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Palm 'Surges' With Linux-Based OS

Now you tell us. That's my reaction to the announcement by Palm CEO Ed Colligan yesterday, that the Treo-maker will finally, at long last, after years of rumor, speculation, and general procrastination, develop a new version of its Garnet operating system based on a Linux kernel.

Well, blow me down. This has been predicted for years, not least by an enterprising Palm-watcher named David Beers, of Pikesoft Mobile Computing, who combed Palm's job postings and noticed back in 2006 that they were looking to hire software engineers with experience in embedded Linux systems. ("A clew!" exclaims the world-famous detective.)

But as Dan Jones of Unstrung notes, "Palm's Linux strategy provokes as many questions as it answers."

One obvious one has to do with Access, formerly PalmSource, which happens to own the Garnet platform, which Palm in turn licenses. Colligan's overdue move to Linux comes a full two months after Access released a Linux-based mobile OS of its own. So, let me get this straight: now there will be two versions of the Palm OS, only one of which is actually owned by Palm itself? This is the "new foundation" for Palm, which has been the subject of acquisition rumors for months?

Pardon me if I don't rush out and buy Palm shares. Palm is facing intense competition both from Research in Motion, whose BlackBerry continues to dominate the enterprise smartphone category and who last fall released a new consumer-oriented device, the Pearl, to great critical and consumer acclaim, and from "traditional" manufacturers like Nokia, the world's No. 1 mobile phone maker, which just released a powerful new high-end multimedia device, the $750 N95. (Flashy multimedia is not where it's at, Palm claims: "We think the next big thing is the Web in your pocket," the company's Brodie Keast told Unstrung. What is this, 1999?) Like the new U.S. strategy in Iraq, Palm's update of the outmoded Palm OS is too little, too late.

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