Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News
    • Mobile

    Palm Solutions Group Future Hard to Read

    By
    Jason Brooks
    -
    January 28, 2002
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Palm recently announced that it had finished forming a separate, mobile operating system entity called Palm Solutions Group. And although the corporate structure intended to market and develop Palm OS is complete, its not clear how this venture will fare.

      Im sure Palm will welcome a change from the ever-shrinking margins of the hardware business to the greener grass of a software-only model, but its not yet clear whether the upcoming Palm OS 5.0 will be the franchise player that Palm is hoping for.

      Palm built its business on simple, low-priced organizers and has always dismissed its competitors as too complex and encumbered by bloated, desktop-inherited code.

      And yet Palm is picking through the remains of defunct desktop operating system company Be for multimedia special sauce and is dropping its signature 16-bit Dragonball-based platform for a 32-bit ARM-based one in line with those of competing systems Windows CE, Symbian OS and Linux.

      Granted, the excellent BeOS is no ancestor to be ashamed of, but will the new ARM-based operating system that Palm has promised to deliver sometime this year have what it takes to make it? The refusal of Microsoft, Symbian and the Linux community to stay out of Palms sandbox will make it difficult for Palm to maintain its hegemony in the handheld space.

      In a market softened by Palms hardware liquidation and threatened by low-cost, Linux-based organizers of the future, makers of Palm OS devices have found it necessary to differentiate their higher-end devices by adding more features.

      Research In Motions BlackBerry has emerged from pager-world obscurity to become the handheld of choice for a fast-growing group of mobile device users. Handsprings Treo communicator (reviewed online at www.eweek.com/links) and Palms expected i705 wireless PDA suggest that Palm OS vendors get the message—these are products that stand to take off as availability of 2.5G-bps wireless network services spread.

      Try as it might to stoke interest in its operating system group moving forward, Palm may find that slick, wireless hardware devices are what it will take to keep the company afloat.

      Technical Analyst Jason Brooks can be reached at jason_brooks@ziffdavis.com.

      Jason Brooks
      As Editor in Chief of eWEEK Labs, Jason Brooks manages the Labs team and is responsible for eWEEK's print edition. Brooks joined eWEEK in 1999, and has covered wireless networking, office productivity suites, mobile devices, Windows, virtualization, and desktops and notebooks. Jason's coverage is currently focused on Linux and Unix operating systems, open-source software and licensing, cloud computing and Software as a Service. Follow Jason on Twitter at jasonbrooks, or reach him by email at jbrooks@eweek.com.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×