Palm will use a new platform based on Linux to help the company compete better, an Associated Press report said.
The Associated Press report said Palm officials announced the new operating system platform during a meeting with analysts in New York, where they also discussed the company's business strategy and refused to talk about recent rumors of a possible buyout.
Palm has long used its cornerstone Palm operating system and last year broadened its customer base by debuting Treo smart phones based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile system, the report said.
The upcoming Linux-based platform, which Palm had been developing quietly for several years, will join the product mix as 'a new foundation,' Palm CEO Ed Colligan, quoted by the Associated Press report, said.
He said the platform will take the Palm software and 'modernize' it, the report said.
The Sunnyvale-based company doesn't own the Palm OS and spent $44 million last year for a permanent license to use it, the report further said.