Motorola takes minority stake in Palm Computing

NEWS Motorola has taken a minority stake in 3Com subsidiary Palm Computing, and has signed a memorandum of understanding to license the Palm operating system. The move is bound to raise questions about the future of Symbian - the one-year-old joint venture between Ericsson, Matsushita, Motorola, Nokia and Psion aimed at developing the EPOC OS for future mobile devices. Last week, Ericsson teamed up with Microsoft to develop smartphones using an Explorer microbrowser, and the wireless application protocol (WAP). The move saw fund managers initially rush to sell shares in Psion, fearing Ericsson had defected. Earlier this year, Nokia also teamed up with Palm Computing to use Palm's user interface and other technology. In today's twist, Motorola has made a point of addressing the Symbian relationship. In a statement, Motorola stated: "Motorola remains committed to the Symbian alliance, and is working with both Symbian and Palm to provide leading platforms customers demand." A Symbian spokesman said: "This follows all the [Symbian/EPOC] licensees going in different directions in this market, and of course Motorola has had a relationship with Palm for some time."