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Palm opens RD Centre in Ireland


Fri Oct 28, 2005 - 10:13 AM EDT - By James Hromadka

Skills of the Irish

Palm announced today that it has opened a Research & Development Centre at Swords, Co. Dublin, Ireland. The R&D Centre will develop custom software applications for the Treo smartphone in Europe, the Middle East, & Africa.

The new European Engineering Centre is responsible for the following:

Choosing and developing core, leading-edge technologies, such as 3G/UMTS, to help Palm accelerate the delivery of next-generation smartphones to European mobile operators and their customers;

Supporting the mobile operators in their certification processes and helping field-qualification teams;

Implementing radio technology and mobile operator-specific services and applications; and

Focusing on quality assurance across the complex European networks and infrastructures.

"We are delighted to open this centre in Europe, a significant step up for our R&D function. This move reflects our intention to accelerate the delivery of next-generation smartphones to European mobile operators and their customers," Ed Colligan, president and chief executive officer of Palm, Inc. said. "After careful consideration of alternatives, we were convinced by the IDA and our own analysis that the specific R&D skills crucial to the success of this centre are readily available in Ireland."

The centre is located at Airside Business Park in Swords, alongside Palm's existing European Operations and Supply Chain Group, which has been based in Ireland since 1999.