Old Hardware Emulated: Palm Garnet, Colbalt, and Other Shenanigans, Oh My!


If the history of Palm could be likened to that of The Rise And Fall Of The Roman Empire, then this would be the part of the story where the Roman Empire split itself into two. Palm splitting itself ranks among the dumbest things that the company could do to itself. Others describe it as the moment that killed Palm. Personally, I would agree. The company could have survived it as long as the split was better handled, and continued to have hit products while fixing their OS. Palm could have created something that would have caused corporate users to salivate over. However, this is Palm where talking about. This kind of luck wasn't in their cards. As such, the company split was essentially the beginning of the end.


The company was split among its hardware and software division. The hardware company became PalmOne while the software company became PalmSource. For the hardware company, I'm still going to refer to it as Palm proper though. Anyway, the hardware team needed to know the capabilities of the OS so that they could design their prototype around it. PalmSource, which handheld OS development and licensing, needed to know the hardware features that the Palm designers were building around so they could develop their OS around those specs. This didn't bold well for Palm. The irony is that since PalmSource was now separated from Palm, Palm didn't have direction or control over PalmOS anymore. Palm had to license PalmOS like every other OEM now.

Also, as a independent company, PalmSource could now be acquired by others, and this was exactly what happened. On September 2005, PalmSource was acquired by ACCESS, a mobile software company based in Japan. From their, the development of the Access Linux Platform began, which was an mobile platform which used Linux as its base. However, one could get a strong impression that Palm didn't take well to ACCESS's acquisition of PalmSource as Palm got perpetual rights to the PalmOS source code, along with the ability to modify the OS without paying any further royalties to ACCESS. Not only that, right before the acquisition, Palm purchased the name rights of "PalmOS" for $30 million. As such, Palm is the only company that is allowed to call their version of the PalmOS............PalmOS.

Palm was certainly aware about the OS limitations of PalmOS, and as such, they wanted users and OEM's to transition away from version 5.0 with its new designated successor, 6.0. Version 6 was intended as being that next big leap for Palm. This OS would have a new kernel that offered pre-emptive multitasking, memory protection, security, and an modern multimedia and graphical framework. Palm was putting the technology that they acquired from Be to good use. Be was the developers of BeOS, which Palm acquired on 2001. This new OS had a lot of potential. It could scale very well against both Windows Mobile and BlackberryOS, something that PalmOS 5 couldn't do. It was introduced on February 2004. However, because of the friction between Palm and ACCESS, ACCESS no longer offered it. It was up to Palm to sell the OS. This is where things became even stranger. Palm took 6.0, renamed it to Cobalt, and then stated that it wasn't intended on replacing PalmOS 5.4, which was implied earlier. Palm OS 5 was renamed Garnet to symbolize the name change.

Colbalt in action on the Palm OS Simulator

Why wasn't Colbalt the intended successor anymore despite it being hyped as one a short time earlier? Which OS do I use? Well, we never got that opportunity as Colbalt never got off the ground. Palm was unsuccessful in finding any party that wanted to license Colbalt. They still found plenty of OEM's that still wanted to license PalmOS 5 though.

Why didn't Colbalt get off the ground? One could only speculate. One could argue that it was very demanding on its hardware, and thus, OEM's would have been forced to release more powerful, and yet, more expensive hardware. However, Windows Mobile already had very demanding hardware requirements as well, but yet, Microsoft found no issue finding licensees who wanted to use that OS. In fact, Microsoft found licensees within Palm itself.

One could look to the Treo 700W for a good answer as why Colbalt never got off the ground. Palm announced the Treo 700W, their first smartphone that ran Windows Mobile. This sent shockwaves as the company that was seen as a direct competitor to the WinCE platform was now running the same OS as them. If one wants a comparison, this would be like if Apple today announced that they were shipping a particular model of the Macbook that had Windows pre-installed instead of OS X. One could only imagine the response. 

Why would anyone want or need Colbalt when their is already WinCE, which had a proven track-record. Besides, Palm isn't loading Colbalt onto their own devices anyway. From the OEM's perspective, if Palm isn't using Colbalt, then why should they? Palm users needed Colbalt in 2002, not in 2005. Even if Colbalt was released in 2003, it could still had a significant impact on the PDA landscape. However, Colbalt was very late to the party. With no one wanting to license Colbalt, Palm would have to continue to support PalmOS 5.x.

Palm started to work on their next generation OS when it became apparent that Cobalt wasn't going anywhere. Meanwhile, ACCESS was already working on their own project that ran PalmOS using the Linux kernel. However, Palm, not wanting anything to do with ACCESS, opted to create their own OS that would also use the Linux kernel with PalmOS being ported to it.

Emulation
Both the Colbalt and Garnet operating systems run under the PalmOS Simulator. They both have reasonable performance. The screenshots were taken from them running on an IBM Thinkpad T41 running Windows XP. However, their should be no issue running the PalmOS Simulator on an XP virtual machine on either VirtualBox or VMware. Performance should be more than acceptable. 

