The world’s leading producer of handhelds, palmOne, has announced it is to open an engineering centre in Dublin, the company’s first such facility in Europe.

The centre, which will be located in Swords, Co. Dublin, is due to open in early July and will initially employ 14 engineers with a small number of support staff also expected to be taken on as well.

PalmOne’s engineering centre will focus on core, leading-edge mobile technology to help the company accelerate the delivery of next-generation smartphones to European carriers and their customers. Employees at the centre will work on the complete range of the firm’s products including radio technology and carrier specific services and applications.

“One of our corporate initiatives is to deliver more smartphones to more carriers, faster,” said Ed Colligan, palmOne president and interim chief executive officer, in a statement. “We’re delighted to announce this expansion of our engineering efforts in Europe. We’re confident the developments out of Dublin will benefit future Treo smartphones sold to carriers and customers around the world.”

The company produces a number of popular handheld devices including Zire and Tungsten. It also manufactures the Treo smartphones in addition to developing software and accessories for its range of devices.

A key reason for establishing a base in Europe is the fact that European carriers are introducing 3G networks and advanced messaging applications. The company expects its new centre to help the firm align its products to take advantage of high-speed networks currently being deployed in Europe.

A spokesperson for palmOne told ElectricNews.net that the company had chosen Dublin as the site for its first European engineering centre because of Ireland’s highly skilled workforce.

Filed under: Treo and Palm news