• Business Week, Friday, September 14, 2007 11:45 AM

Palm practically invented the smart phone category, but until it delivers on broader promises of new software and a more contemporary lineup, it seems likely to continue its long slide. It has used the same operating software, with minor updates, for five years and is struggling to get a major new version out.

In early September, Palm suffered an embarrassing setback when it pulled the plug on the Foleo, a mobile-computing companion to the Treo. The Foleo had a splashy debut in the spring, but critics scratched their heads over its limited business utility.

Palm executives say new devices are on the way that will expand the company's reach. The Treo 500v, introduced Sept. 12 by Vodafone in Europe, uses Windows Mobile software and is thinner than earlier Treos. In the U.S., Sprint Nextel plans to release the Centro, a thin smart phone that should sell for a quarter of the iPhone's $399.

Read the whole story at Business Week »