BeUnited in the news
20 Nov., 2001 - Helmar Rudolph
BeUnited has hit the news again; this time in an article at OS Opinion, written by its founder Kelly McNeill. Kelly comes to the same conclusion as many others before, and that is that Palm doesn't really have anything to lose by licensing the BeOS to a 3rd party. We at BeUnited believe that Palm in fact can gain substantially from such a deal, especially if it leverages the BeOS as a development and marketing platform for its own OS and handheld devices. This is an area that surely hasn't escaped Palm, especially considering our intended target markets and distribution, plus other innovative services we plan on offering together with the "new" BeOS.
iZ Technology throws weight behind BeUnited
15 Nov., 2001 - Helmar Rudolph
In a letter to Palm's interim CEO Eric Benhamou and possibly soon-to-be CEO, David Nagel, Robin Leboe, VP Product Development at iZ Technology, pledges his support for the BeUnited initiative to license the BeOS from Palm.
"Our latest product the RADAR 24 is being used by top-level artists, composers and producers such as Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (Sting, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson etc.), Daniel Lanois (U2), George Harrison, Pete Townsend, James Newton Howard, James Horner, George Michael, Genesis etc. etc. It is fast becoming the industry standard for professional, stand alone, hard disk recording.
We have found BeOS to be a fast booting, stable, near real-time environment, perfect for our proprietary high performance recording application, RADAR 24. We support any effort that can keep this OS moving forward. It has huge potential and I believe that other major players in the pro audio industry like Steinberg and Emagic, who abandoned BeOS when Be switched to an Internet appliance focus, could be lured back into the fold.
Other manufactures that I am in contact with are also looking for an OS solution that can blend seamlessly between the appliance (embedded) application and the desktop world. I believe that BeOS can be that solution if given the proper support from the development community."
We at BeUnited are delighted with this response from a reputable commercial developer, and are looking forward to working together with iZ Technology. We believe this to be the first in a row of companies wanting to make use of BeOS technology, showing that it's anything but outdated or even "dead".
BeUnited in the news
14 Nov., 2001 - Helmar Rudolph
Nice to see BeUnited being covered by Slashdot and The Register, reporting about our initiative to license, improve and relaunch the BeOS. Thanks! Thanks also to all of you who came to visit, read up on the status, fill in the developers survey or contact us with support. Now that the whole world and beyond knows talks with and about us, wouldn't it be nice to top that off with a word from Palm? Well, we believe it's going to happen any time now, so be patient and be positive!
NewsFlash: It's "Yes"!
13 Nov., 2001 - Helmar Rudolph
News has it that Be's shareholders yesterday approved the transaction of Be's assets and IP to Palm. Let's hope for the best and that we will know soon where the BeOS stands in Palm's hands, so that we can "shift into Phase II". ;-)
Today's the day
12 Nov., 2001 - Helmar Rudolph
Today Be, Inc.'s shareholders will approve or reject the transaction of Be's intellectual property and assets to a Palm, Inc. - or more accurately, a wholly owned subsidiary of Palm. Although it seems the transaction will go through, there are many who have registered a "no" vote. At the end of today we will know for sure about the outcome.
Recent news around Palm weren't that encouraging to the casual observer. CEO Carl Yankowski resigned, probably making space for David Nagel, who was supposed to head Palm's new Solutions Group spin-off. First of all, we would like to thank Carl Yankowski for communicating with us and wish him all the best, but no matter what the sentiment is and irrespective of the final vote, we at BeUnited remain positive and committed. As previously alluded to, there are several options available to us to save the BeOS, so BeUnited's future is not tied to Palm and the path they choose for the BeOS.
We hope for a speedy conclusion of this matter, so that the BeOS can take its deserved place in computing history. We are eagerly awaiting the outcome of today's meeting and will be back soon with another update on the situation. Thanks for staying with us and stay tuned.
Interesting links:
Developer initiatives and update
6 Nov., 2001 - Helmar Rudolph
We have created a survey form for BeOS developers to fill in, so that we know exactly who is working on which BeOS application, driver or tool, how many hours a week, what help they need from a new BeOS custodian, and what they would like to see changed in the new BeOS. We're also in the process of contacting commercial developers previously developing for BeOS, asking them to fill in the same form or provide us with some feedback. If you are a developer, your participation is highly appreciated.
No news from Palm yet. We had hoped to get a reply from David Nagel, at least an acknowledgement, but nothing to date. Hope dies last, they say. ;-)
The finance.yahoo.com message board is alight with comments from shareholders whether to vote "No" or "Yes" in six days time. Although we are as unsure as anybody else as to what Palm would do with the BeOS once the transaction has been concluded, we still believe a "Yes" vote is the only currently feasible way to ever see anything come to live, unless, of course, someone makes a better offer, pays as much as needs to be paid, and presents a new path of action for the company and the BeOS/IA.
Interestingly, at present Be's market capitalization has been reduced to a mere $4 million. It was also said that after deductions only $4m of the $11m from Palm will remain, leaving shareholders with a mere 10 cents a share - something they understandably aren't particularly happy about. JLG and others have repeatedly said that Be will have no money to do anything if the transaction falls through, including pursuing possible action against Microsoft. Whether Palm will do anything with the BeOS code, well, that's the $11m question right now. Only they know; so far, they haven't told anyone anything.
Interesting links:
Palm's reply still pending
31 Oct., 2001 - Helmar Rudolph
Just to keep you in the loop, Palm's CEO Carl Yankowski has - as he usually does - promptly answered our email asking for Palm to give a sign to the Be community regarding their plans - preferably before 12 November. He has passed the mail on to David Nagel, who's really the one in charge of this issue, yet Mr Nagel has so far failed to respond. We still hope he takes the time to do so in time, because it will not have escaped him either that the remaining Be shareholders have nothing to gain from a sale of Be's IP and assets to Palm - the shares are basically worthless - and we don't think the majority of them shares the same emotional link to the BeOS as we all do.
In the meantime, talks and plans continue on our side and on all different levels. This, quite naturally, includes discussions with the members of OpenBEOS, which - again quite naturally - would be our way to go if access to the BeOS source code and the rights to enhance and market it was not possible.
Status Update
25 Oct., 2001 - Helmar Rudolph
Today the following items are worth reporting about:
- A lively discussion is taking place on our internal mailing list about all sorts of issues regarding User Interface Guidelines. If you'd like to contribute, please contact Jace (at) beunited.org.
- We have asked Palm to send a signal to the BeOS community and especially to the Be shareholders that they consider the possibility of licensing the BeOS once the purchase of Be's IP and assets has been concluded. We fear that on 12 November, Be shareholders will block the sale because they think Palm will simply sink the BeOS. With a sign from Palm that this isn't so, their mind could be changed so that the sale can be OK'd by the shareholders, also allowing our initiative to continue.
- Technix is also compiling a list of user suggestions regarding the functionality and look of the standard BeOS applications and Preferences. If you would like to participate, please use this text file as a base.
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