GSPDA to Make the First Palm OS Cobalt Smartphone

Palm OS Cobalt is the latest version of PalmSource's operating system for handhelds and smartphones.

PalmSource gave the first version of Cobalt to its licensees at the beginning of last year, and released an upgraded version last fall. Nevertheless, no handhelds or smartphones running Cobalt have yet been announced.

However, for the first time, a company has said it will definitely release a Cobalt device before the end of this year.

Over the weekend, Group Sense PDA (GSPDA) made a presentation of its latest smartphone, the Xplore M68, to the Paris PUG.

At this, Tim Wong, GSPDA's General Manager of Business Development, was asked if his company was going to release a smartphone running Cobalt. Mr. Wong responded by saying that not only will GSPDA release a Palm OS Cobalt smartphone, it will be the first company to do so.

Mr. Wong did not give an estimated time for when this device will be released, but he did say it would be before the end of this year.

He also said that while GSPDA will release the first smartphone with Cobalt, some other company may release a Cobalt handheld first.

More About GSPDA

GSPDA is one of the largest sellers of handheld computers in Asia. It recently launched its fourth Palm OS smartphone, the Xplore M68.

Until now, these have been available in Europe and Asia, but not the United States. However, with the M68, GSPDA is clearly attempting to break into the U.S. market.

More About Palm OS Cobalt

Palm OS Cobalt was designed to speed development of new categories of smartphones and other wireless devices by offering support for telephony features, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.

It also includes other advanced features such as multitasking and multithreading, memory protection, support for more memory and larger screens, industry-standard security, plus advanced graphics and multimedia features.

Related Links

• PalmSource Takes the Wraps Off Palm OS Cobalt 6.1
• PalmSource Unveils Smartphone Reference Designs with Cobalt and TI Processors