Palm is reported to have made quite an appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year, with the launch of its newest handset, the Palm 'Pre', which sports the company's latest software development, the WebOS. According to the company, the new phone has been designed to fulfill the specifications of a mid-range product market.

“We think it's perfectly balanced,” said Palm CEO Ed Colligan during the unveiling of the handset. “It's not just for work, it's not just for play ... We think it's the one phone you can use for your entire life.” Since this handset comes with the same features and capabilities as any other similar device, the one thing that is supposed to separate it from the mass is its new software pack and operating system the company has been working on for the past four years.

Palm believes that its WebOS can be considered the best option for any modern mobile user. According to the company, the new operating system has been developed with the main focus on Internet connectivity. Basically, the WebOS aggregates information from different Web services into a unique finger-friendly interface. One example would be its capacity to aggregate contact information from a Web-based e-mail, Microsoft's Outlook and a social networking site into only one contact list. Outlook may appeal especially to professionals, and the OS is reported to be capable of handling multi-tasking quite well.

While industry-standard technologies like CSS, XHTML, and JavaScript are reported to be at the base of the new platform, Palm has announced plans to provide a rich development environment for third-party developers for the creation of new content. Although a lot of developers were hanging around Palm in the past, other currently available environments may look more attractive to most of them, considering that the audience is also greater in those areas. On the other hand, although the market seems rather overcrowded, the WebOS might see developers on its side if applications are easy to build.

In order to see great success on the market, Palm's Pre smartphone featuring the new WebOS has to beat some strong competitors to their knees. The company has partnered with Spring for the release of the device, and this might not be such a great solution. Competition comes in the form of AT&T's iPhone 3G, T-Mobile's G1 or Verizon Wireless' BlackBerry Storm. Undoubtedly, the handset will see great advertising from Sprint, yet the company is known to be experiencing several issues caused by a rather poor customer service and to be struggling to keep its subscribers.

The Palm Pre with its WebOS software is expected to become available in the first half of the year. Although no information on the price of the device has been disclosed yet, it shouldn't cost more than $199, the price featured by the BlackBerry Storm and iPhone 3G.