Samsung first to use Palm OS 5 in smart phones

PalmSource announced on Thursday at the CeBIT trade show in Hannover, Germany, that South Korean consumer-electronics company Samsung will be the first phone maker to use the latest version of the Palm operating system.

Samsung's Mobile Information Terminal SGH-i500 will run on GSM networks and use version 5 of the Palm OS. Samsung has risen to one of the top positions in the handset market, using a strategy of developing advanced handsets.

The SGH-i500 has a clamshell design with a 16-bit colour LCD and a built-in digital camera. The device comes with an ARM-compliant processor and a WAP 2.0 browser.

A Samsung representative said the device will be released in Europe this year. A CDMA version of the phone, called SPH-i500, will be launched in the US in the second quarter through Sprint. Pricing of the device has not been determined, the representative said.

Samsung is licensing many of the major operating systems for smart phones, including Microsoft's Smartphone 2002 OS, the Symbian OS and the Palm OS. The company is covering all the bases in case one of the operating systems grabs the lead in the market.

Operating systems from Symbian, PalmSource and Microsoft combine the functions of a mobile phone and a personal digital assistant (PDA). The resulting smart phones are beginning to trickle into the world's wireless market.

In related news from CeBIT, Research In Motion announced two new BlackBerry models for customers in Europe, the 6210 and 6220. As previously reported, the 6200 devices will run on GSM networks. The devices feature a smaller design than previous generations, as well as increased memory and support for wireless email synchronisation. The Java-based devices also support phone, SMS, browser and organiser capabilities. RIM demonstrated prototypes of the 6200 devices at the annual 3GSM World Congress industry conference in Cannes, France, in late February.

Richard Shim writes for CNET News.com.