PalmSource to Develop OS 5 Phone Edition

Posted By: Ryan Wednesday, September 24, 2003 2:35:33 PM

According to news out of the European Developer conference, PalmSource plans to continue to develop Palm OS 5, even after OS 6 is finished. The company will release a special version of OS 5 that will target mobile phones.

PalmSource just announced that the next generation Palm OS 6 will be complete on December 29th. Palm OS 6 will be aimed at high end converged devices and traditional handhelds.

According to a report in the Computer Business Review, PalmSource will continue to develop OS 5 and will create a special telephony version of OS 5 aimed at low-end "feature phones." PalmSource president and CEO David Nagel told journalists at the company's European developer conference in Munich, Germany yesterday that the maturity of OS 5 will make it ideal for use on mass-market handsets.

The version will be aimed at Smartphones and other low-end "feature phones." PalmSource feels that the small and compact footprint for OS 5 makes it the ideal choice for these types of devices and will bring lower price points and higher volume. PalmSource has not announced a time frame, but it is expected sometime next year.

The report also uncovers that, PalmSource will release a software development kit for OS 6 at its spring conference on February 10 next year.

Thanks to Gaurav for the tip.

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Getting input from Handspring already...

a3 @ 9/24/2003 3:31:43 PM #
This OS may be the Treo 600's. After all, one of this product's advantages is its Palm OS5 improvement in order to allow a no stylus operation.

____________________________________________
Former Tapwave's Helix fan, now a T|T3 fan.

No OS 6 smartphone for a long time?

gfunkmagic @ 9/24/2003 3:46:24 PM #
I wonder if this means it will be a long time before we see Palm OS 6 on a smartphone? This is kinda confusing b/c the main attraction of OS 6 will be its multi-threading capability which I thought would be ideally suited for wirless devices? Any thoughts?

Visit http://goodthatway.com/
-better living through better technology.
RE: No OS 6 smartphone for a long time?
Massman82 @ 9/24/2003 3:54:41 PM #
There will be OS6 smartphones...they just want to bring the price of smartphones down so vendors who prefer a low-cost device can use OS5. That's what I am inferring from this article at least.

-------------
Roman
Clie NX60 - Massman82@PDArcade.com
RE: No OS 6 smartphone for a long time?
ConceptVBS @ 9/24/2003 6:18:35 PM #
Great news! I would love to have a Palm Smartphone that <$200!!! Hip Hip Hurray!!

RE: No OS 6 smartphone for a long time?
elo @ 9/24/2003 6:21:14 PM #
Agreed. I'd be all over this.

elo

RE: No OS 6 smartphone for a long time?
crustyedgeofinnovation @ 9/24/2003 6:48:56 PM #
i have trouble believing that it wil be under 200$, maybe about 350$, but it would still be a good buy. Especially if it's Treo-like.

www.departmentofcomfort.com
RE: No OS 6 smartphone for a long time?
Scott R @ 9/24/2003 8:38:10 PM #
I don't get it either gfunk. I suspect that most people have been able to get along just fine for a long time now without real multitasking on a Palm OS device. It isn't until you add wireless into the equation that the need for true multitasking becomes apparent. With a wireless device, you want to be able to keep your IM client open/active, download email in the background, etc. This news makes no sense to me.

Perhaps this "special" version of OS5 will be designed around the now antiquated 160x160 screen resolution. As much as I know it pains you, I really believe that the SGH-I500 will be 160x160 (or whatever that odd number is) as well. That, combined with the Treo 600, means that we'll have no high-res OS5 Palm OS phones on the horizon.

The other thing hinted at in this news is that the ROM size of OS6 won't be nearly as compact as OS5. If true, that may not bode well for folks hoping to upgrade their existing OS5 devices.

Scott

http://TapLand.com
- Tapwave Zodiac News, Reviews, & Discussion -

RE: No OS 6 smartphone for a long time?
rave @ 9/25/2003 2:58:41 AM #
No, SGH-i500's have already been demonstrated with 320x320 screens. Check it out at pdafrance.com
RE: No OS 6 smartphone for a long time?
Edward Green @ 9/25/2003 6:12:45 AM #
Which means I will be holding of on that Treo600

Edward Green
--
http://www.khite.co.uk
RE: No OS 6 smartphone for a long time?
newton @ 9/25/2003 8:54:05 AM #
That means OS6 is not mature enough to handle mission critical task like phone call.