Conclusion
Palm's updated PalmOS project would later became webOS. Palm told their user base that the next OS and the devices that it would ship on would be ready in a few years. It's a lot to ask your user base to wait several years for the next generation PDA's/smartphones to come. But that was the state of Palm in the middle 2000's.

Gee, I hope nothing comes along within those next few years that could potentially disrupt the whole industry.

Articles Of Interest

The Palm OS Cobalt Phones That Never Were (Palm InfoCenter) - http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/9600/the-palm-os-cobalt-phones-that-never-were/

Palm OS Colbalt 6.1 (PalmSource) - https://www.palmsource.com/palmos/cobalt.html

Palm’s progress: The rise, fall—and rebirth—of a legendary brand - https://www.fastcompany.com/90246716/palms-progress-the-rise-fall-and-rebirth-of-a-legendary-brand

Palm: The Rise and Fall of a Legend (TechnoBuffalo) - https://www.technobuffalo.com/palm-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-legend

 Palm OS (Wikipedia) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_OS
Pam Treo (Wikipedia) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Treo
Palm Treo 650 (Wikipedia) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treo_650
Palm Treo 700W (Wikipedia) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treo_700w
ACCESS (Wikipedia) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Access_(company)
WebOS (Wikipedia) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebOS

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WeatherStar 4000 Simulator For Windows (Part 1)

Image
  It's time to get the weather forecast, 90's style. A couple of months ago, I reviewed the WeatherStar 4000+ simulator for web-browsers. This simulator, created by Mike Battaglia, is a open-source, on-line simulator of the WeatherStar 4000 hardware used by The Weather Channel during the 1990's. This simulator ran without issue on both Firefox and Chrome on Windows 7 (Home PC) and Firefox on Windows 10 (Dell Optiplex).  It also runs great under Chrome on my Android devices as well. I use the online simulator when I'm on the road.  Now, I'm going to look into the WeatherStar 4000 simulator for Windows offered by Taiganet. This simulator offers a lot of features and can be customized in various ways. When I'm home, I use this program most of the time. Now, there is one notable hardware requirement. First, to run the Windows (and Mac OSX/Linux ports as well) simulator, you will need a computer that supports OpenGL 3.3. My home computer ha
Read more

My Thoughts Close Of The Election : Religion and Politics

Image
  One of the most toxic things that anyone can do is mix religion and politics together. Why Do People Mix Politics And Religion Together? Even on a good day, politics is a very divisive topics. In theory, a political discussion shouldn't be charged. However, when people feel that there preferred party can do no wrong and assumes a us-vs.-them mentality, then a rational discussion flies out the window. You can only imagine how things get during an election year.  However, one of the most toxic things that anyone can do is mix religion and politics together. When this occurs, the object of worship changes. Instead of God, people start to worship politics, and thus, there preferred leaders become there new gods. The level of devotion is still there, but the direction changes. Political ideology is passed off as quote "Biblical teaching". This party becomes quote “evil” while this other party becomes quote “the party of God”. Things become black-and-wh
Read more

Old Hardware Emulated :Psion Model 3a Emulated On DOSBox Windows

Image
  Psion 3a and 3c Psion Series 3c Handheld Computer (Wikipedia) Psion 3a As mentioned in the previous articles, the emulators for the Psion 3 exist only on DOSBox. I decided to take the challenge of setting up a emulated configuration. What must one do. There is already a very good guide on the internet titled "PocketBook II emulation..." which is linked below in the article. Highly recommended. Setting up a emulated Psion 3 takes a little bit of effort, but it's possible and is a good exploration of setting up a DOSBox configuration. I'm making the safe assumption that the fast majority of those reading this are using Windows systems, but DOSBox has been ported to Mac OS X and Linux as well, so this guide might work on those systems.  The first thing I did was created a folder called dosbox_psion3 (Folder naming is based on personal preference). Make the following new folders within dosbox_psion3; psion3, a, b, and m. With the f
Read more

Classic Systems Emulated: Windows 3.1 OEMS

Image
  The OEM's Want In On The Action The PC Market of the early 90's was a very competitive one. As such, having a easy-to-use environment was a must for these companies pushing there hardware. Hardware has caught up to software, and as such, it was now time to push the command prompt out of the way for the GUI. Several of these companies spotted opportunities to make  deals with Microsoft to pre-install Windows on there computers. This phenomenon didn't start with 3.1 though. Even in the late 80's, both Compaq and IBM often preinstalled Windows 386 for corporate customers that brought there 386 systems. Windows 3.0 was bundled with a lot of systems too. It was preinstalled on the IBM PS/1 budget PC's and various Tandy models. It came with the Amstrad MegaPC and various other PC's offered by ZDS (Zenith Data Systems) as well.  The number of OEM partners grew with the Windows 3.1 release. Some of them were familiar faces, like Compa
Read more

