It has been confirmed - Verizon Wireless is embracing Palm's popular webOS mobile operating system, which is boon to the company whose Pre and Pixi, although very well received, have been significantly overshadowed by Apple's iPhone and a range of Google Android handsets.

On Thursday, at the Consumer Electronics Show, Palm and Verizon's new Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus were announced, both of which will be available on January 25. Both the devices are equipped with touch-screens and standard keyboards, and make the most of Palm "Synergy" for effective and neat incorporation of data from disparate sources into one, easy-to-read view.

The most interesting and attractive feature of the devices, however, is a downloadable application in Palm's App Catalog, which lets users take advantage of Verizon's 3G network and turn their mobile handsets into "mobile hotspots" that would let them share "a personal Wi-Fi cloud with up to five Wi-Fi-equipped devices, notebooks, cameras, and portable media players".

As confirmed by Palm, prices of the new handsets will be announced closer to their release date.