Palm fans must be tickled pink today with the launch of Palm's Software Store, a new online application download center that's stocked with 5,000 applications for over 25 Palm devices.

Neatly organized by device and by application category the software hub seemed to appear out of the blue today.

It's clear Palm realizes that mobile applications are key to handset success -- it is one aspect that's kept the struggling handset maker afloat in the competitive smartphone market.

And now, with the storefront, Palm's aware that building loyalty and user base means putting good, fun and valuable applications out in an easy-to-grab fashion (aka Apple's App store approach) is a necessity.

Stay tuned as we'll explore the store, Palm's strategy and what analysts have to say about it all on InternetNews.com on Wednesday.