The Palm Pre is about the most exciting new device we’ve heard about since the iPhone, and despite Palm having performed poorly with everything since the Tungsten T3, things look set to change.

Palm’s CEO Ed Colligan has been talking to potential investors about the company’s new device, and PreCentral was there to listen.

Colligan began by making it understood that Palm would not be launching any more devices using PalmOS - from now on it would be entirely focused on the new WebOS (and Windows Mobile got an unexpected mention, too).

Perhaps most interesting of all was news of the new online Palm application store which will be available on the Pre’s launch. Unlike Apple’s store, the Pre won’t be locked to its service and will still allow users to ‘side load’ applications from PCs and third parties.

Naturally the issue of patents was also raised, though Colligan seemed genuinely unconcerned about any potential legal battles with Apple.

He stated that Palm itself holds a great many patents, but in the company’s experience these are generally only used for defensive purposes and there was currently no indication or expectation of a legal showdown.

Still no details on launch dates yet, though it seems certain that the Pre will initially receive exclusivity with chosen providers.