PalmSource to Announce New OS Names

Posted By: Ryan Thursday, February 5, 2004 11:33:43 AM

As the upcoming PalmSource developer conference gets closer, more details are beginning to surface about the companies plans. Recent articles hint that PalmSource will be announcing new names for Palm OS 5 and the next generation OS 6.

In a recent article on CNET, David Nagel has revealed a bit of what PalmSource is planning to announce at the developer conference. Most notable is that PalmSource will continue to developed Palm OS 5 and 6 simultaneously and the two compatible OS's will also be given new names and will be separately branded.

As previously reported, PalmSource plans to continue to develop Palm OS 5. The company plans to make a "phone edition" version of Palm OS 5 aimed at smartphones. The company will target phone centric devices and a future category of less expensive smartphones and feature phones. Nagel feels the maturity of OS 5 will make it ideal for use on mass-market handsets.

PalmSource is expected to talk more about Palm OS 6 and other OS releases at the upcoming PalmSource Developer Conference. The developer and enthusiast gathering will take place February 10-12, 2004 in San Jose, California. PalmInfocenter will be reporting live from the event next week.

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1st (2nd this week?)

Konstantin @ 2/5/2004 1:22:54 PM #
Cant wait to have a Zire71 updated model with POS6 and 1MP cam.

RE: 1st (2nd this week?)
gremlin_591002 @ 2/5/2004 8:19:31 PM #
Don't be to excited about a Zire 71. I love my to death. But I killed the slider mechanism in 3 months flat and had to ship it back. Despite keeping it in a metal case and a padded belt case. :(

Bad idea

JonathanChoo @ 2/5/2004 1:22:20 PM #
I think PalmSource should move PalmOS to a standard API (OS6) and stays there while marketing two OS versions eg. a 'lite' version and a 'fat' version like Windows XP Home and Pro.

I wonder when those native OS6 applications comes out, how would they work on OS5?

---
Generic Casio > Psion 5> Palm Vx > m505 > Sony N770C > T625C > NR70V > Toshiba e310 > T/T > HP h2210 > T/T3

StarTac > Ericsson T28m > T39m > T68m > T610 > T630

Next PDA/Phone: T/T4 or VGA PPC or Treo 610/S-E T650

RE: Bad idea
rsc1000 @ 2/5/2004 3:03:20 PM #
>>I wonder when those native OS6 applications comes out, how would they work on OS5?

they won't

RE: Bad idea Hmmmm NOT!
Konstantin @ 2/5/2004 10:12:55 PM #
If there were a fat version I guess it would be for a tablet pc version.
That would be great.

names...

hotpaw4 @ 2/5/2004 1:35:28 PM #
Well if Apple can use big cat names for their Mac OS versions, such as Puma, Jaguar, Panther, Cheetah, etc., maybe PalmSource can use OS names such as:

Tabby, Calico, Siamese, Manx, Angora, and, my favorite, Maine Coon...

:^)

RE: names...
mikecane @ 2/5/2004 2:22:42 PM #
hotpaw, you've got a bit of felidae going on there...

Just as long as they don't call them Symphony and Jazz! (A tech joke bosco is too young to get!)

RE: names...
Bartman007 @ 2/5/2004 4:23:49 PM #
mike, maybe the joke you are thinking of is way before my time, but are you speaking of Apple's older Rhapsody/Copeland naming scheme?


Peace,
-Bartman007

RE: names...
lamp @ 2/5/2004 4:40:13 PM #
>> but are you speaking of Apple's older Rhapsody/Copeland naming scheme?

At the risk of dating myself, Mike (geezer) Cane is referring to the failed products that followed Lotus "Notes."

RE: names...
indesman @ 2/5/2004 7:18:33 PM #
I had a Maine Coon once and I have to agree that they are most interesting felines you can get. If I ever get another cat that is what it will be.

RE: names...
mikecane @ 2/5/2004 7:18:35 PM #
Got it in one. Here's a Palm-Size PC for answering correctly.

Ha!

RE: names...
DevPOV @ 2/6/2004 1:19:42 AM #
Symphony and Jazz precedded Notes! That was back in the final days of Ashton-Tate....

RE: names...
sdf @ 2/6/2004 8:39:45 AM #
I suggest "Gershwin" and "Copland."

RE: names...
LiveFaith @ 2/6/2004 3:53:53 PM #
Is it time for the mysterious VELD name to appear?

Pat Horne; www.churchoflivingfaith.com

License fees?

just_little_me @ 2/5/2004 2:40:46 PM #
Does anyone have ball-park figures on what each license costs on a per unit basis? I've heard that WinCE can be had for around the $5 mark...? What about Symbian too? Just wondering how competitive Palm OS is going to be in the market.


JLM.

RE: License fees?
Rome @ 2/5/2004 5:37:03 PM #
Depending on which version of Palm you are talking about. I think the average price per Palm license is around $10-12.

