There are two important pieces of news that can be gleaned from postings to Palm's job pages over the last 30 days.
Palm's Linux project
It's been 10 months since I first pointed out that the writing was on the wall that Palm has been working on its own Linux operating system, apart from any collaboration they might have or have had with PalmSource (now ACCESS). In that time the evidence has continued to mount:
- The sources who first reported in 2004 that Palm was working on a Windows Mobile Treo also reported that they were "exploring partnerships that could let it use a tailored version of the Linux OS to run on its devices"
- Job openings for Linux engineers with responsibilities like "design and development of components of a new software platform" have been a steady fixture on palm.com, especially since ACCESS acquired PalmSource
- A Palm insider (whose identity I can't reveal) reported to me that Palm was planning a Linux-powered Treo for release in 2007
- Palm stated in SEC filings that, failing an agreement to gain expanded rights to Palm OS Garnet—not ACCESS Linux Platform, the next generation version of Palm's OS was at risk
- When the agreement was finally struck between Palm and ACCESS it included pointed language that Palm was buying the right to "use Palm OS Garnet in whole or in part in any Palm product, and together with any other system technologies" and that these expanded rights covered "all current and future Palm products, regardless of the underlying operating system"
In December Palm and ACCESS announced that Palm had successfully negotiated these rights, prompting Palm-watchers around the blogosphere to declare that Palm had it's OS back. While some have suggested that they would excercise those rights by making incremental improvements to Palm OS Garnet (like adding support for HSDPA networks) Palm's job postings since the agreement tell a story that solidifies the notion that they're doing a Linux OS of their own. Here are a few examples:
SW Application Developer: Palm is seeking a talented Linux SW Developer to develop applications for our next generation of devices.
Platform Design SW Engineer: ...investigate and implement new ideas as proof of concept of new hardware or software features for Palm Handhelds and Smartphones. This person will develop software from low-level drivers to applications for the Linux and WinCE platforms.
SW Tools Engineer: ...Desired Skills/Experience: Embedded development (esp. Windows Mobile or Linux)
Wireless Data Networking Software Engineer: Candidates with experience in mobile networking environments such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS, EV-DO data networks are prime candidates for this position.... Qualifications: Experience with Linux, Windows Mobile, and other network aware operating systems.
In all, there are 25 openings that mention Linux in the job description, most of them posted since Palm reacquired development rights to the Palm OS back at the beginning of December.
Two things I found interesting in these posts: some ask for experience with either the GTK or Qt graphical user interface toolkits. Qt is part of Trolltech's Greensuite Linux smartphone stack. Could Palm have partnered with Trolltech for this project? The other point of interest was in that last job posting which mentions cellular and WiFi networking in the same breath and follows up with "Engineers with experience in roaming across non-heterogeneous wireless networks are preferred." Does that sound to you like we're talking about products with both cellular and WiFi radios? Maybe, maybe not, but it's tantalizing. Either way, it leads me to another bit of news we can extract with more certainty.
Cranking up the WiFi
Palm has built WiFi into only three products in its history. None of them were smartphones, and two of them (the Tungsten C and now the LifeDrive) have been EOLed, leaving only the Palm TX handheld to hold down the WiFi fort for Palm. The TX is a great PDA, but the absence of WiFi support for the Treo (short of buying a big fat sled) has been the cause of a great gnashing of teeth and rending of garments among the Treo faithful. So it's a comfort to know that Palm has heard the cry of her people and is busy on WiFi products, even if we can't tell exactly what sort of products these might be.
Here's another WiFi-related job opening that's got some juice to it:
Sr. WiFi SW Engineer: This is an exciting opportunity to join a fast-paced and highly motivated development team responsible for Wi-Fi features across all Palm, Inc. products. Candidates with experience in mobile networking are prime candidates for this position. Engineers with experience in VoWLAN are preferred.
Gotta love phrases like "Wi-Fi features across all Palm, Inc. products," althought I hesitate to interpret that in the the most optimistic way you could. Let's just say it means Palm expects to have multiple products with WiFi in the future and is looking for developers to cover that part of Palm's product strategy. More telling is the reference to Voice over Wireless LAN (VoWLAN). Elsewhere there are open positions for folks with expertise in streaming protocols and audio and video codecs—application features that Palm has largely left for third parties to develop in the past. I'm probably colored by other rumors I've heard, but this sounds to me like Palm has product plans comparable to what Nokia is doing with their 770 and N800 Internet Tablets: not a replacement for your mobile phone, and not exactly a PDA, but a broadband Internet device for folks who find smartphones too constricting for their needs: too small a screen, too little storage, and too little bandwidth. A device that focuses on media-centric users and/or people who need a better data-oriented application experience than they can get on something like a Treo.
The question is, when do we see these products? Well, we're certainly talking about 2007. Ed Colligan didn't guide shareholders at the last conference call with a detailed product roadmap like last year's "four Treos in 2006" promise. But when questions turned to 2007 plans it seemed that every other word from his mouth was "diversify," "differentiate," and "broader product line." He also mentioned "new form factors." In another forum, when asked a question about whether 2007 is the year we'll see "the secret project that Jeff Hawkins has been working on" Colligan responded with a tight-lipped "yes." Perhaps the fact that Palm just consigned the LifeDrive to end-of-life is an indication that they have re-evaluated that target market (by all accounts missed by the LifeDrive) and bowed a product that's a bit more revolutionary for its traditional Spring release.
As is usually the case when questions of product schedule arise, your guess is as good as mine.
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