Apple Poaches Palm UI Designer Rich Dellinger

Looks like the post-acquisition talent drain at Palm has begun in earnest. In late May, we broke news of mobile user interface master Matias Duarte’s defection to Google (GOOG). Today comes word of another high-level departure from Palm. WebOS interface designer Rich Dellinger has left the company to rejoin his former employer: Apple.

Judging from his Twitter feed, he started on June 1.

Dellinger, who was instrumental in developing Palm’s core Mojo app framework, as well as the webOS notification system, has returned to Apple (AAPL), a company he previously worked for from 1999 to 2006. His new position: Senior user interface designer. Just what, exactly, he’ll be doing in that capacity remains to be seen, but I imagine it will have something to do with Apple’s newly rebranded iOS and its system alerts.

Another blow for Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), which is acquiring Palm (PALM), though I’m sure there’s no shortage of engineering talent left at the company.

News of Dellinger’s transition was first reported by PreCentral.