Under the terms of the deal, the Peanut Reader, an eBook reader application, which runs on Palm OS handhelds and PocketPC devices, will be known as Palm Reader™,; while the peanutpress.com, publishing and distributing operations, will become Palm Digital Media, which will become a unit of Palm.

Besides targeting the consumer and education markets, eBook applications will address the need of the mobile professional with an offering of business books. Palm said that corporate customers will be able to convert and produce their own content for publishing manuals, training guides, and human resource materials accessible in an eBook format, using Palm’s development tools.

Commenting on the acquisition, Palm’s vice president of vertical markets Mike Lorion, said, people can now make the most of their down time. "Leisure readers, business professionals honing job skills, commuters catching up on the Wall Street Journal, or student backpacking 20-pounds of books can benefit from being able to carry reading materials in the device that weighs only ounces and also manages the rest of their information."

The Palm Reader will be shipped with the newly released m500 series of handhelds. According to Palm, the Reader will continue to support PocketPC device.