Jeff Hawkins, founder of Palm, will host a live video webcast on Wed., May 30, to describe a new category of mobile device. The webcast will follow the announcement of this new product at the D: All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, Calif.

Credentialed media plus industry and financial analysts are invited to join the streamed webcast at 11:30 a.m. Pacific. Hawkins will discuss Palm's vision for this new category and demonstrate the new product's capabilities, followed by a Q&A session.

Palm Webcast Details

-- For media, industry and financial analysts only.
-- Wed., May 30, 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time
-- The live webcast can be accessed using the following link: http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=39613

One of the reader at palminfocenter posted some details of the upcoming device

Mr. Hawkins will reveal a device with a new form factor.

It will have a keyboard, be thinner than recent Treos but be a bit larger frontally and have a larger landscape (rectangular) oriented OLED display.

It will not be too large to be pocketed or hip-holstered, thus it will be significantly smaller than a UMPC and even some large PDAs. It is very portable, not something to be "carried".

It will be shown with 60gb of onboard storage (20gb will also be mentioned), as well as miniSD expansion.

It will have 400mhz+ under the hood, dedicated video graphics and a DSP, with an integrated array of power management features to help fuel economy.

Wireless will be BTv2, CDMA (850/1900 MHz) radio with EVDO and legacy 1xRTT. Most notably will be the brand new WiMax data (announced in concert with Sprint's honchos on stage). Wireless is where the action is, as this device will offer more web based data storage / retrieval and even some location based services, integrated in a way not seen before on a Palm. WiFi will once again NOT be present, nor will the longstanding infrared capability.

Device will run on the new Palm OS Linux layer and will be fully compatible with legacy "well written" Palm OS apps. Wireless "transfers" will be handled seamlessly across multiple radios.

Other notables: A camera will be on the device with 2.1mpx and have strong video capability. The price of admission for top versions will also be a bit high, but not out of line with Palm's past high-end smartphone and PDA releases. USBv2 will be the wired connector. Hotsync will give way to a newer integrated sync mechanism. The new OS will hint at it's Palm OS roots, but will be much more graphical and modern. The recent media apps on Treos fit very well with the GUI scheme. New fonts will be available throughout, but will not extend to legacy apps. A portfolio of integrated multimedia and web tools, onboard, for PC/Mac and on even Palm's new web portal (at release) are designed to put this technology in a class by itself.

Most notably, the announcement will reveal an early fall release date and a series of devices of the same genre to come, based on more or less hardware features and pricing points. You should see no leaks on the internet, since Jeff will actually be "leaking" a future device. Palm will have it's usual "photo leaks" over the summer. A higher and lower cost device will be released on Sprint USA in early fall. No word on GSM carriers or VZW. This will be the future of Palm computing going forward.

The hardware will evoke "it's about time Palm", but the web based and multimedia integration is where the headlines will be made. This is exciting!