Not that many of you are still paying attention, but for you Palm die-hards we've got more news (bad of course) regarding the next generation OS. Dubbed Nova or Palm OS II, Palm's execs have routinely called for the OS to be running on handsets sometime in early 2009 following the end of the 2008 development cycle. Handset delivery was subtly changed to "first half" of 2009 during an analyst call with Palm's CEO last week. Now given the history here, it's pretty safe to call that a delay. Good luck to you Palm, hopefully for your sake someone does notice amidst the onslaught of Android-powered smart- and feature-phones from LG, Samsung, HTC, and others we expect to be flooding the market at that time -- you can't say we didn't warn you.

[Via The Register]

While Palm's CFO Andy Brown wasn't exactly forthcoming with details about its elusive next-gen OS, a recent interview with top dog Ed Colligan revealed quite a bit about codename Nova. As if it wasn't official enough already, we're told that Palm OS 2.0 (which is also not the final moniker) will indeed be Linux-based, and Ed continued to say that it would be "driven around the internet and web-based applications." Of course, a Palm interview wouldn't be a Palm interview without at least some mention of the now-defunct Foleo, and the bigwig left a crack in the rumor drawer by stating that he "still believed the idea would be vindicated some day." Trust us, there's way more where this came from, so head on down to the read link if your interest is piqued.

We're not certain why Palm CFO Andy Brown was being so cagey about the company's next-gen Linux-based platform during a "fireside chat" at a recent JPMorgan tech conference, but his devotion to secrecy is almost as interesting as if he had dished out some details on upcoming devices. Wait, no, it's not. Of course, Palm's new OS is being developed by Jon Rubenstein, former Apple hardware and iPod veep, so maybe the paranoia is contagious -- but Brown probably didn't convince anyone when he openly compared Palm to Apple because both companies make both the hardware and the software. That's a pretty hard head-to-head to be in when you're talking about the Centro running Garnet -- maybe some actual products might help that pill go down easier, you know? Brown did say that we'd been seeing the fruits of all this labor sometime "this summer," but didn't mention what it might actually be -- let's hope it's got more design behind it than that nasty Zeppelin prototype.

We wish we were kidding. Palm is sticking with its early-2009 projection for the upcoming Linux-based relaunch of the Palm OS -- possibly codenamed Nova. That means this date isn't exactly a surprise, but we've really been hoping that this 2009 business was some sort of bad dream, since it's abundantly clear that Palm needs a new OS yesterday. To clarify further, Palm's Stephane Mass stated that Palm expects to wrap the OS late in 2008, and get tool to developers in time for devices early in the next year. Palm plans to keep offering Windows Mobile and Palm OS devices, and to make Centro the heart of its 2008 lineup.

Palm Infocenter is reporting that the codename being thrown around internally in reference to its Linux based next-gen operating system is "Nova." The phrase "no va" in Spanish literally translates to "not going," but wait -- it gets better: we're also hearing that Nova is being tested on the Zeppelin device, a type of airship with a reputation for crashing and burning back in the day. Now look, we'd love to see Palm pull out of its tailspin just as much as the next guy and wow us with some hot, new software on top of hot, new hardware, but this naming convention isn't doing it any favors, now is it?

Time flies, doesn't it? Seems like it was just a few months ago that HTC announced the HTC Touch. Ah, that's right, it was just a few months ago. Anyway, time stops for no phone in the wireless industry, and HTC's been hard at work re-upping the Touch with twice the RAM and ROM -- now up to 128MB and 256MB, respectively -- and O2 Germany, T-Mobile Germany, and T-Mobile UK have all snapped the new model right up into their inventories. Get 'em now, if you're lucky enough to be within range of such a carrier.

[Via the::unwired]

Read - T-Mobile UK
Read - T-Mobile Germany
Read - O2 Germany