Speaking to analysts in New York this week, Palm chief executive Ed Colligan said the company had been developing the new Linux platform in the background for several years.
Mr Colligan said the Linux OS would be released later this year, and would run existing Palm applications.
Analysts reacted positively to the announcement saying the company had been hamstrung in recent years because it did not control the PalmOS operating system.
Palm spun off its OS operations as a separate company and recently paid US$44 million for a permanent license to use the software. PalmOS is now called Garnet.
The new Linux platform held the promise of allowing the company to get new product to market faster while lowering costs.
Mr Colligan told the analysts the mobile computing market was about to experience the next wave of growth as it moved into the mass market and that its new platforms – including Linux – positioned Palm to capitalise on that growth.
It is not clear how the announcement affects the immediate takeover rumours that have persisted about Palm. Wall Street has been buzzing in recent weeks with talk that Palm may be acquired, either by a device company or a private equity firm.
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