GearBits

Palm Becomes PalmOne

Early this morning, Palm Solutions Group, the hardware side of Palm, Inc. announced that it would take the new name of palmOne after Palm, Inc. splits off its PalmSource software sometime division this Fall.

According to the press release:

“Palm created an entirely new category when it delivered the first successful handheld computers in history,” said Todd Bradley, Palm Solutions Group chief executive officer. “palmOne builds on the brand promise and popularity of the Palm name, while indicating our intention to continue to be the driving force of innovation.”

The forthcoming and much delayed spin-off of PalmSource, Inc. has been approved by shareholders and should be completed as soon as the merger with Handspring is finalized.

It has been widely known (or assumed) that Palm Solutions Group would have to change its name once the spin-off was completed in order to reduce confusion over branding of the Palm operating system and the use of the word "Palm."

While I'm not crazy about the new name, I'm just happy that it's been announced. At least there's now one less hurdle to overcome before this corporate reconfiguration can be finalized. Then, everyone concerned can concentrate more on products and customers rather than organization charts and lawyers. Other coverage of and reactions to this announcement can be found at Palm Infocenter and Brighthand.