Click to View

First, it introduced and then pulled the troubled Foleo Mobile Companion, on the eve of when it was supposed to launch. Now comes word that Palm's first smartphone built on its upcoming Linux operating system (OS) - often referred to as Palm OS II - won't arrive for at least another year.

According to an article in the Gaurdian, Palm recently told the paper the new Linux-run smartphones won't arrive for another "12 to 18 months."

It first appeared this smartphone would ship in October. In July, however, Palm CEO Ed Colligan said a release wouldn't occur until next year. Now we're facing the possiblity of a delay into the year after that. That's not good news for Palm.

Although 50 percent of Palm's smartphones today run on Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform, half still run on the five-year old Palm OS Garnet platform.

With its market share shrinking and competitors coming out with innovative new products, it's hard to see how Palm will continue to compete effectively without migrating a significant portion of its products to a new and modern - non Microsoft - mobile platform. The more Palm comes to rely on Windows Mobile, the less it'll be able to differentiate itself from the pack.

The Linux core of Palm OS II is the same as the one found in Palm's failed Foleo Mobile Companion. And this past summer Palm announced it is working with the Linux experts at Wind River Systems to bolster its Linux initiatives—too late for Foleo, apparently.

While Palm OS II is Palm's follow up to the aging the Garnet flavor of the Palm OS, ACCESS, which absorbed former Palm subsidiary PalmSource, has already developed a sequel to the Palm OS—the ACCESS Linux Platform, better known as ALP.

Rather than license ALP, Palm chose to develop its own Linux OS, probably to maintain tight control over the platform. Unlike ACCESS, a software company only, Palm doesn't plan to license its Linux OS out to other hardware vendors.

Maybe Palm should consider abandoning its own Linux initiative and approach ACCESS about using ALP for its products. It would almost certainly get a Linux-based smartphone out sooner that way.

In addition to being a multitasking OS, ALP, for example, offers another feature Palm plans on integrating into Palm OS II, the ability to run existing Palm platform applications.

Palm is going to have to stop building smartphones on Palm OS Garnet at some point, likely sooner than later. A year to 18 months is simply too long a time for consumers to wait for something new: The smartphone industry certainly won't.