The move will help distinguish the company that makes the Palm handheld operating system (PalmSource) and the company that makes handheld devices that run the software (palmOne).
palmOne will be responsible for the hardware side of Palm's business, including the Zire and Tungsten handheld brands. Hardware from the Treo sub brand, formerly owned by Handspring Inc., also will be supported, when the acquisition of that company is completed this fall.
palmOne handhelds will bear the new name beginning in 2004. PalmSource's Palm operating system will continue to use that name, and hardware that runs it will be identified as "Palm powered."
The spin-off and re-branding also will affect investors; a company once identified with the ticker symbol "PALM" will now be called "PLMO" (for PalmOne) and "PSRC" (PalmSource).