HP to Acquire Palm in $1.2 Billion Deal

[MacModMachine]

man this sucks.....i had my check book out and everything....

 

[Rot'nApple]

WebOS is a fantastic mobile OS, I just think Palm screwed up the execution of it and ran out of cash. Getting HP's bank account behind WebOS will do wonders for it.

So long as HP doesn't screw it up too.

How many times have seen that happen where a company buys out another company for good things in the future but then everything goes kapluey!

In any event, this is good news for the employees that don't have Golden Parachutes!

 

[dXTC]

HP Pad

hPad?

 

[daneoni]

Yes! i'm pleased for Palm. Hopefully its beautiful relationship

HP can afford the $1.2b because they sell a lot of computers

 

[Darkroom]

So will they be smart enough to make WebOS devices that compete with the iPod Touch and the iPad?

Or are they just gonna f-around with cell phones like all the Android makers are doing?

Everyone is focused on Smart Phones and Laptops. It's like they don't even see the iPod/iPad ecosystem. HP is in the best position of ANYONE to challenge Apple right now...let's see if they do anything about it.

i'm guessing you've never used an Android device before

 

[troop231]

hPad?

PHPad

Tablet utilizing PHP lol. IDK

 

[macduke]

i'm sure you could run webOS on a tablet. webOS is quite good IMHO.

this could become a competitor to the ipad easily. webcam, multitasking, lower price, stylus, mini keyboard, tethering, usb, sd slot.

competition is good.

I can really see Web OS going up against Chrome OS in the future since they seem so similar. Aren't they both essentially based on webkit using webapps to accomplish most tasks? Perhaps HP just doesn't want to go along with Google and give them so much absolute control on computers in the future? If there is one company that might have a chance at pushing Microsoft out of the way on PCs it is Google. But this HP news just seems off to me.

 

[ltning]

BeOS

Maybe HP can do something right with the BeOS sources..

Oh wait, those are
- old
- already available (though not legally)
- probably not part of the deal
- old
- did I mention old?

*sigh* the memories..

 

[andiwm2003]

Steve holds grudges, and a lot of Apple people went to Palm to follow Jon Rubenstein. Though it would have been funny for him to fire them all, while keeping all the work that they labored over the past few years. There are a few cool tricks that Web OS does that would be nice on the iPhone, but $1.2B cool? Not so sure. The reason Apple has so much money is because they are smart with it. Heck, that's the reason that most rich people are rich. They know what they're doing, and most likely they've got something better in the pipeline that we can't even imagine for the future of the iOS.

the question is do consumers need much more? i probably don't. however I would like a webcam for video skype, a usb port, a SD card slot, a stylus and such.

it could be that once you have a decent OS (and webOS is) and a number of good apps (palm is building that network) then consumers might go for hardware and price (as they already do with phones). i see a market there.

 

[GoodWatch]

That came out of nowhere...

I'm not excited at all though. It's been years since I've seen a good HP product... That goes for Palm too. The Pre is the only thing close for either of them.

We use HP servers to support our VMware platform. Top notch stuff and quality service. Perhaps you don't look well enough

 

[birch25]

HP Pad

It already exists in the HP Slate. Sadly, it's not a very good product. Windows 7, a great desktop OS, is just not suited for tablets. A modified version of webOS for a tablet could be really interesting, though.

Although, with Dell getting serious about the smartphone market (with their new Thunder, Flash and Smoke phones), HP may feel the need to match their competitor.

 

[ViViDboarder]

We use HP servers to support our VMware platform. Top notch stuff and quality service. Perhaps you don't look well enough

Or perhaps I was talking about Consumer products... But eh. If I was buying a mainframe I'd buy IBM.

 

[firewood]

Huh, HP with their own OS? Weird.

HP-UX? MPE? RTE? Including calculators (some of which sold in the zillions) and instruments, HP has created over a dozen OS's. There was also a pile of historic OS's they acquired from DEC, e.g. VMS, TOPS, et.al.

 

[cmaier]

Wow. Well, first, HP overpaid badly. Second, I can't imagine they think they will have success this time around selling phones, so I agree that it's most likely that they are looking for an OS for use in netbooks, to embed into printers and kitchen computers, etc. Hmm, but if that were the case, why not just license android?

Yeah, I don't get it at all.

 

[HLdan]

One loser buying another loser.

 

[GeekLawyer]

Does this mean my laser printer will now make phone calls?

No? Then who cares.

 

[Small White Car]

i'm guessing you've never used an Android device before

An Android device without a phone? No, I haven't. Who makes one?

 

[GeekLawyer]

An Android device without a phone? No, I haven't. Who makes one?

Archos, right?

Like this: http://www.archos.com/products/imt/archos_5it/index.html?country=us&lang=en

 

[ouimetnick]

Well I hope it keeps Palm alive. It good to have competion. I just think of palm as a premium brand and hp as a cheap crappy brand. I don't like the idea of hp owning palm.

 

[Queso]

There's something we're all overlooking. Palm must have built up quite the patent library for mobile devices over the years. That gives serious bargaining power if you're about to jump into the tablet market.

 

[ViViDboarder]

Wow. Well, first, HP overpaid badly. Second, I can't imagine they think they will have success this time around selling phones, so I agree that it's most likely that they are looking for an OS for use in netbooks, to embed into printers and kitchen computers, etc. Hmm, but if that were the case, why not just license android?

Yeah, I don't get it at all.

I don't see WebOS useful for ANYTHING other than a phone. It pretty much requires a constant internet connection. It's a WEB-OS. Unless you have a monthly 3G account for your tablet you'd be SOL. I couldn't imagine paying a monthly bill for my phone and tablet... A waste if you ask me.

 

[Tailpike1153]

While this is very interesting, why didn't Apple purchase them if they would be sold for only 1.2B? Apple has what, 40B in reserves, that wouldn't have even dented it, and they'd have one of the most interesting (and seen as competitive to the iPhone at launch) OSes ever. Let alone all the patents, especially multi-touch.

Possibly to keep govt monopoly watchdogs at bay.

 

[JZ Wire]

Wow...

Didnt see this coming. I really hope HP does something interesting with WebOS. I only played with it for several minutes but I liked what I saw.

Will HP create a WebOS phone or are they going after some of the patents/intellectual property? I cant wait to see where this goes. . .

 

[firewood]

HP has been in major patent battles with other large companies. Big enough that they have had to mention the potential impact in their financials.

They probably wanted to bulk up their portfolio in the mobile and tablet areas.

 

[apttap]

A girl in my office just came in this morning with her new pre. It's actually very impressive i really enjoyed the little time I had with it. HP really scored with this one. If they add a web OS option to the slate, iPad may have some competion.