BUSINESS BRIEFING / TECHNOLOGY

Palm Inc., maker of the new Pre phone, reported a smaller fiscal fourth-quarter loss than analysts estimated after sales fell less than predicted.

The loss in the quarter ended May 31 was $105 million, or 78 cents a share, compared with $43.4 million, or 40 cents, a year earlier.

Excluding some costs, the loss was 40 cents a share. That compared with analysts’ forecast of 66 cents. Sales totaled $86.8 million in the quarter, just before Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Palm released the Pre. Analysts had estimated $80.1 million.

Palm introduced the Pre on June 6, in a bid to challenge Apple Inc.’s iPhone and restore profitability after two years of losses. The touch-screen device drew warm reviews for its new WebOS operating system, which lets users quickly shuffle through applications. Still, the Pre faces fresh competition in the smart-phone market from a new iPhone and an updated BlackBerry, due this summer.