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Palm, Inc. was an American company founded in 1992 by Jeff Hawkins. Initially, it developed software for personal digital assistants (PDAs). In 1996, Palm released the Palm Pilot, a highly successful PDA that became a model for the industry. These devices organized information like calendars and contact lists and could synchronize data with a personal computer using a system called "Graffiti" for handwriting recognition.12

Palm OS became the dominant operating system for PDAs, capturing nearly 70 percent of the global market by the early 2000s. However, the rise of smartphones, like the iPhone, led to a decline in PDA sales. Palm created a subsidiary, PalmSource, in 2002 to license the operating system, while the parent company focused on mobile telephone technology. Hewlett-Packard acquired Palm in 2010, and the brand was eventually discontinued.1

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2 Britannica Sources
  1. Palm OS
  2. PDA

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