Free calls over Skype, the Internet communications service, could be coming soon to the iPhone.

Skype, a subsidiary of eBay Inc., said Thursday at the International Consumer Electronics Show that a version of its Internet calling and instant-messaging software is available for Google Inc.’s Android cell phone platform as a free download. And it indicated an iPhone Skype program isn’t far behind.

Scott Durschlag, Skype’s chief operating officer, said Skype’s iPhone application is still under development. Engineers are still working on cutting the amount of power the application consumes, he said.

Palm Inc. unveiled a new touch-screen smart phone and operating system Thursday, marking its latest attempt to catch up with competition from Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry and Apple Inc.’s iPhone.

At the International Consumer Electronics Show, Palm executives touted their Pre, which looks similar to the iPhone, with a face dominated mostly by a 3.1-inch touch screen and single button. The body of the Pre is black and slightly curved, with a full QWERTY keyboard that slides out from the bottom.

In an effort to capture both business and consumer users, the Pre will come loaded with features including Wi-Fi, stereo Bluetooth and GPS, as well as 8 gigabytes of storage space, a 3-megapixel camera and music and video playback. The Pre also has a variety of sensors, such as an accelerometer so images on the screen will rotate when a user turns the device on its side.

Many of these features are already available on rival phones, including the iPhone, the latest BlackBerry models and HTC Corp.’s G1 that was released in the fall by T-Mobile and Google Inc. Palm has been overshadowed in the last several years by the success of these products - especially by the growth of BlackBerry smart phones among business customers and, since its June 2007 release, of iPhones among consumer users.

According to data from comScore Inc., as of October, Palm devices accounted for about 15.6 percent of the U.S. smart phone market. Some of Palm’s smart phones run on its own operating system, while others use Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Mobile operating system.

Palm, a pioneer in the market for handheld digital assistants, now hopes its latest offering can stand out.