The Channel Wire

January 05, 2009

While struggling smartphone maker Palm is already expected to unveil its new mobile operating system, dubbed Nova, at CES this week, word is Palm will also lift the curtain off the first handheld running the new OS.

CrunchGear, citing a "trusted source" from Palm, said the device maker will use CES 2009 Las Vegas as the launching pad for its latest smartphone, which runs Nova. The unveiling is expected Thursday. The new iPhone-like device is expected to have a full QWERTY keyboard that will slide down under a portrait-oriented touch screen.

Rumors about Palm releasing Nova at CES began swirling in earnest last month. Palm has discussed releasing a new OS since October 2007. In the meantime, the Palm OS has seen few updates or revisions. A new OS and new devices running it could help Palm break its downward fall—in the second fiscal quarter Palm saw revenue drop about 90 percent from the previous quarter.

In another bid to regain traction, Palm recently said it would receive $100 million from Elevation Partners, a move that will give Palm some breathing room as it works on updated products. Elevation Partners had already bought a 25 percent stake in Palm in 2007, for $325 million.

"The additional capital from Elevation Partners will enable us to put added momentum behind the new product introductions scheduled for 2009 and will provide us with enhanced stability in unsettled economic times," Ed Colligan, Palm's president and CEO, said at the time the new funding from Elevation was announced.

Palm also has recently bumped up visibility of its Palm Software Store, an application repository like the AppStore for Apple's iPhone and the Android Market for Google Android-based smartphones. The store, launched with Palm partner Pocketgear, lets Palm devices running both Palm's OS and Microsoft Windows Mobile browse and download more than 5,000 applications and games from a Palm device.