PalmSource CEO looks at next generation devices

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A new strategy for driving rapid innovation into the mobile computing industry has been outlined by David Nagel, president and chief executive officer of the Palm OS subsidiary of Palm, Inc.

In his keynote address at the PalmSource conference, Nagel also previewed the Palm OS 5 operating system beta and highlight the latest licensee and developer innovations. In addition, the Palm subsidiary announced its new name: PalmSource, Inc. "Only the limits of our imagination will hold us back," Nagel said. "Mobile computing will become ubiquitous by putting people in control of their information, communication, and lives."

Nagel said Palm OS 5, "the foundation for the next generation of handhelds and smart phones," will support a range of ARM-compliant processors from Palm OS Ready Program partners Intel, Motorola and Texas Instruments, giving licensees broad choice to meet market needs. At PalmSource, developers tested their applications on pre-release hardware from Palm OS Ready Program partners.

Laying foundation

"We're laying the foundation for that future today with a new operating system, a new name, and a strategy to drive flexible innovation while maintaining the acclaimed ease of use of the Palm OS," Nagel said. "We also remain committed to our current base of developers and users who will continue to enjoy enhancements and future innovative products from our licensees.'' 

In his keynote address, Nagel said:

The preview of the Palm OS 5 beta, the next-generation Palm OS, and demonstrations of pre-release ARM-compliant hardware from Intel, Motorola and Texas Instruments. The final version of Palm OS 5 is scheduled to be delivered to licensees in early summer.

▪ Demonstrations of innovative new Palm OS based software programs, incorporating technologies such as speech recognition, biometrics, multimedia, collaboration, wireless networking and Bluetooth.

▪ Demonstrations of enterprise solutions and products will show why 83% of the respondents in a Jupiter research study said their companies plan to support Palm Powered devices for mobile applications.

▪ Demonstrations of new Palm Powered devices from market leaders Handspring, Palm, Inc., and Sony will show why Palm OS continues to lead the worldwide handheld platform market.

Palm OS 5 also provides compatibility for software programs written to the Palm OS 4 application programming interfaces, providing investment protection for developers, consumers and enterprises. PalmSource will continue to support the current 68K-based platform and expects that it will continue to be a popular choice into the future.

At the PalmSource Expo, open to the public for the first time, Palm Powered device enthusiasts, including business professionals and students, had the opportunity to see Palm Powered handhelds, smart phones, communicators, and a sampling of the most innovative travel, education, personal information management, communications, entertainment, health, lifestyle, hobby and game software available for any handheld platform. 

Subsidiary formed

Two weeks ago, Palm, Inc. completed the formation of the Palm OS subsidiary, now named PalmSource, providing a complete internal separation of Palm's device and operating system platform businesses. Under the new corporate structure, Palm, Inc., through its Solutions Group, will license the Palm OS platform as the foundation for its industry-leading Palm handhelds.

"The momentum of the Palm OS platform last quarter demonstrates the success of our strategy in growing the Palm Economy in both our hardware and software businesses," said Palm CEO Eric Benhamou. "The timely establishment of the Palm OS software subsidiary is an important and cogent milestone toward meeting the commitment we made to our licensees and investors to create two leading independent businesses."

Palm first signaled that it would move toward the creation of a Palm OS subsidiary last year. It then brought Nagel on board to run the OS business. Nagel, a software industry veteran and widely recognized visionary leader, moved aggressively to complete the separation as part of his overall plan to accelerate Palm OS market momentum.