As The Palm TurnsAs The Palm Turns

The intrigue is increasing this week in my favorite mobile industry soap: As The Palm Turns. Can Linux save the Palm OS? Will palmOne save its one-time sibling PalmSource? Will Microsoft save palmOne?

This saga has all the elements of high drama. Palm once was at the pinnacle but has seen its Microsoft-like market share shrink significantly. It went through several changes of ownership before splitting into two companies, palmOne to create devices and PalmSource to develop the Palm OS. Now, both companies are, at best, moderately profitable and both remain small and struggling.

As is typically the case in such dramas, lurking in the background is Evil Enemy. In this case, it's Microsoft, which took away a lot of palmOne's PDA market share in the enterprise and is fighting to do the same with smartphones, trying to knock the perky, beloved Treo off its perch. Then, there's the suave, debonair Symbian, owned by the handsome Finn, Nokia, and other handset big vendors, which wants to win out over both Microsoft and the Palms.

This week, the two Palms reaffirmed their family bond, with palmOne promising to stay loyal to the Palm OS through 2009. PalmOne also bought trademark rights from PalmSource and will re-name itself Palm, Inc., in a strange act of deja vu.

PalmOne is paying PalmSource a guaranteed $148.5 million, but is that enough to save PalmSource? That sounds like a lot of money, but it's not much more than chump change to the better-healed Microsoft and Symbian.

And will palmOne come to its senses and release a Windows Mobile version of the Treo? This has long been rumored and palmOne has steadfastly refused to deny the rumor. Despite its renewed vows of familial devotion, a Windows Mobile version of the Treo could be palmOne's best bet to move to the next level since the Palm OS is relatively weak in the enterprise and in Europe. But such a move would strengthen the hand of Microsoft, which is cast in this drama as Evil Enemy.

And what's with that lovable Linux? PalmSource is expected to announce this week its timetable for porting its platform to Linux. Will Linux save PalmSource? And will there be a Linux Treo before there will be a Windows Mobile Treo?

And what's with the name change from palmOne to Palm, Inc. Is it nostalgia? Or has palmOne finally figured out its name is goofy and hard to remember? Or is it simply bowing to reality since most people still refer to the company as "Palm?"

Stay tuned.