Next Palm OS

Palm won’t be able to put out its Linux-based version of the Palm OS until next year, the company said last week.

This is a slip from earlier expectations that it would be out later this year, according to Brighthand. Palm announced in April that it was developing its own Linux-based version of the Palm OS despite a similar project from Access, the company formerly known as Palmsource.

Palm OS, which is actually now known as Garnet OS, has been looking older and older next to newer mobile operating systems such as Windows Mobile, as well as that iPhone thing you might have heard about. Palm wants to migrate Garnet OS to a Linux core while maintaining support for older Palm OS applications, but the project will apparently take longer than expected.

That means that Palm will continue to compete against the iPhone and other challengers with Garnet OS, which hasn’t been updated in years, and Windows Mobile Palm has freely admitted that it’s worried about the iPhone, warning investors last week that it might post a loss next quarter because of the iPhone mania. The company recently cut an equity deal with Elevation Partners and is under fire to come up with its next big thing. I’m not too sure that will be the Foleo.

by Tom Krazit