• The Wall Street Journal, Thursday, December 13, 2007 11:45 AM

Jon Rubinstein--known as Apple's "Podfather"--officially joined Palm in October, but he's been on-site since July and putting in 70-hour weeks, sources say. Alongside CEO Ed Colligan, he has cleaned up the company's product plans, overhauled its engineering staff, and made several strategic new hires.

Rubinstein faces numerous challenges at Palm, which helped originate the smart phone earlier this decade but has been straining to get back on the right track, after stumbling against hipper competitors such as Apple and Research in Motion. Last week, Palm warned it would miss estimates when it reports earnings on Tuesday, sending its stock plunging. Yesterday, it made some reassignments and staff reductions.

Rubinstein--who heads all of Palm's research, development and engineering--has kept mum about his plans. But people familiar with his thinking say he is focused on a new Linux-based software platform that would create one set of applications for all Palm products. He wants the platform, due out next year, to be the basis for all new phone formats, including possibly a 12-key phone.

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