Palm Computing, Inc., a 3Com company (Nasdaq: COMS), and Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) today announced an agreement to collaborate to expand the capabilities of the Palm ComputingŪ platform and create a powerful next generation platform for handheld consumer electronics products with audio-visual (AV) functionality. Under the terms of this agreement, Sony licenses the Palm OS operating system and Palm Computing commits to supporting Sony's Memory Stick storage and data exchange technology as part of the Palm Computing platform.
Palm Computing will enrich the Palm Computing platform to enable it to support Memory Stick technology. Palm Computing will be able to license this enriched version of the Palm Computing platform to third parties in the industry.
Sony plans to implement the Palm Computing platform into an entirely new line of handheld electronics products that will not be limited to electronic organizers but are expected to include a wide range of mobile wireless telecommunications-enabled AV/IT consumer electronics products.
In addition, Palm Computing and Sony have agreed to jointly work on developing a future version of the Palm OS operating system which would incorporate not only Memory Stick technology but other Sony AV technologies as well. This new version of the Palm OS operating system would make it possible to develop a new generation of mobile consumer electronics products based on the Palm Computing platform, which will be made available for licensing by third parties.
"The emergence of mobile consumer AV/IT products based on Memory Stick and the next generation Palm Computing platform will pave the way for a universe of new digital network services," said Kunitake Ando, president and COO of Sony's Personal IT Network Company. "This cooperation is the first step toward establishing a powerful new consumer electronics platform for accessing a broad range of wireless based network services and content."
"We are delighted by this licensing agreement," said Alan Kessler, president of Palm Computing. "The fact that the undisputed leader in consumer electronics innovation has chosen the Palm OS operating system for its future line of mobile AV/IT products is a strong tribute to what makes the Palm Computing platform unique: our focus on simplicity, wearability, and mobility. Our collaboration with Sony, and our commitment to the Memory Stick technology will contribute to enrich the Palm Computing platform and to open new applications fields for our more than 23,000 developers."
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