Old Hardware Emulated : Pocket PC 2000/2002

Image
  Windows CE On The PDA Pocket PC 2002 starting up. For the remainder of the 90's, Microsoft had a tough time gaining a foothold in the handheld market. Windows CE 2.0 was well received on the palmtop PC's. However, that market-share was small compared to there PDA counterpart that were rocking to the tune of PalmOS. The first incarnation of WinCE on the PDA seemed sparse compared to Palm. At this point, the PDA port of Windows CE was re-branded as Windows Mobile. Around this point, Microsoft's fortunes began to change. For the first time, the Palm platform had that "Oh Crap!" moment when Compaq released the iPAQ in April 2000. The PDA came with the new Windows Pocket PC 2000 operating system. This version of Windows CE was specifically geared towards PDA's in particular. The iPAQ line of PDA's became must own devices for those that wanted the latest and greatest. As how Compaq made IBM look silly in the 80's and 90's
Read more

Some More Thoughts Of Greg Abbott

Image
Sometimes, one wonders whether being a Texan is more of a curse than a blessing. This is the impression one gets when living in a state run by Greg Abbott. Yes, it's going to be another one of those articles. However, I did take extra effort to try to tone down my sentiment. Anywho, it's often said that a person's true colors shows when their is deep adversity. A person will even swim or sink depending on a situation. As such, I really didn't have an opinion of Abbott pre-virus. Sure, he said a few stupid and obnoxious things before the outbreak. However, all politicians do that, so that's not anything out of the ordinary. The only thing I knew about him was that he was the governor and that was about it. After witnessing his responses to both the outbreak and the 2021 freeze, I have an opinion on him now, and its not very positive at all. Calling him an monster would be an understatement. A part of me questions whether he was the worst governor our st
Read more

Classic Systems Emulated: Windows 95 (Part 1)

Image
  Start Me Up! Windows 95 (Chicago Beta Build 189 released September 1994) running under PCEM What would eventually become Windows 95 was affected by several turn of events that occurred during its development. Windows 95, code-named Chicago, had been several years in the making. Microsoft had already been planning the next version of Windows right after they got 3.1 out the door on March 1992. What would determine the course of the new OS? DOS Compatibility for one as it was still deemed essential at that point. One has to remember that even though Windows 3.0 had been the most successful version of Windows to date, the GUI in general was still a novelty at that point. Most used Windows 3.0 for simple task like typing list, letters, or playing solitaire. Most PC users who needed to work on major projects were still running DOS applications like WordPerfect or Lotus 123. However, the transition to GUI's would begin in earnest.  The 486 processor start
Read more

2021: American Insurrection

Image
  Havoc Ensures Another year, another article. I can't really say that I'm looking forward to a new year though. Their are already a lot of troubled observations on the horizon. Many are already lighting their torches and sharpening their pitchforks. Have their already been enough drama already? At the very least, Idiocracy is trending on Google right now. I need to check that movie out. Anyone who is familiar to my blog (if you read the articles, thank you! You're epic!) knows that I'm not a fan of Biden. If I thought that he was awesome, then I wouldn't have posted articles like the following: Thought About The 2020 Election: Post-Election Blues (17 Nov, 2020) Thoughts About The 2020 Election: So Far (14 Mar, 2020) Thought About The 2020 Election: Super Tuesday (11 Mar, 2020) Thoughts About The 2020 Election: Reflections Of 2008 and 2012 (23 Mar, 2020) (which are all linked below for your viewing pleasure. I need to do some more self-promotion
Read more

WeatherStar 4000 Simulator For Windows (Part 2)

Image
  It's time to get the weather forecast, 90's style. Welcome to part two of the article examining the customization of the WeatherStar 4000 Simulator for Windows. This article is a in-depth coverage of the WeatherStar simulator offered by Taiganet. As mentioned in the previous article, the simulator can be customized in various ways. This part will cover the flavors built-into the simulator and segment customization within those flavors. The configuration of custom graphics will be covered as well. So lets dive right in! The initial program Under the Flavors sections, there are various flavor to choose one, sorted by year. A flavor is a particular presentation format that would have conformed to how the Weather Channel would have broadcast there weather segments for a particular time. For example, the "D(1991)" flavor would show the segments that the Weather Channel would have shown for 1991. These particular segments can
Read more

Old Hardware Emulated - Windows Mobile 5.0

Image
Working title for this post was "But Mama, That's Where The Fun Is!". Appropriate as by the middle 2000's, Windows Mobile was where all the action was at. The sky was only getting brighter for Microsoft as Palm was slowly imploding on itself. With Microsoft's mobile offerings becoming more widespread by the day, the Redmond Giant followed up with the newest version of WM, version 5.0, on May 2005. On the surface, it appears that little changed. However, the biggest change were "under the hood" with the incorporation of the .NET Compact Framework, which is basically the mobile version of .NET. Also, WM 5.0 introduced newer power-saving capabilities which often improved the battery life of devices by as much as 50%. WM backed up everything to flash memory. WinMobile would use a combination of RAM and flash memory to preserve battery life. This wasn't noticeable by the user.  As such, their is no data loss if power is lost.  Windows Media Player was upd
Read more