Apple has licensed some of the Intellectual Property created by Palm and PalmSource for a cool 1 billion JY ($10 million USD). The latter created the Palm OS PDA operating system used to power the Palm Treo, which sold over 38 million devices after its launch in 1996. Microsoft licensed many of the same patents in 2010, ostensibly for its Windows Phone platform. The patents are now owned by Japanese firm ACCESS and PalmSource is now known as ACCESS Systems Americas, Inc. The deal with ACCESS also gives Apple a license for some patents owned by Bell Communications Research and Geoworks.
The Palm Treo
Ironically, it was Apple's launch of the Apple iPhone in 2007 that put the nail in the coffin for the Palm Treo. Palm came back in 2009 with the launch of webOS and the Palm Pre. Widely expected to challenge the iPhone for smartphone supremacy, a lack of apps and a confusing ad campaign did in the Pre and by the end of 2009 it was the Motorola DROID and Android that was giving the iPhone its first dose of competition.
Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
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