Syber News

Palm recently received a $100 million cash "bailout" to tide it over while it tries to release its Linux-based NOVA OS. It's going to release details about the OS this week at CES, but information about the upcoming phone has already leaked.

A report says the new Palm smartphone will have a full touch-screen with a slider-keyboard, in portrait mode, similar to the old Siemens SX66.

CrunchGear describes the new OS as "amazing" and notes that it will have the now required media playback functions along with standard Palm calendar, email, and contact functionality.

Hopefully while the report says "standard" they will have updated the old familiar PalmOS contact and calendar applications with more fields, etc.

My own information comes from an informant usually sees the devices before just about anyone else does. His information jives with the above, but he also states that they've added some clever little features, such as making the "swipe" required to unlock the phone (as on the iPhone) more ambidextrous.

One unanswered question is compatibility of the new OS with the existing PalmOS applications. That would be a major advantage for Palm, something to tide them over, until their own version of the "App Store," for the new OS, takes form.

Past indications were that the next-gen PalmOS would include this compatibility, but that was a long time ago, and Palm has made several course corrections since then (remember the Folio?). More details at CES, of course.