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Dec. 12, 2008

Palm is largely expected to unveil its long-awaited new Linux mobile operating system at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

Palm officials previously cited late November-early December as a potential target date for the new Linux-based software and it has now scheduled a press conference for Jan. 8 at the CES show.

Its invitation says “come to CES to see all the Palm new features you’ve been waiting for.”

Overall, the news is important to fans as well as investors in Palm. The company was considered a pioneer and industry visionary in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but suffered dismal sales and an image problem in recent years as it continued to launch new hardware using obsolete software compared to rivals such as Apple and Research In Motion.

“We believe the introduction of the new Linux operating system -and likely the speculation or hype leading up to it- is likely to help sentiment around Palm' stock in the near-term. Looking forward, the next and likely more important milestone becomes the introduction of Palm’s first smartphone based on the next-gen Palm OS, due in the first half of calendar year 2009," said a Palm representative.

Palm did announce its preliminary second-quarter results on Dec. 4. The company expect revenues of $190 to $195 million. It also said it plans to reduce its U.S. workforce and will consolidate overseas offices, with the goal of saving $20 million per quarter.

“We believe the rollout of our new smartphone will follow a similar pattern to that of the Centro, with initial wireless carrier exclusivity in the U.S. before rolling out to other U.S. and international carriers,” added a company representative.

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    This article was featured on Business 5.0 and on Tech Blog.

Source: Palm Inc.