Trouble Between Palm and Palmsource

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://investor.palm.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1193125-06-155911">http://investor.palm.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1193125-06-155911</a><br /><br /><i>"Contemporaneously with the license agreement, we entered into a co-development agreement with PalmSource to develop a next-generation Palm OS for use in future Palm products. <b>PalmSource did not timely meet certain of the milestones under the co-development agreement, relieving us of our obligation to make minimum royalty payments under the license agreement after calendar year 2006.</b> We are presently in negotiations with PalmSource to expand our development and distribution rights to the current version of the Palm OS. If we are unable to successfully conclude these negotiations, it may adversely affect our ability to develop and distribute new products based on a next-generation version of the Palm OS. Regardless, we will continue to release new products based on the current version of the Palm OS."</i> - (Emphasis added)<br /><br />Well, I'm not sure what milestones were missed, but I suspect by now, Palm wanted either a new OS or at least being much farther along. If an agreement cannot be reached, Palm still has the option of making more PalmOS 5/Garnet devices, which is already about five years old. That effectively locks them out of the European market with a PalmOS device as true multitasking is required for the newer high speed networks.<br /><br />Of course, Microsoft hasn't failed to meet their milestones, so more Windows Powered Palm devices seem a certainty. :)

[Eugenia]

Well, the rumor had it that Palm also was developing in house their own Linux-based OS, just like Palmsource did with theirs. This doesn't mean that this version will ever see the light of day of course. It was a dev project...

[Foo Fighter]

Palm will ultimately dump PalmOS and transition entirely to Windows Mobile. Alternatively we might see a custom Linux stack geared towards low-end phones, but the notion that Palm has clandestine plans to secretly roll-out their own PalmOS derived from Linux is little more than pie in the sky.

Considering PalmOS is a dying platform, it makes little fiscal sense for Palm to invest an enormous amount of capitol developing its own successor for platform that's being handed its hat and coat.

[Janak Parekh]

Of course, Microsoft hasn't failed to meet their milestones
Except for the milestone known as "fixing Connection Manager". Oh, wait, that was never a milestone. :?

In all seriousness, it'll be huge irony if Palm ditches PalmOS in its entirety. I suspect they'll keep one or two PalmOS devices around for backwards-compatibility, but as we've already seen, they're starting to release WM Treos first with new technologies.

--janak

[lapchinj]

...Of course, Microsoft hasn't failed to meet their milestones, so more Windows Powered Palm devices seem a certainty. :)
I'm wondering if Microsoft's milestones will keep being met if Palm were to vanish. Microsoft has been known only to work and produce under pressure. Even though Palm itself is not much of a pressure the name and legacy are. Of course if Microsoft would make a bad jugment call or misstep I could see someone putting his/her foot into Microsofts door just like Linux did.

Just to show what name recognition means: Every day at least one (usually some uninitiated type) person will ask me if that's a Palm or even a Palm Pilot. Kind of strange when Microsoft is the biggest player. Palm people will look at me using my PPC and remark "Oh. that's one of those, ahhhh, Microsoft, ahhhh, Palms? &lt;2 sec. pause> ahhhh I mean PDA :?

Jeff-

[alese]

...I'm wondering if Microsoft's milestones will keep being met if Palm were to vanish. Microsoft has been known only to work and produce under pressure. Even though Palm itself is not much of a pressure the name and legacy are. Of course if Microsoft would make a bad jugment call or misstep I could see someone putting his/her foot into Microsofts door just like Linux did.
...
Jeff-

I guess Microsoft will still be forced to meet the milestones.
For some time now (except maybe in USA) Microsoft's target is not PalmOS anymore, but Symbian and they are far from winning against it.

[Ed Hansberry]

...Of course, Microsoft hasn't failed to meet their milestones, so more Windows Powered Palm devices seem a certainty. :)
I'm wondering if Microsoft's milestones will keep being met if Palm were to vanish. Microsoft has been known only to work and produce under pressure.
MS is largely ignoring PalmOS as a serious competitor here. It is five years old in its current incarnation and is losing share daily. Why bother?

It is the RIM Blackberry and Symbian powered devices (mainly Nokia) that MS is gunning for.