Ex-Apple Exec Takes Over at Palm

Rubinstein will be new CEO as company goes after iPhone

By John Johnson, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 10, 2009 6:30 PM CDT

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Ex-Apple Exec Takes Over at Palm — In a 1999 file photo, Jon Rubinstein, right, then Apple's senior vice president of engineering, poses behind iMac personal computers with another Apple exec, Jonathan Ive. (AP Photo/Susan Ragan, file)

Palm shuffled its top leadership today as it continues to zero in on Apple and the iPhone. Jon Rubinstein, who led Apple's iPod division before jumping to Palm in 2007, will take over as CEO and chairman from Ed Colligan, who is resigning after 16 years. "Colligan's departure means Palm is severing one of the last remaining ties to the company's days as a pioneer of the handheld market," writes Erica Ogg on CNET.

It's a critical time for Palm, notes the Wall Street Journal. The company released the Pre smartphone last weekend, and it has gotten solid reviews as an alternative to the iPhone. Palm reported strong early sales. Apple, however, stole some of the company's thunder with the unveiling Monday of its new iPhone.
(More Palm stories.)

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