Palm finally launched on Friday (Thursday, January 8 in the US) at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas its new operating system, Palm webOS — codenamed Palm Nova — and Palm Pre, the first smartphone running on this OS.

It was a highly anticipated launch. Critics expected it to be Palm’s last attempt at fighting what they thought was an inevitable final slide to oblivion. On the other hand, Palm addicts — including Filipino makapalms who fought sleep to watch live streams of the presentation — must have prayed too hard that it would pave the way for Palm’s grand comeback.

01/09 Update: As expected, Palm launched today its new OS — the Palm Web OS — and Palm Pre, the first smartphone running on the new platform. The twin launch has been receiving great reviews. I’m sure you’ve read about it already, but just in case you haven’t, visit the official Palm blog for more details. Congrats, Palm!

It’s almost midnight here in Manila, Philippines, and by the time we wake up tomorrow morning, the World Wide Web would probably be full of reports and comments on the new operating system that Palm is expected to announce at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Earlier reports from CrunchGear and other blogs say a new “iPhone-like” device running on the new OS called Nova will also be announced at the event. “The new phone will have a full QWERTY keyboard that will slide down under a portrait-oriented touchscreen,” the report says, adding that it could also play media and would of course have Palm’s calendar, email, and contact function.

I love my Palm Centro –  I got one while I training in Singapore for my new job with Yahoo! Philippines — but I wish it had WiFi capability and a better camera. It looks like “Palm’s newness” would satisfy such desires.

Mobileburn says the Palm Nova phone could also feature a high-resolution camera, which, along with Wi-Fi, is on the top of my wishlist for new features.  Hopefully, the new Palm phone would also be able to run old Palm programs and databases.

I’m one of those loyal Palm fans who would really be happy to see it on the top again with its long-overdue OS upgrade. I believe Matthew Miller of ZDNet is correct in saying there are “a ton of people that want to see Palm succeed.”

Palm is, after all, the brand that brought us the wonderful little handheld computer called PalmPilot, which eventually evolved into what I call an all-in-one device: a cellphone, personal digital assistant, alarm clock, portable MP3 and video player, digital camera, ebook reader and ‘game and watch’ rolled into one. And with the new OS, I hope Palm would resurrect Foleo.

With tomorrow’s announcement, I hope Palm could prove that it is, as I’d been insisting, “not a dying platform.” It’s Palm’s time to shine again.

You may get a brand-new Treo 680 for as low as P12,500 during the Microwarehouse mid-year sale, which runs today and tomorrow.

The brand-new red and silver Treo 680, originally priced at P24,800, are sold with opened box but include complete accessories. Those who prefer a brand-new, silver Treo 680 in an unopened box could get it for P17,500.

Palm Centro is also available for a discounted price of P16,600. See other products on the pricelist.

Microwarehouse, located at the Eastwood City Cyberpark in Quezon City, is a distributor of Palm, Apple and other consumer electronics products.

Members of Mapalad, the Philippine Palm Users Group, will meet on June 14, 3 p.m. at the Power Mac Center at Greenbelt 3, Makati City, an announcement posted on its website said.

Filipino Palm users who want to meet other Palm users may be interested in joining this event. If you’re not yet a member, visit www.mapalad.org and be one of us.

Aside from being a great discussion forum for all things Palm-related, Mapalad.org has a classified ads section where you may buy Palm previously owned products and accessories.

Kakabasa ko lang sa MyTreo.net na sa February 14 na ang launch ng Palm Centro sa United Kingdom. Hinihintay ko na lang ang petsa ng launch nito sa Pilipinas.

Eto ang teaser sa Palm UK website:

“Life starts after five o’clock. That’s why there’s the Palm® Centro™ smartphone. Palm Centro gives you voice, text, email and web1, all in a phone that’s a lot smaller than you think. It even has a touchscreen and a full keyboard, so you can say L8R to those tricky keys on your cell phone. Carry names and numbers, shoot photos and video, and meet up with friends. Centro. Let’s go.”