Palm Inc. en Handspring hebben aangekondigd dat Handspring zijn licentie voor het PalmOS besturingssysteem heeft verlengd. Onder de nieuwe overeenkomst kan Handspring tot april 2009 producten voor het PalmOS platform ontwikkelen en op de markt brengen. Handspring beschikt sinds 1998 over een PalmOS licentie en heeft in de tussentijd enkele bijdragen aan het besturingssysteem geleverd, waaronder support voor USB en 16-bit kleurendisplays:
The Palm OS is the most successful handheld operating system in the world, as reflected by worldwide market share of Palm OS based products. With the new license agreement in place, Palm and Handspring will continue to collaborate in bringing ongoing innovation to the Palm OS.
[...] Since licensing the Palm OS in 1998, Handspring has delivered a full line of expandable handheld computers. ``We value greatly our relationship with Palm and the ability to use its leading Palm OS,'' said Donna Dubinsky, Handspring CEO. ``The openness and ease-of-integration of the Palm OS allows Handspring to benefit from the advantages of a powerful platform, while adding significant differentiation, such as our Springboard expansion architecture.''
Handspring has worked closely with Palm to support the Palm OS, such as integrating Handspring-developed features such as USB and 16-bit color support back into the Palm OS for the benefit of all licensees.