The International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas represents a great opportunity for all the companies involved to make a name for themselves, improve their already successful businesses or reclaim their lost titles. One of the companies found in the third category, currently looking to win back its public, is Palm, which just a few years ago was the number one manufacturer for the US smartphone and PDA market.

During the event’s opening day, Palm presented its Pre smartphone and also its WebOS. Many of its former customers turned their attention to Research in Motion’s BlackBerry smartphones or Apple’s iPhone 3G, which means that the struggle to get them back will be extremely difficult. Still, the company’s officials are certain that they’ve managed to find the best possible angle for the development process, with the device targeting the market’s middle. In their perspective, the BlackBerry addresses the business segment, while the iPhone stands at the other extreme, focused on fun and media.

"We think it's perfectly balanced," explained Palm CEO Ed Colligan during the device's presentation. "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," he added.

The Pre has a 3.1 inch touchscreen, with extremely sharp resolution, and a multitouch and gesture-based navigation. It provides Wi-Fi, 3G, a full HTML browser, Bluetooth, a 3 megapixel camera, multimedia capabilities, a high-end processor and 8 Giga Bytes of storage.

Palm’s WebOS was developed as a simple, finger-friendly interface, allowing users to easily access all the wanted content.