Palm will not ship its next-generation smartphone until the end of next year, chief executive Ed Colligan said in an earnings call this week.

Originally slated for late this year, Colligan said in July that the launch would take place "some time next year".

The executive clarified this week that the release will be towards the later end of 2008, projecting availability "by the end of the next calendar year".

"I would say that the platform development effort has gone as well as could be expected. We are excited about how that has been coming along and feel like it is on schedule," said Colligan.

"Everyone would always like to do things faster, of course. But it is certainly within our expectations."

The new software primarily targets consumers. Enterprises tend to buy Windows powered Treo smartphones because they can be integrated more easily with existing email infrastructures.

The Linux version of Palm OS is intended to replace the Garnet operating system launched in 2006. The software was originally designed as a low-end Palm OS and is essentially an update to the Palm OS 5 software released in 2002.

PalmSource, the firm responsible for developing Palm OS, originally planned to develop a new, more advanced, mobile operating system dubbed Cobalt.

But the firm halted development of Cobalt and Garnet in June 2005, shifting focus to a Linux-based operating system that has yet to start shipping.

PalmSource was acquired by Access, a Japanese browser developer, in September 2005.

Palm started development of a Linux-based mobile operating system at around the same time that PalmSource changed its course.