CTIA: High-end handsets spark cross-vendor deals

SAN FRANCISCO--At CTIA’s Wireless IT & Entertainment show, some of the most unusual bedfellows struck deals to create the new generation of smartphones. In a shocking announcement, Palm announced that the latest version of its Treo smartphone will incorporate the Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system, shunning the OS of its namesake. Separately Intel and Research in Motion said that future BlackBerry devices would be powered by Intel’s XScale processing engine.

While Palm and Microsoft weren’t specific on many details including the name of the new device, they did announce that the new device would initially be a CDMA handset with an embedded EV-DO chip and would launch over Verizon Wireless’ network in early 2006. In addition to the new OS, Palm is scrapping much of the user software traditionally incorporated into the Treo deck for the new device. The phone will use mobile version of Microsoft Outlook and Internet Explorer as well as allow direct connections to Microsoft Exchange servers.

The RIM deal, on the other hand, will take its initial cues from the GSM market. RIM will incorporate Intel’s new PXA9xx cellular processor, codenamed “Hermon,” in a line of next-generation BlackBerrys. The chipset is an integrated application processor and digital signal processor, which supports multiple air interfaces. While RIM said it would only use the chipset to support new EDGE data devices, the chipset is capable of working with other network technologies.

The link-ups between powerhouses of the handheld world and the traditional computing giants have been going on for some time, but Palm supporting the OS of a formal rival is surprising. Palm Computing last year split into two companies, PalmSource which makes the Palm OS and PalmOne--later renamed just Palm--which manufacturers handhelds. While the new arrangement freed Palm from the constraints of using the popular Palm OS and allowed PalmSource to more easily license its software to other manufacturers, Palm has always been the largest licensee of the Palm OS. If Palm chooses to fully embrace the Microsoft OS, it would be a huge blow to its sister company.

Palm wasn’t Microsoft’s only win at the show. Sprint today announced it would release the Motorola i930, a GSM/iDEN phone that will be the first Nextel branded phone to offer the Windows Mobile OS. Earlier this month Sprint unveiled its first Windows Mobile CDMA device.