Palm OS 5 runs on lots of ARM processors, from lots of vendors. Intel, Motorola and TI are three of the major ARM chip manufacturers (perhaps the three biggest, I don't know) and they're all working with PalmSource, Inc. and an undisclosed set of licensees to make sure that Palm OS 5 works really well on their chips. We've publicly shown Palm OS 5 running on development boards from each of them, as well as from another chip company.
Ben is right that app developers shouldn't have to care in the slightest what chip they're running on, just like you don't have to care whether you're on a VZ or an SVZ Dragonball today (except for people who tweak the hardware directly.) No need to rebuild your apps, etc. Palm, Inc. has said they'll use a TI chip for some device(s). You shouldn't be too surprised at the qualifier "some" because few companies would be willing to swear that they'll forever commit to a single chip vendor and none other. Other licensees haven't said anything, as far as I recall. In various presentations, TI has talked about the 1510, and you can find info on their website about it and what its components & specs are. But that doesn't guarantee that Palm will only use the 1510, etc. And that doesn't say anything about the other licensees, either. So there's no schism: Palm OS 5 runs on many chips, and many licensees might use many chips from many vendors. All one big happy family. App developers shouldn't care in the slightest, except for the benefits that a specific chip brings to a specific device (e.g. specific speed, power consumption, selection of integrated components, and so forth which help define what the product is.) Of course the press might well turn it into a story like "Licensee A uses chip X, and Licensee B uses chip Y, and it is a big fight..." but you'll know the truth that it really won't make a difference for the OS as a whole. Sure, it'll matter to the chip vendors and hardware teams, but that's most likely it. Hope this helps - -David Fedor PalmSource, Inc. -- For information on using the Palm Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see http://www.palmos.com/dev/support/forums/
