PalmSource, Inc. the Palm OS subsidiary of <A HREF="http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/micro_stories.pl?ACCT=153400&TICK=PALM&STO">Palm, Inc.</A>, previewed the Palm OS 5 beta and announced that final delivery of the new operating system to Palm OS licensees is scheduled for early summer. Palm OS 5 will be the foundation to build a new class of devices that will help make mobile computing ubiquitous.
Key improvements in Palm OS 5 include: enhanced security to keep sensitive data private, Palm OS 5 offers strong 128-bit systemwide data-encryption services based on the standard RC4 encryption algorithm from RSA Security. In addition, end-to-end security is provided through Secure Socket Layer (SSL) services for email, Web browsing, and online transactions; multimedia, the ability to record sound and play CD-quality digital, and new selectable color themes will let users customize devices; and wireless, in addition to current support for WAN and Bluetooth, Palm OS 5 supports 802.11b for connections to wireless Local Area Networks.