In a Palm Analyst Day conference call this morning, Palm CEO Ed
Colligan formally announced a new Linux based operating system with key
elements from GarnetOS.
This new platform will be built around web browsing, user experience,
greater hardware choice, and simultaneous use of voice and data
services. The new OS is expected to launch later this year with new
devices. Read More for details and slides from the presentation.
Ed Colligan revealed that this has been an internal project at Palm for
a number of years, with no intention of licensing the OS to third
parties. This is intended to be exclusive to Palm and has no connection
to the ACCESS Linux Platform.
At this time there is no additional technical information on devices or
specifics of the OS.
One detail we can confirm is the ability of the OS to run Garnet apps
without modification, possibly through the use of a virtual machine. He
also stated a total commitment to the Palm development community, as
well as a continuing investement to develop Garnet and ALP.
In the question and answer session that followed the presentation, Palm
executives pushed the idea of free wireless access, leading to
speculation that the first wave of devices may not be smartphones, but
internet tablets which is reinforced by the fact that the OS will have
a version of the Opera browser installed, with smartphones likely
following soon after, since it was stated that it was not critical to
Palm to sell the new devices through carriers, preferring to sell them
direct to consumers, although carriers could offer them at some point.
It was also stated that Palm had developed a unique Wi-Fi
implementation that would maximize battery life on new
devices. The session ended with the CEO reiterating his
statement that the Linux platform will be the core technology for the
foreseeable future at Palm.
