Two Chinese-language news services, the Commercial Times and the China Economic News Service, are both reporting that Palm has placed orders for several million units of smartphones aimed at a 2009 release. Unfortunately for Palm OS fans, all these phones are going to be running Windows Mobile, which leads Treo Central to guess that it could be the next-gen Windows Mobile Treo (850w?). Or maybe, just maybe, a Windows Mobile phone with the form factor of the smaller Treos. The 800w is nice, but consumers really like the small phones. [Digitimes via Treo Central]

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