Fellow pipe dreamers, rejoice! No longer must we clutch to the single thin straw that is the MacPalm article at The Register. Now Mac OS Rumors has leapt back into the fray to confirm the report that prototype Apple-Palm handhelds have rolled off the belt in Taiwan. Remember last June when CNET reported that the Apple was putting the development of its Palm device on the back burner because of difficulties getting the P1 done in time? Well, the P1's been done and shipping as the iBook for several months now, so we could definitely imagine a new Apple handheld being finished up in that time frame. Then again, our friends call us optimistic-- and the rest of the world calls us gullible. But that doesn't stop us from drooling over the rumored specs that are so sketchy, even MOSR calls them "low-confidence".

So let's examine these "low-confidence" features, shall we? Apple's MacPalm is rumored to be similar to the Palm V; by that we assume it'll have a rechargeable battery pack and sleek, smooth lines. Supposedly it's got a Handspring Springboard expansion slot, which is probably the means by which it gains its rumored AirPort compatibility. Perhaps most intriguing is the rumor that Apple's device will have a color screen. That's not necessarily news to Palm followers, who may recall that the Palm IIIc color device is expected next month, coinciding with Palm's IPO, according to CNET. Heck, it's even possible that Apple's been waiting to release a Palm device until color screens were supported; after all, no matter how fruit-flavored the case, we imagine that Steve and Apple might chafe at the idea of shipping a one-bit black-and-white device with the Apple logo on it.

Whether or not you believe anything that MOSR says is entirely up to you; personally, we'll take any rumor we can get. Anything that adds even a smidgen of extra credibility to the age-old rumor of an Apple-branded Palm device is a-okay by us. MOSR is claiming a May unveiling, though we're wondering if an introduction shortly after Palm's February IIIc debut is too much to hope for. We'll see.