palmOne回應投微軟陣營傳聞

這幾天不斷有傳聞說palmOne會用微軟的Pocket PC作業系統來打造下一代的SmartPhone。消息傳出後，palmOne今天就在PalmInforcenter作出了回應。

We believe that the folks at Needham misunderstood our palmOne execs: no one from palmOne expressed the sentiments attributed to us, either at our October 5 Securities Analyst meeting or in the individual analyst meetings that followed.

It’s a well-known fact that palmOne has attracted a large and loyal customer base delivering products that employ PalmOS, and that we are committed to a multiyear contract with PalmSource that includes a $40 million minimum annual commitment. We have often said that the PalmOS today has the best combination of power, ease of use, user interface and flexibility to innovate on top of the OS.

Of course, the company is open to evaluating products using additional operating systems if doing so would grow the marketplace or otherwise meet customer needs that currently are not addressed. This is nothing new. In fact, it was part of the rationale for the spin-off — so that both companies could create their own futures.

其實這類的傳聞已經不是第一次發生，而這類官腔亦不是首次使用。palmOne若放棄PalmSource，對PalmSource而言可說是很大打擊。不過若不放棄，亦未必能救PalmSource於水深火熱，而且自己亦可能一起陷水深火熱的局面。PalmSource要走出谷底，真要看看前蘋果人Jean-Louis Gassee有甚麼辦法了。