Palm OS

The Palm OS was introduced by Palm as an operating system for their line of personal digital assistants, or PDA's. Originally developed for Motorola, the Palm OS utilizes touchscreen technology to allow users to easily move around the application to access a variety of options. The initial idea was to allow people to synchronize their address books, calendars, and other 'office assistant' functions from their personal computer into a small portable device. Users would then make notations/changes or enter other data into the device remotely, through keypad entries, and then could synchronize them up to the files in their existing computer upon completion. The current version of this software is now known as Garnet OS. The Palm OS is also used as the operating software for several hand-held devices.

Fast Facts:

1. Release Date: 1996
2. Manufacturer: Palm, now developed by ACCESS
3. Developed & licensed by PalmSource
4. Original developer: Jeff Hawkins
5. Originally developed for Motorola DragonBall-based Pilot PDA
6. Source model: Closed source

Standard Palm OS applications

Over the decade-plus development of the software, there have been nine basic premises of functionality contained within. These include: an address book, a calculator, a date book, an expense tracker, HotSync that allows synchronization to a PC or other host device, a memo pad, a to do list, special preferences, and security.

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