Palm, Inc. Redies Its Own Operating System Based On Linux

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/04/10/palm-prepping-its-own-linux-based-os/">http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/04/10/palm-prepping-its-own-linux-based-os/</a><br /><br /><i>"Just a few years late, Palm is finally getting ready to land its users onto a modern Palm-built OS. Ed Colligan, in his Investor Day keynote today, announced that Palm will be launching a homegrown Linux-based OS by the end of the year, with Opera for a browser and the recently acquired Chattermail for messaging. Palm has been secretly at work on this OS for a number of years, and does not plan to license it to other manufacturers. Colligan also says that Palm is going to continue Windows Mobile product releases, and thanks to that handy Garnet license, Palm will be able to show its "commitment to the Palm OS community" by merging Palm OS 5.4 support into its Linux kernel."</i><br /><br />Palm OS 5 is over 5 years old now, ancient in the world of mobile devices. PalmSource, the owner of OS 5, was purchased by Access last year and Access announced ALP, a Linux based successor to PalmOS, but now Palm, Inc., the hardware manufacturer, no longer content to license PalmOS 5 and Windows Mobile is going to be developing their own platform again. Do you think there is room for another mobile operating system?

[whydidnt]

Do you think there is room for another mobile operating system?

YES! I have to preface my remarks by saying Palm has a less than stellar track record as far as OS releases go, so I'm not convinced they will get this right on their first try.

WM is becoming far to corporate oriented for my liking. It seems with every release we lose features in the name of corporate security. Not to mention MS's determination to keep the OS crippled so it does not steal desktop OS or office sales. As we know, the Palm OS is unable to cope with the demands of many of today's power users. Symbian, while popular in feature phones, really isn't a power users Mobile OS, either.

Palm has a shot to win the hearts of many of us who are rapidly growing discontent with the lack of innovation in the Windows Mobile world. If they manage to release a device that is not crippled with low resolution, minimal memory or an unstable OS, I will be first in line to give them a shot. However, if all we get is a Treo 800 with 64 MB of RAM running the new OS with a Garnet emulator on a 320 x 320 screen and nothing else, they will have once again shot themselves in the foot. This is a chance for Palm to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack. I want to see a true mobile device that can replace all the crap I carry around today. I want lots of RAM, I want built in GPS, I want a hi-res screen. I want it to be fun to use to play games. I want it to excel as both a music and video player. I want both WiFi and 3G data access. Linux should make all of this possible, but it's up to Palm to implement it, and we can only wait to see if they actually execute.

The sad thing is WM could fulfill all of my wants but MS and their OEM's have consipired to prevent that from happening to date.

[Foo Fighter]

Just the fact the engadget story has only three comments (two from the same person no less) speaks volumes.

No one cares about Palm or its former OS anymore.

[Ed Hansberry]

No one cares about Palm or its former OS anymore.
Yeah, it took me a week to build up the energy to post on it. :wink: :lol:

[mv]

So, there will be 2 linux based palm os? one from access and one from palm the hardware manufacturer? Creepy. :D

But then again, we may be surprised... i was with ubuntu, wich im now running on my desktop instead of windows... :D

[ADBrown]

So, there will be 2 linux based palm os? one from access and one from palm the hardware manufacturer?

The one from Access can't and won't have the Palm brand, since that's now wholly owned by Palm Inc. Their OS will be Access Linux Platform. Not that it's expected to matter that much, as I doubt we'll ever see it outside Asia.

[dommasters]

There's room for Symbian, Apple and WM .... for now :D

[virain]

There are too many operating systems as it is on the market today. So welcome a competition, at the end number will be reduced to 2 or 3. I predict: Windows (Mobile, or Vista), Apple (it's proprietary and catering to loyal customers mostly and it is adaptive to software developed for windows), and one version of Symbian, The rest, if survive, will serve to nitch customers

[dommasters]

Well you can easily write apps for the iPhone. They just need to be web apps. Writing apps in .Net or C++ for WM just means you'll have to live on baked beans - most apps can be hacked in hours if not minutes.

[martin_ayton]

Bring it on! Competition of this sort can only lead to improved offerings for all of us. Windows Mobile's increasing domination of the higher end mobile OS market has led to less and less innovation (and I'm not anti-MS - stultification seems to be inevitable in a market dominated by few players). All I hope is that Palm can offer something genuinely interesting and worth the wait. A "me, too" mobile OS won't achieve anything.

[alese]

So, a small smartphone player will do another properiatery verison of Linux, that is based on 5 year old OS, no one wants any more, I think we have all the ingredients for sucess here...

