New Palm smartphone expected
Internet rumours suggest that Palm will use this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to launch a new smartphone and mobile operating system.
Palm is best known for its personal digital assistants, but also supplies a number of smartphones, including the Treo range and Centro handset.
However, it has struggled to make an impact on the global market and in Gartner's recent smartphone report, Palm's sales figures were not big enough to merit a unique entry.
Despite that, news of Palm's imminent product launch has caused considerable excitement among mobile technology bloggers.
It is rumoured to feature a touchscreen and a slide out full qwerty keyboard, together with standard smartphone features such as email and media playback.
Perhaps more groundbreaking than the handset itself will be the new Nova mobile operating system. Crunch Gear reports that a source close to the project described the system as "amazing".
Should the rumours be correct and the new smartphone be launched this week, Palm may find it has slightly less competition than it expected.
Reports in two national newspapers have suggested that Orange is preparing to end its contract with Research in Motion (RIM) to sell the Blackberry Bold in the UK.
Return rates are said to be unusually high, as many users have experienced problems with poor reception and software crashes.
Upgrades provided by RIM have only managed to fix some of the problems and Orange is reportedly considering whether or not it can continue to supply a handset which generates so many complaints.
