The burgeoning Palm marketplace is heating up again, as a bevy of software solutions are in the works for the hand-held personal digital assistant.

Palm Computing, a subsidiary of the parent company, 3Com Corp., continues to develop more software, and is expanding the number of Palm Operating System (OS) licensees. According to Palm Chairman Alan Kessler, alliances with other vendors will add as much as $1 billion to Palm Computing revenues, and spark such innovations as cell phones running the Palm OS.

As a result of the potential growth, Kessler has separated Palm Computing into three business groups, including the Platform Business Unit who will license the Palm OS; the Device Business Unit that focuses on delivering hardware, and a Services Group that will work in the wireless environment.

In cellular innovations, Qualcomm Corp already has developed a Palm OS-based phone called the PDQ, offering digital cellular and organizer functions similar to the Palm. As in the past, Palm will concentrate on marketing and development of software and allow Qualcomm and other vendors to focus on the hardware component.