(Palm, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, www.palm.com) A manufacturer of smartphones that popularized the handheld personal digital assistant (PDA) market. Palm was founded in 1992 by Jeff Hawkins. Its first PDA, the Zoomer, was unsuccessfully marketed by Tandy. However, after Palm was acquired by U.S. Robotics in 1995, its products took off. In 1996, the PalmPilot 1000 and 5000 sold more than 350,000 units by year end. Although the "Pilot" name was later dropped, it was so catchy that many referred to all Palm PDAs and even non-Palm PDAs as PalmPilots.
The Palm devices popularized the pen interface and handwriting recognition (first called "Graffiti") that was also licensed by Apple for its own organizer (see Newton).
In 1998, the Palm creators left U.S. Robotics, which by then had merged into 3Com, and founded Handspring. Handspring licensed the Palm OS and introduced the Visor, the first Palm PDA clone.
In 2000, Palm was spun off as a separate company, and in 2002 was divided into independent businesses: palmOne for hardware and PalmSource for software. Later renamed Palm, Inc., palmOne produced PDAs and smartphones. In 2003, Palm acquired the Treo brand from Handspring, which was designed to combine PDA and cellphone, and the Palm product line eventually evolved into smartphones only, including the Pre, Treo and Centro models.
PalmSource was set up to license the Palm OS platform and HotSync technology that synchronizes data between handhelds and PCs. Running on a variety of CPUs from Motorola, Intel, TI and ARM, the Palm OS has been used in more than 40 million handhelds and smartphones worldwide. In 2005, PalmSource became a subsidiary of Japan-based ACCESS CO., LTD., changing its name to ACCESS a year later and licensing the source code back to Palm, Inc. See PDA.
The PalmPilot
The PalmPilot popularized the personal digital assistant (PDA), which became ubiquitous but eventually wound up as an application in a smartphone. The rectangle at the bottom is for hand printing. (Image courtesy of palmOne, Inc.)
The Palm devices popularized the pen interface and handwriting recognition (first called "Graffiti") that was also licensed by Apple for its own organizer (see Newton).
In 1998, the Palm creators left U.S. Robotics, which by then had merged into 3Com, and founded Handspring. Handspring licensed the Palm OS and introduced the Visor, the first Palm PDA clone.
In 2000, Palm was spun off as a separate company, and in 2002 was divided into independent businesses: palmOne for hardware and PalmSource for software. Later renamed Palm, Inc., palmOne produced PDAs and smartphones. In 2003, Palm acquired the Treo brand from Handspring, which was designed to combine PDA and cellphone, and the Palm product line eventually evolved into smartphones only, including the Pre, Treo and Centro models.
PalmSource was set up to license the Palm OS platform and HotSync technology that synchronizes data between handhelds and PCs. Running on a variety of CPUs from Motorola, Intel, TI and ARM, the Palm OS has been used in more than 40 million handhelds and smartphones worldwide. In 2005, PalmSource became a subsidiary of Japan-based ACCESS CO., LTD., changing its name to ACCESS a year later and licensing the source code back to Palm, Inc. See PDA.
The PalmPilot
The PalmPilot popularized the personal digital assistant (PDA), which became ubiquitous but eventually wound up as an application in a smartphone. The rectangle at the bottom is for hand printing. (Image courtesy of palmOne, Inc.)
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2009 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- CompanionLink Express 2.0 for Palm OS 2.0 (Mobile)
- Power in your Palm! CompanionLink Express is a two-way synchronization solution for busy professionals that need mobile access to contacts, appointments, to-do lists, and notes. Synchronize your ACT!, GoldMine, Outlook, and Lotus Notes information with any Palm mobile device. Increase your productivity and business contact capabilities immediately!CompanionLink offers more CRM...
- Software downloads 2009-11-21
- CompanionLink Professional 2.0 for Palm OS 2.0 (Mobile)
- Power in your Palm! CompanionLink Professional is a two-way synchronization solution for busy professionals that need mobile access to contacts, appointments, to-do lists, and notes. Synchronize your ACT!, GoldMine, Outlook, and Lotus Notes information with any Palm mobile device. Using multiple databases or devices? No problem. CompanionLink Professional lets you...
- Software downloads 2009-11-21
- Bonsai 5 (Mobile)
- Natara Bonsai is a full featured Palm OS outliner with FULL one step synchronization to a companion Windows desktop application! Use it to outline ideas, as a hierarchal to do list, a simple project manager, or ALL in the same outline.Stay connected with the Natara Bonsai outliner, a Palm OS...
- Software downloads 2009-11-21
- Amazon slashes price of Palm Pre to $79.99, Pixi to $24.99
- I don't want ......ANY misleading bargain with a two or three year contract. Sell me the HW at a fair price and let me select the carrier and package of my choice.I am not an idiot. RE: Amazon slashes price of Palm Pre to $79.99, Pixi to $24.99When you limit...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-19
- Amazon slashes price of Palm Pre to $79.99, Pixi to $24.99
- Amazon has slashed the price of the Palm Pre to $79.99 with a two-year contract from Sprint. by Andrew Nusca
- Blog posts 2009-11-19
- The Missing Sync for Palm OS 6.0.6 (Mac)
- Whether you have a Centro or Treo, The Missing Sync for Palm OS can synchronize your calendars, tasks, notes and contacts plus Word and Excel files, photos, videos and music playlists. The Missing Sync for Palm OS totally replaces HotSync Manager. Sync your contacts The Missing Sync for Palm OS...
