Wednesday, December 7, 2005
All Future Treos To Run Windows Mobile?
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "NEWS" @ 04:00 PM
http://www.itweek.co.uk/itweek/analysis/2143406/sight-palm
Since Palm announced the Windows Mobile 5 powered Treo 700w rumors have been swirling that the "w" on the end implies a "p" or 700p running PalmOS is in the works. This article from IT Week seems to dispute that.
"However, it seems unlikely that any further Palm OS Treos will be developed. Current models run an ageing version of the Palm platform, and to extend this to match the 3G network support in Windows Mobile 5.0 may prove costly. If firms will not buy Palm OS handsets, Palm may simply decide to cut its losses and ship only Microsoft-based models once the Treo 600 and Treo 650 reach end-of-life."
At the most, should a 700p see the light of day in the next year or so, it may just be a 650 with a face-lift. Palm has already done a ton of work hacking up PalmOS 5, also known as Garnet, to run some of the modern radio stacks necessary for high speed internet access. It may be more cost effective to let Microsoft shoulder that burden and focus on applications and user interface features.
Of course, many still hold out hope that Access, the owner of PalmOS, will release a PalmOS GUI on Linux. This article seems to indicate Palm will release a Linux powered phone, but when you read the article, you have to wonder if the journalist is getting PalmSource/Access confused with Palm. Either that, or Palm is going to build its own version of an OS on Linux and shun Access altogether, which doesn't make sense, especially since the CEO of Palm adamantly denied they would go with yet a third OS on the Treo platform.
Since Palm announced the Windows Mobile 5 powered Treo 700w rumors have been swirling that the "w" on the end implies a "p" or 700p running PalmOS is in the works. This article from IT Week seems to dispute that.
"However, it seems unlikely that any further Palm OS Treos will be developed. Current models run an ageing version of the Palm platform, and to extend this to match the 3G network support in Windows Mobile 5.0 may prove costly. If firms will not buy Palm OS handsets, Palm may simply decide to cut its losses and ship only Microsoft-based models once the Treo 600 and Treo 650 reach end-of-life."
At the most, should a 700p see the light of day in the next year or so, it may just be a 650 with a face-lift. Palm has already done a ton of work hacking up PalmOS 5, also known as Garnet, to run some of the modern radio stacks necessary for high speed internet access. It may be more cost effective to let Microsoft shoulder that burden and focus on applications and user interface features.
Of course, many still hold out hope that Access, the owner of PalmOS, will release a PalmOS GUI on Linux. This article seems to indicate Palm will release a Linux powered phone, but when you read the article, you have to wonder if the journalist is getting PalmSource/Access confused with Palm. Either that, or Palm is going to build its own version of an OS on Linux and shun Access altogether, which doesn't make sense, especially since the CEO of Palm adamantly denied they would go with yet a third OS on the Treo platform.
