If Palmsource released PalmLinux today, it will still be 18 months before a phone gets released to the public. They claim PalmLinux will be available Middle 2006. This means the first phones will be available start 2008. (thats time for FCC certification and carrier testing included). We KNOW it will slip from Mid 2006 in any case.
Add to this the fact that the phone OEM's are not going to be flocking to PalmLinux in any case (what do they have which WM don't?) and that they would have lost all momentum, and I can say its very safe to say PalmSource is a dead man walking.
Regarding WM not being able to cover all the phone bases, I think this MS mobile phone begs to differ.
- 1.3 megapixel camera + Flash
- GPRS class 10
- 240x320 QVGA 262K TFT colour screen
- 64MB internal memory and Mini SD external memory
- USB, IrDA and Bluetooth connectivity
- Video MMS and download and playback
- Java 2.0
http://www.coolsmartphone.com/news1306.html
(On sale now)
I would love to have this phone, just for the music buttons and WMP 10 (for music subscriptions). Its very small too.
The mobile phone networks in Europe get along quite well with MS, and consumer acceptance of MS devices are quite good. I expect they will go from strength to strength.
Surur