Palm eyes next-generation devices with ‘Cobalt’ OS

The newest version of the Palm operating system, version 6, now renamed "Cobalt," was released to developers during the recent PalmSource developer event. The new OS will transcend mere applications but will be expected to be powering next-generation mobile devices and smartphones.

Cobalt is a new enhanced version designed to enable the creation of new categories of devices for the communications, enterprise, education and entertainment markets, said David Nagel, president and CEO of PalmSource Inc. This makes Palm a direct contender to Microsoft’s PocketPC and smartphone initiatives across numerous device platforms.

"We have also reinforced our commitment to optimize our platform for wireless devices by including wireless capabilities in both Palm OS Cobalt and Palm OS Garnet, designed to enable a wide range of smartphones and other wireless products," Nagel said.

Formerly known as Palm OS 6, Palm OS Cobalt is a complete reworking of the mature Palm OS designed to maintain ease of use and software compatibility while creating a foundation for next-generation Palm-powered devices and solutions tailored to the growing needs of the communications, enterprise, education and entertainment markets.

With the availability of more powerful processors such as the Xscale line for Intel, the new Palm-powered devices are certain to be more like handheld computers and less like mere personal organizers.

Cobalt, as an operating system, will be able to run on smartphones, tablet computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and other communication and hybrid devices.

Palm OS Cobalt improves compatibility with Microsoft Windows, while offering advanced features such as:

• Multi-threaded, multi-tasking – The Palm OS Cobalt is designed to enable multiple applications to run simultaneously for more productivity and better user experience. For example, a user can listen to MP3 files, book a calendar appointment and take an incoming phone call. A background processing model is designed to reduce most memory problems commonly associated with multi-tasking in mobile devices.  

• Expanded, protected memory architecture – With support of up to 256MB of RAM and 256MB of ROM, Palm OS Cobalt paves the way for the creation of more sophisticated communications, enterprise, education and entertainment applications. In addition, the new protected memory architecture is designed to give protection against applications "hanging" the system or causing crashes.  

• System-wide security architecture – The Palm OS Cobalt provides built-in encryption, authentication and authorization frameworks for securing applications such as enterprise and e-commerce solutions, browsers, wireless e-mail and connections to corporate networks such as VPN. The extensible structure also offers software developers advanced, industry-standard security services and cryptography.

• Extensible multimedia framework – The Palm OS Cobalt is designed to provide a multimedia architecture with rich graphics. Graphics support includes paths, rotation, gradient fills, anti-aliasing, outline fonts and transparency.

• Improved PIM applications and databases – The Palm OS Address Book and Date Book are redesigned to support up to 255 fields, providing better interoperability with Microsoft Outlook.

• Better compatibility with Microsoft Outlook and PC files – PalmSource has also added additional fields to Palm OS Date Book and Address Book, designed to correspond more closely to the information stored on Microsoft Outlook. In addition, The Palm OS Cobalt is designed to allow users to transfer PC files directly to Palm-powered devices by dragging them onto an icon on the PC desktop, making it even easier for reading and editing.

• Compatibility with existing Palm OS software – The Palm OS Cobalt includes a software emulator designed to enable software programs created for earlier versions of Palm OS to run on Palm OS Cobalt-powered mobile devices.