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Palm, Inc. is much closer to launching a smartphone that runs a version of the Linux operating system than had been previously thought, according to an unconfirmed report.
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) _- O1 {5 @; n0 v9 O0 TThis spring, the company announced that it is developing its own operating system that will be based on Linux, but also include important parts of the Garnet OS (formerly Palm OS Garnet), which is why many refer to it as "Palm OS II".
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, C R/ T! G; mAt the time of its announcement, Palm said devices running this new operating system would debut before the end of this year. Last month though, the company's CEO said that the introduction of the first model running it wouldn't happen until 2008.3 C/ i$ g9 w7 F, H
- K7 ~, F4 }" V4 i$ ^Now it seems the original time period for the release of this operating system was the more accurate, as an article from DigiTimes says Palm will launch a Linux-based smartphone this October.
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9 T3 C u9 D" DThe release may have been moved up because Palm turned to an outside company expert in Linux for help: Wind River Systems. 9 _3 x3 m0 X) U7 A \
+ `5 t5 m7 S7 S* tThis company is also helping with the development of the Foleo, another upcoming Linux-based product from Palm. Because both these are running the same software at their core, they are expected to work especially well together.
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; r6 |) ~& E1 m5 X' g @$ UIt should be noted that this information has not been confirmed by Palm, and DigiTimes would only say it comes from unnamed sources close to the company.' n& |8 P9 q6 T% p# L4 c6 O# i
* O/ L, R( m3 kPalm OS II/ |- ?; K4 j7 y. c- j! e% r5 p5 V
At this point, no additional details are available on the first Palm OS II smartphone. As for the new operating system itself, Palm has spoken only in generalities.. g9 \: f. }2 a
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For example, the company says devices running it will offer instant on and quick application switching. Palm also wants them to have long battery lives and sell for low prices. The feature many users are focusing on though, will be this operating system's support for legacy Palm OS applications.
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" L% n: c% ^' P+ I* b$ H0 J+ A' iPalm OS II -- or whatever it ends up being called -- will be the replacement for the Garnet OS/Palm OS. It will not take the place of Windows Mobile in Palm's product line. |
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