The long wait for Palm to join the modern era of mobile computing, with its Linux-based follow up to the ancient Palm OS, seems to have gotten a little longer. According to the company, their next generation system known as Palm OS II or Nova is “on track” for completion by the end of the year, but we probably won’t see any smartphone carrying it until the “first half” of 2009.

Palm began developing the new OS back in April 2007, but has seen several timetable extensions along the way, going from a planned launch in late 2007 to early 2009 – although recent statements asserting we’d see the first Palm OS II device during the first half of next year, suggest a mid-year launch is more likely. A further delay could be critical for the struggling company, with all the excitement surrounding the iPhone, plus the impending launch of the first ever Android phone and touch-screen BlackBerry.