The Palm.com store is running a series of new promotions and deep discounts of up to 50% off on select accessories now through May 14th. You can view the full sale list here. Some highlights include:

• Palm GPS Navigator featuring Garmin Mobile XT for $139, originally $249
• Palm Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard for $69.99, originally $99.99
• Palm Wireless Headset Series 3 for $45.49, originally $69.99
• Palm Treo 755p Standard Battery for $29.99, originally $49.99
• Palm 4GB microSD card with miniSD and SD adapters for $47.99, originally $59.99
• Palm 2GB microSD card with miniSD and SD adapters for $27.99 originally $34.99

In addition, Palm is giving away a free Bluetooth wireless headset with the purchase of any smartphone. With the purchase of any handheld, a free Palm Travel charger is included.

Sprint is running a new television commercial for the Palm Centro. The commercial spot shows off the Centro in a variety of colors and actually shows a bit of what the device can do. This is certainly an improvement over the past campaign which emphasized "multitasking" on a device that runs a non-multitasking, single-threaded OS.

Also in contrast to the previous ad, the Centro itself is the main focus of attention and the promo does a good job of demonstrating a few of its features in quick succession. The ad goes on to refers to the device as the "smallest smartphone ever from Palm." The full clip can be seen after the break.

Rumor: TamsPPC blog has obtained and published a letter from Palm to select developer partners that includes mention and some scant details on two new upcoming device releases. TamsPPC has also posted a image of a "mock up" of an unspecified Palm device, that at the very least shows a new, yet familiar d-pad and keyboard design which could be taken from either of the unannounced devices.

The letter makes reference to two Palm device code-names: Zeppelin and Skywriter. Zeppelin is well known as a reference to the upcoming Treo 800w, expected shortly. The Skywritter, however, is new to us. Tam speculates that it may perhaps be a "Centro" like device running Windows Mobile 6.1. If that is indeed the case, this model could be somewhat related to the leaked "Wanda" information, which detailed Palm's expected Treo 500 successor (pictured at right).

Palm's recent May 1st newsletter to retail and reseller partners contains a variety of interesting tidbits relating to new peripheral announcements, product EOL announcements and a change in reseller pricing strategies.

First off, Palm has quietly announced two new branded peripherals for the Centro smartphone line. The first is a small, no-frills desktop cradle designed for the smaller Centro form-factor priced at $29.99 (3401WW). This cradle, unlike the excellent older Palm Treo cradle kit, does not appear to support the charging of a spare battery and looks surprisingly similar to the classic wedge-shaped Universal Connector Hotsync cradle used by Palm from the 2001's m500 line all to the way to 2003's Tungsten T3. This is the same cradle that Ryan photographed when visiting with the Palm reps at the CTIA show in March.

Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for consumer technology at market research and analysis firm the NPD Group, has posted a thought-provoking piece entitled "The Linux Ultraportable Opportunity" in his Engadget blog column. While not necessarily relevant to Palm Inc. and their immediate stable of products, anyone waiting with bated breath on Palm's next-generation Nova OS would be well-served to begin paying at least passing attention to the increasingly crowded market of portable, affordable devices running some distribution of Linux.

Rubin's article focuses on a product segment that has recently blazing hot: the rise of the affordable, Linux-based subnotebook PC. Rubin notes the rapid rise of Linux into the mobile market in devices such as the Asus EEE PC HP Mini-Note and Everex's Cloudbook. He correctly points out that Microsoft's bloated and clunky Vista and Windows Mobile OSes cannot, even alongside the immortal Windows XP recently given a stay of execution, hope to stave off Linux forever.

Rumor: WMExperts claims to have obtained what is the likely release date for the next Palm Treo smartphone due on Sprint, presumably called the Treo 800w. The site claims Tuesday, July 22nd as the tentative date, which would largely be in line with the leaked Sprint roadmap and recent comments from Palm.

The Treo 800w (also code-named Zeppelin) is expected to debut running Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional (Pocket PC edition) with a 320x320 pixel touchscreen display. It is also expected to be Palm's first smartphone that includes Wi-Fi as well at GPS functionality and its first EVDO Rev.A device of any kind.

