14 DAY TRIAL // Last fall, Palm Inc. announced that the company would release smartphones that would use a new Linux-based version of the Palm OS. It was initially said that the OS should hit the market in 2008 but, later on, the date was changed for 2009.
The good news is that, last week, the release date was confirmed by Stephane Maes, who said that Palm was hoping to wrap up the OS in late 2008. Of course, by that time, developers will have gotten the tools for the new OS II, which are needed to create applications and check compatibility with the current ones. This means that, early next year, the Linux-based OS will be available on Palm's smartphones. Maes also stated that wireless carriers expressed a lot of interest in Palm OS II, though no names were given.
Meanwhile, rumors surrounding the new OS II, which is apparently codenamend Palm Nova, say that this version is beta-tested on an unreleased Palm device. Another thing that is unknown is the way future smartphones from Palm, running OS II, will look. The same rumors have it that the unreleased Palm device that is used to beta-test OS II is a version of the Treo model – of course, in a new form factor.
At the moment, the company plans to keep offering devices with either Windows Mobile or the current version of Palm OS running on them, and to make Centro the centerpiece of its 2008 lineup. Palm Centro is one of Palm's smartphone, and uses Palm OS 5.4m, also known as “Garnet.” The license to the sourcecode was bought by Palm in 2006.
One thing is clear though: Palm needs a new OS, and it needs it fast. Now that it has announced that it plans to make Centro the star of its 2008 lineup, one can’t but wonder how it will manage to survive, since Centro isn't the best smartphone nor the most expensive. In my opinion, something to break the ice would be perfect, and that something really has to be the OS II and the new device, since there seems to be nothing else up Palm’s sleeve right now.