In uncertain times times when earnings are down and its market share has begun to shrink, Samsung Electronics has given Palm Inc. a reason to smile, as the company has renewed its license of the Palm operating system from PalmSource, Palm Inc.'s Palm OS subsidiary. Under the terms of a new agreement, Samsung will continue to develop and market smartphones based on the Palm OS through 2005.

"Extending our licensing agreement of the Palm OS is a critical component of our success and ensures we can continue to build great Palm Powered products for many years to come," said Byung-Duck Cho, executive vice president of the R&D Group, Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics. "The openness and ease-of-integration of the Palm OS allows Samsung to benefit from the advantages of a powerful platform, while allowing for diversified, innovative products to be created to meet the needs of wireless users."

With the new license agreement in place, PalmSource and Samsung said they will continue to collaborate and bring Palm OS products to market. Since licensing the Palm OS in 2000, Samsung has developed a line of Palm OS smart phones, which include the SPH-i300 along with new products due out this year.