RE: License fees?
Slam @ 2/5/2004 6:27:11 PM #
its more like $8 for existing palm licenses for OS5. but part of why they want to split the OS brands is to have a lower priced version to sell to phone makers. If the goal is to have a device that costs $100, then the OS license has to be much lower than $8. More likely $3 or under.



RE: License fees?
cbowers @ 2/6/2004 12:39:35 PM #
I bigger issue than the licence fee would seem to be the minimum license block size. That's the part that pinches smaller licensees.

Leaked name?

cbowers @ 2/5/2004 4:10:07 PM #
The OS6 name would appear to be "Cobalt", unless it's still a codeword.

The DevCon 2004 agenda (PDA download) released by PalmSource shows:

"Palm OS Cobalt Technical Introduction"
Tuesday 11:30am to 12:30am
Location: Imperial Ballroom
Speaker: David Fedor
This is the session you've all been waiting for - a whirlwind overview of the incredible array of new features and technology engineered into the latest version of Palm OS..."


RE: Leaked name?
Slam @ 2/5/2004 6:33:46 PM #
Very nice find!!

:-) I remember taking Cobalt programming classes many moons ago... or was that Cobol?? I'm confused... :-)

RE: Leaked name?
mikecane @ 2/5/2004 7:20:15 PM #
Cobalt?!

palmCob?

RE: Leaked name?
lamp @ 2/5/2004 8:04:20 PM #
I heard Cobalt supports ksh programming (Unix Korn Shell). It's called KornCob.

--ducking and running...

RE: Leaked name?
Token User @ 2/6/2004 10:24:20 AM #
From dictionary.com ...

"The Kobolds were a species of gnomes, who haunted the dark and solitary places, and were often seen in the mines." --Scott

Cobalt, the metal, "the goblin of the mines," was named by those who had to work it after the kobold, since it caused them so much trouble, the ore being arsenical.

Hope this isn't a sign of things to come for developers ...


~ "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed." - DV ~

RE: Leaked name?
LiveFaith @ 2/6/2004 3:56:13 PM #
Maybe it's Cobalt for the starch-collared-market and Fourtran for the pocket-protector-market. I'll keep my day job tho.

Pat Horne; www.churchoflivingfaith.com
RE: Leaked name?
Admin @ 2/6/2004 4:10:17 PM #
... no one thinks it could be veld? ;)
RE: Leaked name?
cbowers @ 2/6/2004 5:58:56 PM #
Doubtful. I did a patent search on veld yesterday and it turns out PalmSource abandoned the trademark.

RE: Leaked name?
JKingGrim @ 2/7/2004 9:21:03 AM #
Palm patented VELD. Not PalmSource.

Two Palms

RyanP @ 2/6/2004 10:26:28 AM #
i don't like the idea of having two operating systems but i do think this is a necessity.

they need an OS (os6) to compete with pocket pc and to push into cutting edge Pdas and larger (say laptops) and more varied devices (embedded anything).

They also need to address low to mid-priced cell phones. The requirements for this segment of the cell phone market are small footprint, low price (sub $3 maybe sub $1.50) and a gui that can work with some pretty basic input/out devices (like a numeric phone pad).

You have to understand that cell makers will go to great lengths to design < $1 out of a cellphone BOM (bill of materials). A single-band GSM phone can have a BOM of under $50 quite easily. There is no way that OS 6 is going to fit in this space and the traditional "smart-phone" market is really quite small (due to cost) and not likely to grow without a major cost reduction.

RE: Two Palms
SaabCaptain @ 2/7/2004 10:16:04 PM #
considering that OS 5 also requires ARM hardware how is keeping OS 5 any "cheaper" for any manufactuers other than PalmSource will offer it cheaper? i mean does OS 5 support cheaper hardware that couldn't run OS 6, because i don't see that as being the case since the hardware requirements are much the same for both OS's...

that said i think the major reason OS 5 is hanging around is continued legacy support as i bet despite best efforts OS 6 will break a whole ton of exisiting software and perhaps not run the stuff that does work very fast.

we'll just have to see. WHEN WILL WE SEE Palms with OS 6? summer?

owned: Pilot 5000, PalmPilot Pro, Palm V, Casio E-11, IIIc, m505, Sony T615, Tungsten T, iPaq 1945, Tungsten E.

Praying...

Thunderball @ 2/6/2004 4:21:24 PM #
Sigh... a name? Whoppe!

What about:

MULTITHREADING
MEMORY PROTECTION
BFS (DATABASED) FILE SYSTEM
3D OPENGL SUPPORT
TRUE TYPE (OPEN TYPE) FONT SUPPORT

Aaaaaaargh! I can't stand the wait (and I'm certainly going to go ballistic if they omiss any of the above... I mean, BeOS excelled in all of those areas... to not use the acquired technology would be madness)!

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