PALM INTRODUCES NEW MOBILE "WEBOS" & THE PALM PRE

Palm didn't disappoint today at their CES press conference and delivered both new hardware and software. A new mobile phone dubbed the Pre running a brand new OS.

The new Palm Pre features EvDo Rev. A, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, 8GB of storage, a 3.1-inch touchscreen displaying at 320 x 480 with multitouch (!!!), 3MP camera (with LED flash), MicroUSB & USB 2.0, 3.5mm headphone jack and—and this may be the best part—a slide out QWERTY keyboard.

Sprint is the exclusive launch partner for the new Palm Pre and the only availability given was the first half of 2009. Oddly enough, no pricing was mentioned.

The new webOS is completely open to developers who know CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. With advanced multitouch support, integrations with popular apps like Facebook and others, it's clear to see how this will be a serious contender. The question is whether or not this has come too late, given that so many mobile OS platforms are already so well established.

latter 2 images via gdgt & engadget