Remember when OS5 came, palm insisted on using OS4 for tungsten W?

RE: No OS 6 smartphone for a long time?
Scott R @ 9/25/2003 11:58:01 AM #
"No, SGH-i500's have already been demonstrated with 320x320 screens. Check it out at pdafrance.com"
I already saw those pictures. Unless there are some pictures that I missed, or some commentary that stated it as being 320x320 (I don't speak/read French), the pictures were not large enough to determine whether or not the screen was 320x320. If you know more, please clarify. Thanks,

Scott

http://TapLand.com
- Tapwave Zodiac News, Reviews, & Discussion -

Death of MS Smurfphone

mikecane @ 9/24/2003 7:07:51 PM #
This is yet another nail in the coffin of MS's abomination, Smurfphone.

Right off the bat, a PalmOS 5-based phone will have more apps available than any MS Smurfphone.

Second, I doubt it'll take two fekkin minutes to boot up from being switched off!

RE: Death of MS Smurfphone
abosco @ 9/24/2003 7:17:21 PM #
I don't know if I'd call it 'death', but it certainly is a big blow to PPCPE and Smartphone. But, of course, once Palm OS has full multitasking, a separate edition for phones that could more or less beat the piss out of PPCPE, and a powerful software library, people will resort to their last line of defense and say, "Can I play Quake on it?"

After all, Quake is why we buy a PDA, isn't it?

-Bosco

RE: Death of MS Smurfphone
mikecane @ 9/24/2003 7:36:09 PM #
It'll be the death.

Imagine being in a building where you have to turn OFF your Smurfphone.

When you leave, you forget to turn it back on.

You're in an accident and need to dial 911 (let's make it really cruel: you've been struck by a hit-and-run driver, no witnesses around, and you're about to lose consciousness due to shock!) -- you turn on the Smurfphone and you're DEAD by the time the TWO MINUTE bootup sequence is finished!

Carriers should REJECT Smurfphones for that reason alone. They become jointly liable for lawsuits that will *inevitably* emerge due to that two-minute bootup time.

Ba'al Gates has always lusted after "instant on" capability -- well, PalmOS has that.

RE: Death of MS Smurfphone
abosco @ 9/24/2003 10:04:04 PM #
I don't know too much about Smartphone, but are you serious that it takes two minutes to boot up? Not even WINDOWS takes that long to boot up. Gross!

Fine, hit and run, killed by Microsoft. Point taken. But I still don't think it'll be the 'death'.

I don't like Smartphone. Hmm... that product name makes me sound like I don't speak good English. Me no like Smartphone! What a dumb name. What a dumb phone. Dumbphone?

-Bosco

RE: Death of MS Smurfphone
mikecane @ 9/26/2003 5:35:26 PM #
IBM used FUD. MS used FUD.

Time for Handspring to use FUD:

"Can you *die* waiting for your MS Smartphone to turn on?"

Hell yes!!

Treo 600 is *instant on*.

My Personal Thoughts

vesther @ 9/24/2003 10:31:36 PM #
I'd rather have a Palm OS 6 Phone Edition Powered Smartphone over a Palm OS 5 Phone Edition Powered Smartphone mainly because I'm pretty much a hardcore Palm OS Freak and I typically favor the latest possible version of the Palm Operating System, IMO faster ARM Processors might require a later operating system, and IMO Palm OS 6 should make our lives easier. Unless the Smart Phone is running OS 6, I'm probably not gonna get any phone running OS 5 Phone Edition.

My Primary Handheld: Palm Tungsten C "Air Swallow"
My Secondary Handheld: Palm Tungsten T "Sea Chugger"
RE: My Personal Thoughts
jodihansen @ 9/24/2003 10:40:06 PM #
My personal thoughts are that this is cool. I figure that my next mobile phone upgrade is still about 2 years away (I usually hold onto a phone for about 3 years and a PDA for 1.5 years) and so by then there should be some cool phones out.

Jodi

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