, you know you want to.

[feranick]

Unrealistic

Why competing with Windows (desktop) if they can barely compete with Widows mobile? The main mistake for Palmsource was to develop a totally new OS from the ground up. This took a lot of time and resources. They should have invested more into the Palm philosophy, using an existing kernel and focus on improving the palm platform with enhanced feature. The first Cobalt 6.0 had no attractive features. They should have follow the way Apple did with MacOSX. Pretending to compete with Dektop windows, is just suicidal.

It's too late for Palm

They had the greatest OS in the palms of their hands, BeOS, and didn't know what to do with it. They still have no clue.

[System Tyrant]

Maybe

I don't know that palm is dead, but their own worst enemy is themselves. I hate to see Palms running Windows Mobile, but Palm (like Netware, WordPerfect, etc) has underestimated Microsofts power to get things done. It may very well be a fatal mistake.

I thinks PalmSource should explore a move to linux and find a way to use it and BeOS. I think they need to listen to people and find out what people are wanting and find a way to give it to them better than Microsoft. I also think that Palm needs to release the source to BeOS so it can continue to grow it's community.

Palm and BeOS

What Palm did to BeOS is criminal. They won't support it and won't release it to the OS community. Its very hard to muster any sympathy for these guys.

[jmmejzz]

Newton Redux?

I know the PDA market is stagnant and St Steve has said Apple
won't be developing a "PDA", it just seems to be an opportunity
as Palm whatever declines it will leave a vacuum. Besides, an
Apple PDA with my Powerbook would be to do die for.