Palm (Finally) Dumps MicrosoftPalm (Finally) Dumps Microsoft

Palm's first quarter numbers are in. The smartphone maker sold 823,000 devices during the first quarter, though the company declined to say how many of them were the new Palm Pre. Another nugget to come from the earnings call was this: Palm will no longer make Windows Mobile smartphones.This is not a surprise at all. In fact, it has been expected for some time. Today was the first time that Palm actually gave voice to the thought.

Palm adopted Windows Mobile back in 2005 as a way to help boost its sales to enterprise customers who needed better back-end integration. Ever since Palm announced webOS, its own mobile operating system, earlier this year, speculation has predicted the end of Palm's relationship with Windows Mobile.

Today, Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein confirmed that it will be a one OS company from now on. All devices made from Palm moving forward will run webOS. Rubinstein was sure to make it clear that the company will continue to develop webOS, and can and will be able to distribute updates through the Internet. This means webOS-based devices will always be able to upgrade and receive new features, just as with the iPhone.

About Palm's sales figures...

It's really a shame the company won't own up to how many Pres it sold. Palm would only note that the "vast majority" of the 823,000 devices it sold during its first quarter were the Pre. That leaves the actual number of Pres sold totally open for speculation.

Guesses? I say about 700,000.