Two people behind the operating system of 3Com’s best-selling PalmPilot hand-held computer are to leave the company and set up a rival organization, it was announced yesterday. A spokesperson for the Santa Clara, California-based company told ComputerWire that Donna Dubinsky and Jeff Hawkins will leave the company at the end of this week and set up a new venture to create hand-held devices for the consumer market. He gave no details about the new company – it doesn’t have a name – since there were a ton of details to work out first. But he added that the company does intend to license the palm pilot operating system from 3Com. Asked why the two decided to leave he said, The [palm] unit has grown at nothing short of a phenomenal pace and there are a hell of a lot of people here now. I guess they’re both entrepreneurs at heart and want to move on. He said the departure was completely amicable. Nevertheless, losing both Hawkins and Dubinsky will come as a double whammy to 3Com, particularly as Microsoft Corp’s rival operating system, Windows CE, continues to gain popularity. Dubinsky is president of the Palm Computing unit and a VP at the networking company. Hawkins, the handheld’s inventor, works for 3Com part time as chief technologist in the palm unit. He founded the original company, Palm Computing, back in 1992, and Dubinsky joined shortly after as chief executive. The two developed the palm device and to raise cash along the way they sold the company to modem-manufacturer US Robotics in September 1995 for $44m. In June 1996, Palm Computing became part of 3Com when it acquired US Robotics.
