Palm CEO Ed Colligan said to investors that the company does not plan to introduce any more new handsets based on the Palm OS. It is focusing all efforts on webOS and Windows Mobile moving forward. In other words, Colligan just said that Palm OS, as it has been known, is finally dead. But that's not all he said.It's about time. Despite its strengths, Palm OS (I'm talking about the one called Garnet) has been around way too long. Aside from rolling out evolutionary forms of the Centro, Palm will not develop, produce, or manufacture any new hardware that runs Garnet.

Thank goodness!

Instead, Palm is focusing like a laser on its webOS, the flashy new touch-based user interface it showed off to everyone at CES. That's a good call for Palm. It needs to move on.

Other gems revealed by Colligan include some information about the Palm version of an Apps Store. The apps store from Palm will be available when the Pre launches. There will be apps officially available through the store, but also from off-site that can be "sideloaded" to the device. This is good news for businesses who may need to create their own software for the Pre. That includes the ability to install over the air and via USB.

He also said that Palm is eying the Pre launching on other carriers in 2010, in case you were hoping to get it from someone other than Sprint.

Colligan wrapped up by addressing the possible patent battle with Apple. He said that neither company has taken action, and he is confident in Palm's 15 year history of patents for its technology.