Even as his company announced a beefed-up version of its GEOS smart phone operating system (see related story) and Brother Industries Ltd is stepping up its marketing push for a cut-down notebook device that uses GEOS, Geoworks Inc’s chief executive Gordon Mayer backs firmly down from a direct confrontation with Redmond. He doesn’t see his company making any kind of entry into the handheld PC arena. Mayer says that while GEOS may appear in certain organizers and notebook products, those markets aren’t a viable part of the company’s revenue model. He says that the perception of Microsoft in the handheld space is too high and thus Geoworks will stay in communications devices. That is not to say that Microsoft will stay out of Geoworks’ back yard and allow it to corner the smart phone market. Spokesperson Bob Bogard says that although the company’s main competition currently comes from in-house software development teams, Geoworks certainly regards Microsoft as a threat for the future.