And there is also one other thing. Even if they do come up with great OS and subsequently they also create great hardware built around the OS, so what.
Since they are small, Palm will of course be unable to properly support (drivers and SW) and develop (next versions, with new features every 12-18 months) the new platform. Of course Linux gives them some head start, but at the end they will have to invest a lot of resources (that in my opinion they don't have) into support and developement.
They probably hope that somehow there will be a community formed around the platform that will do the work for them, but the problem is that it's just not enough - Sharp and their Zaurus line is an excelent example of such situation...

[mdlsimpson]

I am not excited by the Palm/Linux thing but I am intrigued by it. I currently use both a Palm OS 5 device and a WM 5.0 device and have to say that the WM device offers more to me than the Palm (WiFi, BT, multitasking, security, and others) Don't get me wrong, I like the Palm OS but it hasn't changed for the better in several years..... It needs a Boost!

[RogueSpear]

No one cares about Palm or its former OS anymore.
If Microsoft continues down it's utterly uninspired path, we'll soon be saying the same thing about WM. I STILL have not found a compelling reason to upgrade from my ipaq 3975 running 2003.

[Foo Fighter]

No one cares about Palm or its former OS anymore.
If Microsoft continues down it's utterly uninspired path, we'll soon be saying the same thing about WM. I STILL have not found a compelling reason to upgrade from my ipaq 3975 running 2003.

That can largely be said already. Once the iPhone arrives I and many other users will be walking away from Windows Mobile, PalmOS, BlackBerry, and Symbian.

[ADBrown]

That can largely be said already. Once the iPhone arrives I and many other users will be walking away from Windows Mobile, PalmOS, BlackBerry, and Symbian.

And how long before you come fleeing back at the prospect of using only the built-in applications? :lol:

[dommasters]

That can largely be said already. Once the iPhone arrives I and many other users will be walking away from Windows Mobile, PalmOS, BlackBerry, and Symbian.

And how long before you come fleeing back at the prospect of using only the built-in applications? :lol:
It will run web apps through a far better browser.

[ADBrown]

It will run web apps through a far better browser.

Right, because we all know how great web-based applications are, particularly over EDGE, on a half-VGA screen. :lol:

[dommasters]

It will run web apps through a far better browser.

Right, because we all know how great web-based applications are, particularly over EDGE, on a half-VGA screen. :lol:
and because we know how great 3rd party apps are when:
1 they hog resources,
2 they stop you making calls,
3 they soft reset your device,
4 they freeze your device,
5 they wont install,
6 they wont uninstall
7 you can't install them anywhere else

Add to that that:

1. developers wont have to sign their apps
2. or sign up to some lacklustre mobile 2 market scheme or
3. have their hard work hacked in an instant

My latest WM is slower than the one I bought in 2001. It has only twice as much RAM. And now they want to get rid of the stylus and touchscreen for people with just one arm. Great but I'd rather have a touchscreen and a fabulous interface that is intuitive.

This is Apple's first incarnation. I remember Microsoft's. These days it's news on Windows Mobile if a new one comes out in a different color.

How many 3rd party apps have you seen for WM lately ? No not the trailer trash but quality 3rd part apps ?

Here's a comparison; Microsoft's new UMPC line or Apple's new iPhone line. Try them both and see which has had more than 2 minutes thought go into the user interface.

[applejosh]

I welcome it only because I don't look at it as another mobile platform. The Access branded OS won't add up to much (at least in the US/Canada). And the Garnet based OS will most likely be dropped eventually (since I'm relatively certain that the new Linux based PalmOS will run most apps that run on OS5 now, and if I was Palm, I'd want as few OS's to support as possible). And I can hope that the renewed interest in things Palm based will cause all OS's to improve just from competition.

[Jonathan1]

Too little, too late. If this was 3-4 years ago they could have pulled an Apple. But now? Palm is borderline irrelevant for most people. Not all. Just most.

[Jonathan1]

That can largely be said already. Once the iPhone arrives I and many other users will be walking away from Windows Mobile, PalmOS, BlackBerry, and Symbian.

Yah but its Cingular. :pukeface2: I'd rather cut off my arm and start beating myself over the head saying can you hear me now, can you hear me now, can you hear me now...then use Cingular.

[farnold]

Do you think there is room for another mobile operating system?
For one that is complete, proper, user-oriented and reliabe - yes. For one from Palm - no.

[Magellan]

There does not need to be much improvement to Palm OS for it to be better than Windows Mobile. I still use my Palm OS device more than my WM device. Windows Mobile is turning out just like the Desktop version, bloated and unreliable.

[palewar]

And best is yet to come. Having said that I am not excited about palm's os or even about access's ALP.

I don't understand the strategy behind palm developing an OS of its own because as I know Palm split into PalmSource and Palm to separte their OS business from Device Manufacturing business.

Now if palm again starts building os its again going back, then why they decided to split in the first place? Only to have an OS which they won't license to anybody??

Maybe somebody needs to dig deepar in their corporate heirarchy and find out if their is really a great business strategy here. I hope there is :-)