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News
Issue #2002 - 05
(February 2002)
(Updated Feb.
6, 2002)
TECHNOLOGY
Palm Makes Palm OS Subsidiary
Official
After a year of encouraging and
cajoling from industry analysts, Palm has made it official that its
software division is now a wholly owned subsidiary. The Platform
Solutions Group will develop and license Palm’s operating system,
working independently from the company’s hardware division.
"We’ve been encouraging them to do this for quite a
while," Todd Kort, an analyst with Gartner Dataquest told
Wired. "I don’t think it’s too late. There is a conflict of
interest within Palm if the two companies aren’t separate."
The number one handset maker has been criticized for selling
software to competing vendors such as Handspring and Sony.
According to David Nagel, president and CEO of the Platform
Solutions Group, "the formation of the subsidiary will open up
new opportunities." It is expected that the extra independence
will encourage new licensees to the platform and help expedite the
"tweakening" or special requests for features such as
multimedia and enhanced wireless connectivity.
Now analysts are wondering whether Palm will follow British
mobile computing maker Psion’s move and sell off its software
business. In 1998, Psion spun-off its software division into the
Symbian venture with backing from Nokia, Motorola, Ericsson and
Matsushita.
David Nagel will outline the direction of the new subsidiary at
the upcoming PalmSource Conference.
For more information: http://www.palm.com
(Additional source Wired)
Mobileinfo Comments & Advisory:
This division makes sense.
Note: This news release may contain
forward-looking statements. Readers should take appropriate caution in
developing plans utilizing these products, services and technology
architectures. All trademarks used in this summary are
the property of their respective owners.
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