Gizmodo has revealed that Palm is scheduling an invitation-only press event during CES. It will be held on Thursday, January 7, 2010, at 11am.

Gizmodo’s Jason Chen says that an update to the Pre is a safe bet. I agree, the Pre was announced at this year’s CES and I doubt Palm would go more than a year without announcing a new flagship handset. That is, unless they’re following in Apple’s footsteps. Apple announced the original iPhone at MacWorld 2007 but it wasn’t available until June 29. Apple didn’t announce their followup handset, the iPhone 3G, until June 9 of 2008. Apple took nearly a year and a half to announce their next handset.

Just speaking of Palm’s flagship handset, the Pre was announced at CES last year. But, the device wasn’t available until June. Palm announced their first modern handset early, just like Apple, I wonder if they’re going to wait until late spring to announce their followup, just like Apple did.

If Palm was to announce a new handset, there is also the question of whether or not it will be on Sprint. There have been some rumblings of a webOS device coming to Verizon. Engadget found an FCC filing for a Palm Pixi destined for Verizon’s network (with Wi-Fi no less). Feeding more fuel to the fire, a Phone Arena tipster (and a “trusted” one at that) sent them a document revealing that Verizon has already started training personnel on webOS.

It’s safe to say that any Palm device coming to Verizon would be a boon for Palm, but, if true, I’m certain Sprint won’t be too happy about it.

Previously:
10/18/09: Verizon to Get Palm Pre ‘Early Next Year’
9/9/09: The Palm Pixi
5/19/09: Palm Pre to Release on June 6 for $199.99

Update 1/13/10: Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus Coming to Verizon