Palm unveils Pre to counter IPhone

Las Vegas: Palm Inc, setting out to restore its status as a smart-phone innovator, introduced a touch-screen model called the Pre that's aimed squarely at Apple Inc's best-selling iPhone. The shares surged 81 per cent in two days.

The phone, unveiled on Saturday by Chief Executive Officer Ed Colligan at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, has a slide-out keyboard and a wireless charging station. It also runs the new Web OS operating system, which lets users shuffle through applications like a deck of cards.

Reeling from six straight quarters of losses, Palm is counting on the Pre to win back customers from the iPhone and Research In Motion Ltd's BlackBerry. The device, available exclusively through Sprint Nextel Corp, may sell more than a million units a quarter, T. Rowe Price portfolio manager David Eiswert said in an interview. The price hasn't been set yet for the phone, which is due in the first half of 2009.

"In tech, things can be very extreme - winner takes all," said Eiswert, whose firm is Palm's biggest investor.

"If you win, you win big, and I think this is a real example."

Palm, based in Sunnyvale, California, climbed $1.51, (Dh5.54) or 34 per cent, to $5.96 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading at 4 pm New York time, after jumping 35 per cent yesterday. The stock lost 52 per cent last year. Sprint rose 1 cent to $2.59.

Palm's earlier devices hadn't kept pace with the features on the BlackBerry and iPhone, spurring an exodus of customers.