"PalmSource" officially dead

Chicago (IL) - The name PalmSource, Palm’s former software division and developer of the PDA software Palm OS, is gone. Tokyo-based Access Co., which acquired PalmSource in September 2005 for $324 million, merged the name into the Access brand.

The name change is part of a rebranding process of Access, which also includes a new company logo. As previously announced, Access continues to work on a successor of PalmOS, called Access Linux Platform, or short ALP. According to the company, there are currently more than 40 million mobile phones, handhelds, and other mobile devices that run PalmOS. Access is mainly known for its NetFront browser which runs on about 279 million PDAs, TVs, game consoles and car electronics.

PalmSource, once part of Palm, was spun off in 2003, when Palm separated in the hardware division Palm One and the software unit PalmSource. PalmSource holds the IP of BeOS, a multimedia operating system, which Palm acquired through the purchase of Be in 2001, as well as Linux know-how through the acquisition of China Mobile soft in 2004.