Palm was one of the more popular companies around when the PDA was in its heyday. After smartphones became more popular, the PDA quickly disappeared. When the PDA business went south, so did much of Palm’s customer base and profits.

Palm is now trying to come back to some of its former glory with the release of its latest smartphone called the Pre. The Pre set sales records for Sprint and while its launch didn’t manage the massive draw that the launch of the iPhone did, many locations did have customers lined up to get the Pre.

Palm announced today that CEO Ed Colligan would be stepping down from his 16-year role at the head of the company. The Palm board has appointed Jon Rubinstein as chairman and CEO if Palm, Rubinstein will take his new post on June 12.

Rubinstein said in a statement, "I am very excited about taking on this expanded role at Palm. Ed and I have worked very hard together the past two years, and I’m grateful to him for everything he’s done to help set the company up for success. With Palm webOS we have ten-plus years of innovation ahead of us, and the Palm Pre is already one of the year’s hottest new products. Due in no small part to Ed’s courageous leadership, we’re in great shape to get Palm back to continuous growth, and we plan to keep the trajectory going upward."

Rubinstein is very familiar with innovative products; he worked with Apple to improve the popularity of Mac computers and helped develop the iPod. The iPod went on to become one of the most iconic products ever.

Ed Colligan said in a statement, "I’m very proud of what Palm has accomplished so far. We pioneered two major product categories and I believe we are on our way to defining the standard for the mobile web. I’m extremely proud of our team, and grateful to have played a role in turning Palm around. I know that Jon, the Board and the Palm executive team will do an incredible job driving Palm to new heights."