After a long period of dormancy, SnapperMail a robust email application for Palm OS, has recently seen a fresh round of updates. SnapperMail was one of the first email clients written to take full advantage of Treo smartphones. The program features full IMAP4 and POP3 support as well as finger navigation, mail storage on memory cards, native attachment support, background operation and a host of other features. According to the version history some of the most recent updates include a larger number of bug-fixes and improvements, fixes for nvfs and support for the latest devices.

SnapperMail v2.4.1 for Palm OS is priced between $29.95 and $59.95 depending on the version selected. A free 30 day trial version is available.

The PalmInfocenter Store has just added three new bluetooth headsets from BlueTrek to its expanding Bluetooth selection. The first is the BlueTrek UFO, which features a style-consious unique design. Don't let the odd shape fool you as this is one tiny unit at just about the size of a quarter. It features up to six hours of talk time and has a DSP for noise reduction and echo cancellation. The UFO sells for $89.95.

The BlueTrek Mini Bluetooth Headset is another ultra small and sleek headset. It features an impressive seven hour talk time and comes with a unique lanyard that will clip to the headset, so you can carry it around your neck. It weighs in at just under 10 grams and size-wise is only 41 (L) x 19 mm (w). It sells for $59.95.

The Treo/Centro smartphone utility MissedCall has just been updated. MissedCall gives you the ability to activate and program a LED indicator light when you have a missed call or new messages. You can also setup additional actions such as a choosing the LED alert color and adding vibration and sound alerts. The latest update include support for ringtone alerts and lets you choose separate options for missed calls or messages.

MissedCall v1.4.0 for Palm OS is available now for $6.99. It comes with a free trial period and is compatible with the Treo 600/650/680/700p/755p and Palm Centro.

Palm announced today that Palm's Chief Financial Officer Andrew J. Brown is scheduled to present at the Merrill Lynch Technology 2008 Conference in New York on Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 9:45 a.m. Eastern Time.

A live webcast of his presentation will be made available on Palm's Investor Relations website.

The Washington Post has published an interesting but bizarrely flip-flopping editorial from PC World Contributing Editor James A. Martin entitled "Is the Palm OS Dying? Should You Care?" The piece discusses the uncertain future facing both Palm Inc. and the Palm OS, now owned by Japan's Access Software. In short, Mr. Martin makes no bones about Palm's gradual, protracted decline due to its aging OS and increasingly unglamorous hardware specs, calling Palm Inc. a "third-tier smart phone vendor" but ultimately asserts the platform as still viable and offering a compelling combination of friendliness, flexibility, and value.

Some of the key reasons offered by Martin for sticking with the tried and tested Palm OS are its unparalleled ease-of-use and efficiency, as well as the questionable classification of Palm's hardware as "reliable and sturdy". He then goes onto curiously point out certain deficiencies and quirks of Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch as reasons to stick with the Palm OS. The sensitivity of Apple's finger-based touchscreen UI is called into question but, strangely enough, not the platform's more glaring flaws, such as the lack of a stylus, 3G wireless, full-featured PIM apps, removable expansion cards, and Apple's strict guidelines on 3rd party applications.

Palm's most recent GPS bundle, the Palm GPS Navigator with Garmin XT software, has just received a new temporary price reduction. Palm's newest GPS solution debuted late last year with a $249 MSRP but has almost always been promoted with a mail-in rebate and/or temporary sale pricing since its release. To the best of my knowledge, the current sale pricing of $159.99 before a $20 mail-in rebate is this product's lowest price thus far.

Unlike the earlier Palm GPS Navigator Smartphone packages, Palm ships this bundle's with Garmin's Mobile XT software standard. TomTom has apparently ceased development of PDA and smartphone-based navigation solutions to focus on its dedicated and standalone GPS solutions. The Garmin software is provided on the bundled 2GB microSD card with adapters for full-size SD as well as miniSD.