PalmSource rewrites its OS for business

By Stephen Shankland, CNET News, 19 June, 2003 07:43

NEWS

PalmSource is working on a new operating system called Sahara that the company hopes will make the Palm OS more useful in corporate settings, chief executive David Nagel said on Wednesday. Sahara will include features to improve security, Web browsing, document reading, instant messaging and email, Nagel said in a speech at the CeBIT America trade show in New York. In addition, PalmSource described partnerships with IBM, Novell and Visto to add more business software for the Palm OS. The moves highlight the effort of Palm and its PalmSource division to appeal to corporate buyers who so far have proved reluctant to include handhelds among their companies' supported computing devices. Increased corporate acceptance could help Palm and its allies from losing additional market share to devices running Microsoft's competing Pocket PC software. Palm is in the process of spinning off PalmSource to become a separate software company while acquiring rival hardware maker Handspring. Sahara is the code name for Palm OS 6, the company confirmed on Wednesday. Palm OS 5 was the first for a new generation of Palm OS devices that use the more powerful ARM processors. Programmers will get an early look at Sahara by the end of the year and it should be ready for consumers about six months later. The partnerships with Novell, IBM and Visto show that PalmSource is moving toward buying technology rather than building it on its own. PalmSource has licensed IBM's Web Services Toolkit for Mobile Devices so that Palm devices can take advantage of a suite of emerging Internet communications standards. "Perhaps the most complex thing we're trying to do is support this emerging field of Web services," Nagel said. Novell's ZENworks software, based on Nexic's Synchronis software and NotifyLink Enterprise Edition, will let Palm data be synchronised over a network and enable administrators to set policies for Palm devices. For example, the devices can be set to erase all data after three incorrect login attempts or to prevent users from installing unauthorised software, said Chris Stone, vice chairman of Novell. Visto's software is used to check email stored on Microsoft Exchange or IBM Lotus servers. It includes features for sending messages using 802.11 and Bluetooth wireless technology. The OS will include a framework with published interfaces, allowing other companies to plug in new modules such as document readers or video decoding software, Nagel said. Security is a key part of Sahara, Nagel added. "The Sahara platform is being rewritten from the ground up to provide security from the deepest level of the operating system," he said. The design will enable features such as running only authorised programs, protecting memory from intrusive programs and using virtual private networks. Sahara also will come with a Web browser that supports many standards found on desktop systems such as cascading style sheets, JavaScript and dynamic HTML. It also will include the ability to view documents in common file formats, such as Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat. Also at the show, Calin Pacurariu, director of GSM products at Handspring, showed the new Handspring Treo 600. The small design "speaks that it's a phone first", but still has full Palm features and a tiny QWERTY keyboard, he said. News.com's Richard Shim contributed to this report.

If it moves, we cover it. See ZDNet UK's Mobile Technology News Section for the latest news, reviews and price checks on mobile phones, PDAs, notebook computers and anything else you can take away. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

ZDNet UK Live

Make that 13 people now - I got refused today at Manchester airport. I thought I was up to date on this legislation - I knew of the EU ruling from...

12 minutes ago by bootlegger on UK airport body scans will not be opt out

Don't forget to check out apps like GoodReader or SlideShark either, they're indispensible for people on the go in presentation situations. Best...

3 hours ago by tinycg on Four top iPad apps for people on the move

Well it seems there is something a number of us agree on. Why is the Ubuntu Unity launcher so ugly? I thought perhaps it was something to do with...

7 hours ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Duplicate comments are not made intentionally. Its very good to know that now you are keeping check on this problem because sometimes a commenter...

17 hours ago by Freebies202 on Microsoft fixes blog comments, speeds up blogs with open source

"the very significant number of users" and "many (most) of us" - you have no evidence for these statements. It is a fact that most users are saying...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Another grammar faux pas is the improper use of "you". When sitting down down in a restaurant, for example, I get cringe when the waitress...

1 day ago by Marg Menzies Harrison via Facebook on 10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid

And NOW, folks, for Canonical's next trick... Kubuntu is late. Here's a pencil. Draw your own conclusions. cf.:...

1 day ago by zdnetukuser on Linux Minterface

@kevinmchapman. The discussion here reflects the very significant number of users who really do like the traditional menu system and who wish to...

1 day ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Er, no... It is an efficient means of finding the application/file/setting you need in one place. The icons are a simply a fallback for when you...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Isn't the provision of a text based search an admission by the developers that the mass of icons approach does not work? I don't need to use a...

1 day ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

"Unity and GNOME 3 both abandon the old text-based cascading menus in favour of a graphical icon-driven system." Point truly missed. Both use a...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

whs001 - Thank you, I'm glad you liked the article. I absolutely agree with you on your first point. I should perhaps have made it clearer that...

1 day ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

If we allow corporate interest to dictate the way our government circumvents due process against foreign entities then we should accept the same...

1 day ago by Dennis Nilsson via Facebook on ACTA stumbles in Germany

I totally dislike pirating of works, I fear that artists will be deterred from creating works if they think that they are going to get ripped off....

1 day ago by GHar123 on ACTA stumbles in Germany

How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...

2 days ago by JCB33 on ACTA stumbles in Germany

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

2 days ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

2 days ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

2 days ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

2 days ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Excellent article. One small correction, though--although a fresh installation of Linux Mint 12 will, indeed, provide the user with a version of...

2 days ago by bdantas on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

PalmSource rewrites its OS for business

Daily Newsletters

Topics

Related stories

PalmSource: PDAs are poorly designed

Next OS will focus on wireless, says Palm

Handspring buy may boost Palm wireless plans

Heart of England NHS begins massive digitisation plan

Hard-drive woes hit PC shipments in fourth quarter

Post your comment

ZDNet UK Live

Latest in IT Strategy

Heart of England NHS begins massive digitisation plan

Hard-drive woes hit PC shipments in fourth quarter

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

PHP Web Developer - html, css, javascript

Java Developer, Online Gaming, London

Quant Dev, Hedge Fund, FX, Excel VBA

Inside ZDNet UK

A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

2012 Predictions: VCE FastPath, VI SAN Probe & Hadoop

BlackBerry Bold 9790

Make faster, smarter decisions using BI

Ten factors that make Ubuntu 11.10 a hit

Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P Review

BT's archive: Pictures from the vault

News & Analysis

Reviews

Blogs

Resources

About Us

Member Services

Special Features

Advertising Features

ZDNet UK / News and Analysis / Business of IT / IT Strategy

PalmSource rewrites its OS for business

Daily Newsletters

Topics

Related stories

Post your comment

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

Latest in IT Strategy

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

Inside ZDNet UK

Resources

About Us

Member Services

Special Features

Advertising Features