Palm has been working on a new OS for the past four years, code named Nova. The rumor is that it will be released at the Consumer Electronics Show in early 2009.
A Palm executive makes an interesting observation in BusinessWeek, “The next 10 years is all about the transition from notebooks to mobile computing.”
Palm’s strategy is to not go over the business market (dominated by Blackberry devices) or the high end “strong mobile media experience” (where the iPhone rules), but the “fat middle of the market” of users who want a mobile Internet device/Phone, but don’t need/want to watch movies on a tiny screen.
It sounds like a good plan, except for one fly in the ointment. That is the same market space Google is going after with their Android OS.
Filed under: cell phone tech, Gadget, Google, Palm, Smart Phone | Tagged: Android, OS, Palm, Smart Phone |
Urbin Technology 
Lets hope it doesnt flop…better be good if they’ve been working on it for 4 years! lol
Palm has done very well with their $100 Centro, but Apple is starting to push into that market segment with $99 (with 2 year contract) refurbed iPhones.
If it is slick, and marketed well, it could be what Palm needs to stay in play.
It looks very promising – Palm has a well deserved reputation for PDAs, and if they can capture the low end of the market, they’ll cut Apple off at the knees. The key, I think to the success of it is cost(Iphones are $$$ new, and then you’re locked in for 2 years), usability(I like actual keyboards over the damn touch screens), and most of all, access – with Apple locking everybody out of development(despite what they say), and forcing everything to go through “Craptunes”, it’s pissing off alot of what would be Apples core market, something Palm can take advantage of.
Palm is already doing well in the low end market. Their Centro phone came out at the $100 price point. Apple has to sell referbs to compete at that price.
The Pre is going after the iPhone market, just like Android based phones. I think those will carve a chunk out of the iPhone market for the reasons you stated.