Palm Releases Treo Pro; Jon Rubinstein Charged With Company's Turnaround

Palm ( NSDQ: PALM) released the Treo Pro yesterday, a new handset which the company hopes will resurrect the brand as it faces stiff competition from Research In Motion and Apple ( NSDQ: AAPL). The unlocked device will sell directly to customers for $549 in the U.S., starting later this year and next month, carriers in Europe will offer it for free or up to $589 depending on the length of a user's contract. Immediately following its release, analysts said the device competes on functionality, but not price. It has to be $250 or less, according to Global Crown Capital analyst Pablo Perez-Fernandez, Bloomberg reported. "The only way they're going to turn the ship around is bringing to market compelling products that are competitively priced," Perez-Fernandez said.

The financials: The company has a lot to reverse. Recently, it has been successful at boosting revenues through strong sales of the inexpensive Centro phone, which costs $99, but at such low prices, margins have not improved and losses continue.

Fix-it man: Yesterday, The New York Times took a look at the man charged with conducting the turnaround?Jon Rubinstein, Palm's executive chairman, who believes he can bring Palm back to those glory days of the PalmPilot. Rubinstein's resume includes a stint at Apple, where Steve Jobs asked him to lead the hardware engineering division when Apple was suffering from financial losses and the Mac's appeal was waning back in 1997. Rubinstein spent the next nine with engineers developing the iMac and the iPod.

Next generation: In the first half of next year, Palm expects to release its next generation of software and a new device, which it hopes will make it easier for consumers to surf the Web and network with friends and colleagues.

Back to the drawing board: The NYTimes writes about the time in June 2007 that Stephane Maes, Palm's VP of smartphone product marketing, flew to Rubinstein's beachside home outside Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to discuss upcoming products. Maes packed his backpack with about 30 devices, and for three days, Rubinstein grilled Maes on the devices. In the end, he canceled several Treos in development and demanded changes in phones only months from release.