Things haven’t exactly worked well for Palm. In fact, the company is almost on the verge of collapsing. Its competitors are far, far ahead, many of them making truckloads of money with their smartphone platforms; Palm will be lucky if it manages to survive, which seems unlikely given their losses spree. And yet, right when the company’s darkest hour seems to be at hand, there is some distant glimmer of hope for the future, something called Nova.

It was high time for Palm to come up with something new for a change, and this brand new version of their operating system could save the day. This project of theirs, codenamed Nova, will be given a full presentation during CES 2009. For now, nobody really knows what it does exactly.
According to Business Weekly, it seems that somehow, this new OS for smartphones will challenge the Blackberry technology from RIMM (Research in Motion) as well as Apple’s iPhone. So we’re looking at an OS which will combine the work-orientated features of the Blackberry with the fun-focused ones of the iPhone. In CEO Ed Colligan’s words, Nova aims at the “fat middle of the market”, as “people's work and personal lives are melding”.

Palm’s project also benefits from the guidance of Joe Rubinstein, who was responsible for leading the development of the iMac and the iPod, which were real life-savers for Apple, back in those days. And now, Rubinstein has accepted Palm’s offer to become executive chairman in charge of product development.

Still, it’s too soon to say if this initiative will actually save Palm from disaster. If it is indeed a viable solution, the Nova will need some time to actually prove its worth, long after next year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.