Palm looks to regain place in smartphone race

When you're running behind The Big Guys, and you once were a Big Guy, you may try harder to regain that standing. Whether Palm, expected to announce a new smartphone operating system and possibly a new device Thursday, can do that, or at least stay in the race, remains to be seen.

The company, in many ways the granddaddy of consumer smartphones, first with its Treos and later Centros, once dominated the market for those who wanted more than a basic cell phone. The Treo offered not only comprehensive calendar and contacts programs, thanks to its successful PalmPilot roots, but also Internet access and e-mail.

Cubicle co-workers would gather in awe around a colleague who had one of these devices and could get to the Internet from the palm of his or her hand, instead of via the company computer।

Now, with a smartphone market starting to get crowded and dominated by Research In Motion's more lifestyle-oriented BlackBerrys and Apple's iPhone, Palm's devices have been eclipsed, even "hit hard," says Paul Carton, director of research for ChangeWave Research.

In June 2006, Palm had 36 percent, and RIM, 30 percent of the smartphone market in the United States, according to ChangeWave. By January 2007, those numbers had pretty much flipped around. RIM led with 37 percent, and Palm had 30 percent, with other brands, such as Motorola and Samsung, making up the difference.

That was before the iPhone launched in mid-2007 and went on to become the No. 2-selling smartphone brand in the country. As of December, RIM had 41 percent, Apple 23 percent and Palm 9 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, ChangeWave says.

Palm, headed by Apple alum Jon Rubenstein, has been as secretive as Rubenstein's former employer about what's in the works for the company's new products.

A hint may have come from Ed Colligan, the company's CEO, who said in a recent BusinessWeek interview that "People's work and personal lives are melding," and that Palm wants to appeal to the "fat middle of the market."

On its Web site, Palm may be telegraphing its intentions with four words: "Really smart. Super simple."

Palm OS for netbooks?
It's believed that Nova, as Palm's new OS has been dubbed, will be based on Linux, an open source system in contrast to Palm's more proprietary OS.

An open source operating system means anyone can create programs for it, without restriction. Linux also is the foundation of Android, the operating system that's generated considerable enthusiasm among technophiles and was developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance.

The first "Google phone," T-Mobile's G1, went on sale last fall and has been doing well. Just as there's discussion about Android being used in devices like netbooks (smaller laptops for Web browsing and e-mail), e-readers and other mobile Internet devices, Nova may mean Palm plans to expand its reach the same way.

Nova "seems to be Palm's last-ditch efforts in this space," said Kevin Burden ABI Research's mobile devices research director in a recent interview. "We don't know what it will look like. I suspect it will be a platform that is not only for mobile phones, but for Internet devices and netbooks."

Windows Mobile option
Palm has used its own operating system, as well as Windows Mobile, in its Treos, often giving users a choice of which operating system they prefer. The company's Centros run on the Palm OS, with the current version more than five years old. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)

Many Treo users have opted for the Palm OS' icon-friendly screens and menus to those of Windows Mobile.

Certainly, of those migrating to the iPhone from other devices, a good number of them are former Treo users who found Apple's device to be a souped-up, snazzier and even easier-to-use version of the Treo.

Palm has lagged behind in bringing improvements to its operating system. Web-browsing on a Palm, once revolutionary, has been slow and kludgy compared to phones like the BlackBerry, iPhone or G1. The Palm's music player has been barely basic. However, in contrast to the iPhone, the Palm has had a copy-and-paste function, and can also take video.

"One of Palm's best qualities is its simplicity and its personal information management applications," said Avi Greengart, Current Analysis' research director for mobile devices, recently. "The Palm OS is still the easiest operating system to add a calendar appointment to."

It is also still one of the easiest operating systems to maneuver with a stylus in hand, although it also has a physical QWERTY keyboard. Whether the new operating system will be designed for a touchscreen, as well as a physical keyboard and stylus is not known.

Applications store
Apple's App Store, part of its online iTunes Store, has been a huge success, letting iPhone users easily download programs, some free, some paid. The Android Market is also in business, and RIM plans an "application storefront" in March.

Palm, too, is trying to improve and update its offerings. One obvious way to do so would be allowing direct downloads to Palm phones, instead of having to use the computer as an intermediary, then syncing the phone with the computer.

Palm began selling software online to customers in the 1990s, "and there are still more apps for that platform than any other," said Greengart.

Palm spokeswoman Leslie Letts said recently there are "tens of thousands" of software programs for Palm-based devices.