Palm unveils “web OS” and new smartphone called “pre”

Palm Inc. unveiled today at a trade show in Las Vegas its new operating system dubbed “Palm web OS” and a new handset with a slide-out keyboard, hoping to salvage the company’s shrinking share in the tightening smartphone market.

Palm webOS is the successor of the much-loved but aging Garnet operating system which introduced many newbies to the smartphone concept that is now the vogue, thanks to more advanced Blackberries and iPhones which now lead the market together with Windows Mobile.

New phone

The new Palm handset, christened “pre”, is initially for CDMA networks, is GPS-capable and has WIFI, EVDO, Bluetooth and  microUSB as connectivity options. Storage size is 8GB.

The new phone’s touchscreen, multi-touch display measures 3.1 inches (320 x 480).

Volume rockers are located on the side. It also packs a respectable 3-megapixel mp camera with led flash, a removable battery and a 3.5-mm headset jack.

It is also Palm’s first handset with a slide-out keyboard.