Palm just rolled out its Palm pre smartphone on Sprint, in a high-profile move designed to put the company back at the forefront of the mobile technology industry and give the Apple iPhone a serious run for its money. Now, Palm is making another high-profile play, appointing former iPod developer Jon Rubenstein to the CEO position.
Rubenstein joined Palm from Apple in October 2007 as Executive Chairman; he’ll take over the reins from Ed Colligan on June 12. Colligan says he plans to take time off, then join Elevation Partners, a private equity firm that counts U2’s Bono as one of its high profile investors—and which, incidentally, has been one of Palm’s backers as the company tries to re-assert itself in the technology industry. Rubenstein joined Pal when Elevation put its first stake in the company.




