Former Palm CEO Carl J. Yankowski surfaced Tuesday as executive chairman of GeoPhoenix, the start-up developer of an interface that the company claims will simplify use of handhelds and other devices.
The company said Yankowski was hired to help the company commercialize and license the interface.
“Carl was able to profitably expand the Palm brand globally, while significantly increasing applications, developers and licensees,” Adriana Guzman, GeoPhoenix co-founder and CEO, said in a statement. “He truly understands the challenges developers and users face in visualizing content on small screen devices such as PDAs and cell phones.”
For his part, Yankowski called GeoPhoenix’s technology, “simple, elegant, intuitive, and easy to use on both large and small screens. User benefits are dramatic, and the business potential is immense.”
Yankowski resigned from Palm last November in the midst of that company’s difficulties, as it saw its market share slip and financial losses started to mount. His resignation came just as the company was separating its device and operating system groups into separate subsidiaries.
Prior to joining Palm, Yankowski worked for Reebok and Sony Electronics.