According to TamsPPC — the PocketPC Blog, Palm is rallying software partners for a Q3 launch of two Treo successors. The blog reported an insider tip on two Palm smartphones code-named “Zeppelin” and “Skywriter,” which have been rumored to run Linux and/or Windows Mobile.

TamsPPC printed a document that it claims is an email from a Palm developer program that was seeking developers to ready their applications for two new Palm devices called Zeppelin and Skywriter. The deadline for application was said to be May 30th, with the launches set for the third quarter. The reprinted email points potential applicants to the Designed for Palm Products (DFPP) compatibility testing page. The blog also passed along an “unconfirmed” assertion from “a Palm insider” that a “Centro-like Windows Mobile device” was sighted, which was speculated to be “a WM6.1 version of the Treo 500.”

TamsPPC also showed a mock-up of “the device,” which seems to support other circulating rumors that Zeppelin and Skywriter are the Linux- and Windows Mobile versions of the same device. According to various industry blogs, the Linux version has been said to be based on Palm's upcoming Linux distribution, said to called “Nova.” Other rumors have the Zeppelin down as a version of the Treo called the 800W that will be sold by Sprint, adding WiFi, GPS and EVDO Rev.A cellular communications. Some sources, however, say the Zeppelin will launch as a Windows Mobile device.

After the split-up of Palm into hardware (Palm) and software (PalmSource) companies several years ago, Palm has sold a variety of handhelds and smartphones based on Palm OS and Windows Mobile, including the Centro and the Treo lines. In September 2005, Access, now a major purveyor of Linux-based mobile phone stacks, acquired PalmSource, and by January 2007 had renamed Palm OS, calling it “Garnet OS.” Access now sells a Linux-based distro for mobile devices called “Access Linux Platform” (ALP). ALP features a “Garnet Host” or “GHost” compatibility layer said to allow properly written Palm/Garnet applications to run without modifications.

The full TamsPPC story should be available here.

 
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