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Palm unveiled its long awaited Nova operating system and the first device to run it, the Pre. The beleaguered handset maker certainly pulled off the first step in a successful launch, generating excited and generally positive buzz. But many details remain scarce, and the company's dwindling market weight and distribution limitations cast doubt on whether the Pre really can be what enthusiasts were unoriginally calling an 'iPhone killer'.

The market sentiment behind a Palm revival was highlighted by a jump of nearly 35% in its shares, closing at an admittedly depressed $4.45 after the announcements at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) yesterday.

Nova, now officially called Palm Web OS, is the creation of a team led by former Apple executive Jon Rubenstein, one of the people behind the iPod, and this in itself has helped boost confidence in Palm's new offering, even though one man hardly brings with him Apple's vast marketing budget and knowhow, nor its intuitive feel for what will appeal to users.

Pre, the first phone to carry Web OS, is a touchscreen product with GPS, Wi-Fi and a slide-out Qwerty keyboard. The screen measures 3.1 inches and there is a 3-megapixel camera and 8Gb of memory. The first implementation runs EV-DO Rev A but an HSPA version is presumably in the works for Europe.

For the first half of this year, it will be available exclusively in the US from Sprint, and international deals and availability are not yet released. Given that Sprint is the declining force among US carriers, the restricted distribution could hit early Pre sales, though Palm will expect, in return for its exclusive, an all-out marketing effort from Sprint, which needs a high profile smartphone to counter AT&T's iPhone and Verizon's RIM Storm. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said the Pre is "very important for Sprint" but did not give sales estimates or pricing, but the carrier's shares rose by over 8%.

Early reviews of the operating system were generally very positive, though many observers believe Nova primarily increases Palm's attractiveness as a takeover target, rather than being enough to propel it into the front rank of phonemakers again in its own right. Too many factors play against it - a niche software platform (despite the Linux basis, it is still very different from Android or LiMo) will limit appeal to consumer focused developers; Palm is short on carrier contacts and marketing resources compared to Nokia, Samsung or Apple; the Pre will be competing on many fronts, and does not offer anything strikingly different as far as the non-expert, volume market will be concerned; and pricing, as yet undisclosed, will be vital, and if competitive, could cut into margins. To make an impact, the phone will need to be under $200 with a two-year contract, and probably $100 to free in Europe.

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