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Palm CEO: New OS Delayed Until End of '08

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

October 3, 2007, 4:41 PM

Palm CEO Ed Colligan admitted this week that a new version of its operating system is at least a year and a half away, highlighting the continuing struggles of the PDA maker.

The new OS is intended to allow the company to expand beyond the PDA, however it is now somewhat unclear if the company will pursue such a strategy with the scrapping of the Foleo last month.

However, the scrapping of the Foleo may actually help to get the OS out sooner: engineers who were working on that project have been repurposed to the OS. Development is said to be moving "as well as possibly could be expected."

Regardless, no new version of Palm OS will appear until the end of 2008 at the earliest. However, by that point the software could be out of date, as development is quick on mobile platforms by Microsoft, RIM, Apple and others.

Palm licensed the rights to the Palm OS from Access back in December of 2006, the company that purchased its PalmSource software company spinoff in September 2005. At the time, it said it would be using the code to create a Linux-based version of the operating system, but that has yet to materialize.

However, in a conference call with investors, Colligan assured that the company's complete focus on pushing the next generation operating system out the door. He even said that the company will likely try again on a Foleo-like device, although did not provide any concrete details.

"Our customers are our most important asset," he said during the call. "We want to be sure that their transition to our next-generation platform ... is seamless."

Add a Comment (11 Comments)

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By Scotch Moose

edited Oct 4, 2007 - 1:50 PM

I've seen ambitious year long software development projects planned before, but I've never seen any of them meet their deadlines or their objectives. Ed Colligan needs to read up on this century's software development methodologies.

And while he's at it starting with something like Linux or BSD that already has 98% of what he needs might be a good way to get a product to market before the company becomes a footnote.

Score: 0

By flake

posted Oct 4, 2007 - 4:32 PM

Linux and BSD also have a *lot* of baggage...

They're a quick and easy way out for sure, but no panacea by any means, especially on small, battery powered devices where things like Inferno, QNX, or some RTOS will fare much better.

Score: 0

By puntaunion

edited Oct 4, 2007 - 11:28 AM

'"We want to be sure that their transition to our next-generation platform ... is seamless."'

What? a SEAMLESS transition? So will this Mr.CEO dedicate to developing a new OS for the Palm TX, their current flagship PDA? That will be really seamless indeed ...

Score: 0

By xyzcb1

posted Oct 4, 2007 - 12:17 PM

Palm own, but their OS sucks. Their current OS is so damn old, and they need a replace like 2 to 3 years ago. Just give up on it, and use Windows or Linux base.

Score: 0

By EdZ

posted Oct 4, 2007 - 11:48 AM

I had already given up on waiting for a new Palm OS version after Cobalt died. I've been watching the development of the new Linux based handheld OS from Access Co. - this could be an excellent option for people who spent a lot of $$ on Palm OS apps and want to keep using them. Palm hardware is dead, but there's some darn useful Palm OS apps out there.

Score: 0

By mjm01010101

posted Oct 3, 2007 - 11:01 PM

After using the treo 700w I will never use another palm product again. Atrocious crappy buggy POS.

Score: 0

By methuselah

posted Oct 5, 2007 - 10:04 AM

The 700w is not a Palm product, but a Windows based phone.(thus the W) Perhaps that means you, "will never use another xxxx Windows product again." The Treo 755p is Palm based, and I haven't found that to suffer from your description of the Windows version's problems. (Although I would like a database update.)

Score: 0

By rsx508

posted Oct 3, 2007 - 10:57 PM

Palm is still in business? I thought they got acquired by someone else. *sigh*

Score: 0

By fyrewalll

posted Oct 3, 2007 - 9:56 PM

Palm just needs to give up. It's the worst of the handheld OS and if they aren't going to have anything new for another year and a half (at the earliest), I don't really see them having a chance of gaining back any market share unless they have something really killer which I highly doubt will happen.