Linux Grabs Hold of Palms

By Michael Foley
iApplianceWeb
(08/30/01, 10:48:46 AM EDT)

With the changing of the guard at Palm, Empower Technologies is moving in to take advantage of the OS vacuum. Empower has released the full version of the Linux DA operating system for current Palm users and Palm-compatible licensees.

"Just as the PC market shifted radically when the operating system was unbundled from the hardware, we believe that the Palm-compatible market is going to explode with the release of our embedded Linux DA O/S," said Paul Leung, President and CEO of Empower Technologies.

Linux DA O/S v1.0 DBE replaces the Palm O/S within the actual handheld device, but still remains fully compatible with the Palm and Palm-compatible hardware. Using the open source Linux kernel, Empower Technologies has designed Linux DA O/S to be the first Linux compatible OS scaled down for Palm and Palm-compatible CPU platforms. Just as with the original Palm O/S, Linux DA can back up to a desktop PC and is able to utilize handwriting recognition for data input.

Empower Technologies has made the full version available to consumers who currently operate a Palm device, but the company is actively seeking additional Palm-compatible manufacturers as licensing partners. Empower has licensing deals with two Palm-compatible manufacturers, Elitegroup Computer Systems Co., Ltd., and APlux Communications, Ltd., both of Taiwan.

The full version of Linux DA O/S v1.0 DBE is available for purchase from the Empower Technologies product Website.

Link:
Empower Technologies, Inc.