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PalmSource DevCon 2005

May 26, 2005

There’s a level of energy I haven’t seen in the Palm OS world in quite a while, and I’m sure the PalmSource folk are pleased. They only expected about 500 people to attend, but just before the show they already had 1000 registrations. I’ve really enjoyed my time here at the Devcon, especially meeting some of the people I’ve corresponded with on a regular basis: Jennifer Giordano of TealPoint, Howard Tomlinson of Astraware, and Carla from LDW Software.

There haven’t been any earth-shaking announcements, but there have been a few surprises. When I arrived I heard that Dave Nagel, the CEO of PalmSource, had just resigned. The timing seemed rather odd, but the general consensus is that it was a postive move for both the company and Nagel, who will have more time to pursue personal interests. Pat McVeigh is currently at the helm, and will hopefully help PalmSource make a bigger transition related to the second announcement.

palmOne has “bought back” the rights to the Palm brand name for $30 million. I’m excited about having a Palm hardware company again, but what does that mean for the platform? We won’t have Palm OS anymore, or “Palm Powered” either. No one knows much of anything right now, so it’s hard to say exactly what the future holds.

Aside from meeting lots of people, I’ve learned some interesting things in meetings and presentations. I also heard about a new product in which I’m very interested, a Bluetooth GPS receiver from Garmin. It will retail for $249 and features a 20 hour rechargable battery. It’s also waterproof and has a magnetic base so you can attach it to the roof of your car for better satellite reception. I also picked up a palmOne LifeDrive and am busy learning the ins and outs so I can post a review next week.

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