Palm To Dump Mac Support; Third Party Software Will Be Required For Syncing

February 10th, 2004 at 2:00 PM - News by Bryan Chaffin

Palm, a company once reportedly the object of Steve Jobsi desire, is dumping its direct support for the Mac. Brighthand.com is reporting from the PalmSource Conference that Palm has no plans to develop a Mac version of the Palm Desktop or conduits in the next version of the Palmis core software, called Palm OS Cobalt. All is not lost, however, at least if you are willing to shell out a few bucks, because Brighthand is also reporting that Mark/Space will be releasing of its Missing Sync software for Mac OS X. From Brighthand:

[Larry Slotnick of PalmSource] made it clear that PalmSource isnit developing a Mac version of the Palm Desktop. As the way the PIM apps work has changed significantly, this means Mac users wonit be able to HotSync without third-party software.

Fortunately, a third party has already stepped forward. Mark/Space is going to release a version of its Missing Sync application for Cobalt. This will allow existing Mac conduits for other third-party applications to still work.

In addition to the standard functions, Missing Sync for Cobalt will allow Bluetooth and Wi-Fi HotSyncing.

Mark/Space indicated this application will probably cost about what the current one does now, about $40. However, the company is open to licensing its application to Palm OS licensees who want to add Mac OS X synchronization to their handhelds.

Thereis more information on what PalmSource is planning for Cobalt in the full article, which we recommend as an interesting read.