According to the New York Times, Palm Inc. has hired former Apple computer engineer Paul Mercer, to being working on a line of new products. Mr. Mercer began his work at Palm three weeks ago.

Palm has been feeling the pressure lately despite being the company the pioneered the handheld computer space. Companies like Microsoft, Nokia, Motorola and now Apple, have been cranking out all kinds of convergence devices while Palm has lagged behind. At this point Palm has the Treo and that's about it. With the new iPhone set to debut in a few months Palm obviously saw some writing on the wall.

What is a company to do in a situation like this? Hire the best in the business. Paul Mercer is apparently the best.

"He’s the best of the best in this space," said Paul Saffo, an adviser to Samsung and a Silicon Valley forecaster. "The guy has a knack for designing complex systems in ways that are accessible."