- Software downloads 2009-11-19
- Mini Inventory 6.1 (Mobile)
- A powerful, easy, and portable way to enter inventory and insurance data. Great for keeping personal property insurance records as well as inventory in a business. Records name, brand, date, time, quantity, value per item and total, model#, serial #, note, warranty period, seller/vendor, insured or note, location, and an...
- Software downloads 2009-11-19
- Rumored HTC 'Dragon' Google phone to spar with iPhone, Droid
- The problem for competitors is that Google could throw a billion or more atmobile OS market including Android and ChromeOS. They just want a flood of cheap, very functional, very powerful mobile internet devices. They do not need ANY profits on the OS itself.Hardware manufactures like Palm, Blackberry, and Nokia...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-18
- News to know: Win7 exploit; Verizon-AT&T; Windows Marketplace; Nokia-Palm; Cisco-Tandberg
- A Windows 7 exploit, Verizon's response to an AT&T lawsuit, a Windows marketplace for Mobile, and the business decisions that would come with Nokia buying Palm are among today's top headlines. by Sam Diaz
- Blog posts 2009-11-17
- Is it a sound business decision for Nokia to buy Palm?
- It could be a great way to gain some market share, and cover more bases.And, Nokia could market it in other markets.Just like breakfast cereal, saturating the market could be a good strategy.Nokia wouldn't put out a Palm phoneBut they'd be very happy to own Palm's IP - patents et...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-16
- Is it a sound business decision for Nokia to buy Palm?
- Shares of mobile manufacturer Palm rose on Friday in response to rumors that the beleaguered company would be bought by worldwide global mobile giant Nokia. by Andrew Nusca
- Blog posts 2009-11-16
- Palm Pixi (Sprint)
- The debut of the Palm Pre got the tech world and gadget enthusiasts excited about Palm once again. Long considered dead in the water, Palm's innovative WebOS operating system buoyed it back into the spotlight, and the Pre was certainly a boon for the company as well as Sprint. While...
- Product reviews 2009-11-12
- Palm Pixi photos
- Palm and Sprint are set to release their second WebOS phone. Check out hands-on photos of the Palm Pixi. by CNET News.com
- Image galleries 2009-11-12
- Dba2Csv 1.9.6 (Windows)
- Users of Palm Deskop 4 can either export to CSV using the original Dba2Csv converter, or install Palm Desktop Version 6 in order to take advantage of the Palm2Google tool within Dba2Csv. Palm Desktop 4 files must be converted to CSV, unless you upgrade to Palm Desktop 6. Palm Desktop...
- Software downloads 2009-11-12
- PD Duplicates Cleaner 2.0 (Mobile)
- PD Duplicates Cleaner is a full Windows desktop application that can be used to find and delete duplicate Palm Desktop data. In the PD Duplicates Cleaner program, all the duplicate Palm Desktop records are listed in the table automatically. You may delete the selected duplicate records or all the...
- Software downloads 2009-11-09
- Conduit Buddy 4.0 (Mobile)
- Conduit Buddy is a powerful tool to install/uninstall HotSync conduits on your PC. We often synchornize our Palm devices with desktop PC. As you know, the synchronization is managed by the conduit programs comes with the products. Generally, the installation or uninstallation of the conduits should be...
- Software downloads 2009-11-09
- Toshiba Satellite T135-S1309
- Sometimes, it takes a good retail excursion to find a deal that isn't otherwise possible. Case in point: the Toshiba T135. While we have already reviewed two different versions of Toshiba's Windows 7 entry to the thin-and-light laptop landscape, we were pleasantly surprised by this retail-only configuration. This is not...
- Product reviews 2009-11-06
- News to know: Intel; Microsoft layoffs; Motorola, Palm; Oracle-Sun; MSN
- Here are today's notable headlines. You can get News To Know via email alert and RSS daily. For continuous updates see BNET's around-the-Web tech coverage.: Sam Diaz: New York AG files antitrust charges against Intel; alleges bribery, coercion Mary Jo Foley: Are the Microsoft...
- Blog posts 2009-11-05
- How fast can remote monitoring move?
- Ler's use mu computer and my iPhoneMay sound nuts, but my notebook mine happens to be a Mac and my iPhone have the ability to work with a lot of medical devices - IF the makers build the connectors and write the software.I can enter my blood sugars on an...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-04
- Motorola and Palm; will 2009 be designated as a comeback year?
- wrongwell matthew, because you have been wrong consistently about the smartphone market the last few years i would argue they are both doomed, when you like them. the pre doesn't help palm as it should regardless of critical acclaim and motorola will participate in the race to the bottom (margin...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-04
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