Mobile Linux - The Key to Device Interoperability

I have been tracking three interesting developments in the Palm community.  They are: the Centro, the Foleo, and a new Linux-based operating system developed in partnership with Wind River Systems. 

Palm has been quietly working on a number of new projects and three of them have come to light this year: The Foleo Mobile Companion; the compact Centro smart device; and plans for a Linux-based operating system that will power the next generation of products.  The first two, the Foleo and the Centro, are real products nearing their release dates.  The new mobile OS, based on Linux, is still being worked on.  (There are conflicting reports that a mobile Linux operating system will ship as early as October or during the 2008 calendar year.)  What interests me is how all three of these products will interact with each other once they are released.

I believe that Palm plans to use a variant of a mobile Linux operating system, which we’ll call “Palm OS II” until an official name is announced, as the key to interoperability between companion products like the Foleo and smart devices like the Centro.

In a recent DigiTimes article, author Daniel Shen writes, “Palm's new Linux-based smartphone will help facilitate Linux applications between the smartphone and the Foleo, the sources noted.”  It isn’t clear what exactly “facilitate” means here.  What we do know is that Palm is working with embedded Linux vendor Wind River Systems to augment the Linux based operating system in the Foleo.  It is still not clear what operating system will power the Centro when it is released later this year, but my guess is that it isn’t Palm OS 5.x.  It would not surprise me if the Centro is also running a version of Linux provided by Wind River Systems.  While the Centro and Foleo operating systems may not be exactly the same (the hardware is different after all) they may be close enough to pull off some cool tricks.

The first cool trick might be the ability to have the Foleo connect to the Centro and wireless copy files back and forth over a Bluetooth connection.  People who are interested in the Foleo are already asking for this feature.  The only stated way to move files between a phone and the Foleo is to either email the file to yourself or copy the file to a SD card and use it on the Foleo.

The second cool trick is even more interesting.  At a minimum “will help facilitate Linux applications between the smartphone and the Foleo” could mean that applications written for one device can quickly be recompiled by a developer to run on the other device.  Or it could mean that the customer can chose which applications exist on the phone and on the Foleo.  For example, let’s say you are using an application like SplashData’s Splash Wallet to track your expenses while on a business trip.  After a day of travel you really don’t want to look at the screen on your phone.  With minimal fuss, you open the Foleo and install the application from the smart phone.  Now you can up date your register on a larger, more easily read display.

In Conclusion

It is hard to know exactly what Palm is working on in their software development labs.  While this is just one possible scenario of what might be capable on a Linux powered phones and Foleo companions, it is by no means a complete picture.  I do believe that this demonstrates the new directions that Palm is taking their mobile operating system in.

In the short term not much will change as these products are still in the final development stages.  In 12 months new mobile devices will be rolling out with the new software which will be the basis for new software which just isn’t possible on today’s devices.  And that is something that mobile technology users can get excited about.

What do you think?  Let us know in the 1SRC forums.