As Palm re-enters the PDA and smartphone market with the highly anticipated Pre, the chief executive of the all-important WebOS development has been bumped up to CEO.

Not altogether unexpected or even that interesting, given that Jon Rubinstein has helped put palm back on the portable electronics map. But the twist in the tail is that Rubinstein was previously Apple's head of hardware engineering, where he worked closely with Steve Jobs on iPod development.

To make room for Rubinstein at Palm, former CEO Ed Colligan is to step down for a break before joining private equity firm and Palm's largest investor, Elevation Partners.