Photo: Palm

It is now official. The drawn out acquisition of Palm is now complete, with HP’s press release unequivocally stating they plan on using Palm’s webOS for netbooks, smartphones, and, surprise surprise, a webOS tablet computer.

Shareholder approval paved the way

There were never any competition regulatory concerns with regards to the HP Palm acquisition, so all that stood in HP’s way was shareholder approval. Around a week ago, Palm’s shareholders approved the merger, with the final valuation, as previously announced, being $1.2 billion in an all-cash deal valued at $5.70 per share.

The crown jewel

As we’ve said before, the Palm webOS is the crown jewel – and the primary driver – in this acquisition, with HP not mincing any words about who will be doing what.

The company’s statement read: ‘HP’s global scale and financial strength plus Palm’s award-winning webOS experience, as well as its acclaimed Pre and Pixi smartphone product lines, enhance HP’s ability to participate more aggressively in the highly profitable, $100 billion smartphone and connected mobile device markets.’

Bye, bye Windows 7 Slate

Photo: HP

The key phrase in that paragraph is ‘connected mobile devices’, and HP revealed it would be developing a webOS tablet computer, as we expected. The first thing that came to mind regarding the HP Palm acquisition and Palm webOS was what would happen to the Windows 7-powered Slate PC. There were rumours a few months ago that HP had canned the Slate altogether, but we predicted Hewlett-Packard would possibly just replace Windows 7 with its newly acquired mobile slate. Which is a good thing considering we, umm, slated the HP Slate for shoehorning Windows 7 in.

Rev your engines

The HP Palm acquisition really does give the Palm team some financial muscle, as much as it gives HP a very innovative framework to work from. The prospect of a Palm webOS powered tablet is a fascinating one, and if executed properly at both a software and hardware level could mean a serious competitor in the tablet space.

Photo: HP

Remember the HP Slate tablet we were down on since day one because it was, erm, slated to be powered by Windows 7? Well, it is possible someone influential at HP read our post and realised we were right. Or they realised it was a bad move of their own accord. Either way, rumour has it that project is being canned.

Windows 7, you bugger

According to TechCrunch, the well-received Windows 7 OS is a large contributing factor to the tablets abandonment, with HP engineers believing it is ill-suited for the tablet. Remember we said so ages ago?

In addition to the Windows 7 problem, word is HP wants to abandon using Intel processors for the HP Slate and any other tablet device the company makes due to those processers being far too power hungry, adversely affecting form factor requirements and battery life. This, in turn, reaffirms cutting Windows 7 out of the mix, because mobile processors wouldn’t be capable of handling Windows 7 requirements.

What now?

Photo: HP

Even if this HP Slate rumour is true, HP will not abandon all of its tablet computer projects. That’s a certainty. What is likely to happen is it will build them on either a proprietary operating system, or license a third-party mobile OS like Chrome OS or Android OS. In addition, a powerful Snapdragon, or any number of ARM processors are likely to power the device, instead.

Mobile OS to rule them all?

So the immediate mobile OS options that spring to mind are Chrome OS and Android OS, with MeeGo being ruled out since that is partly an Intel initiative. Or, if HP does ‘double down on WebOS’ as promised, their newly acquired mobile OS via the Palm purchase could see a tablet variation developed rather speedily.

We think it will be a combination of these outcomes. Getting WebOS up to tablet speed could take some time, so the short-term alternative is to use Chrome OS or Android OS. Once WebOS becomes that which HP believes it can, the company could adopt an in-house software & hardware strategy the way Apple does with its iPad and iPhone mobile products. And, in case you’ve been taking notice, it’s worked out quite well for them.

Photo: HP

So much for Lenovo looking at Palm, 900lb gorilla HP has acquired Palm, with Palm’s mobile OS WebOS being the key product acquisition.

Fair price, depending on how you look at it

HP announced it acquired Palm for $1.2 billion, which is around the price Palm was rumoured to be shopping for, yet around $500 million more than analyst expected Palm to retail for.

Photo: Palm

It effectively values each Palm share for $5.70, which is decent considering many analyst downgraded the share price of the company at $0 after a disappointing quarter. On the other hand, it’s a far cry from the $17.46 that Palm was valued at in October last year.

Sneaky sneaky swoop

It was rumoured HTC and Lenovo were frontrunners in the acquisition square dance. HTC pulled out recently, citing lack of synergy as a reason

WebOS is the big deal

HP immediately announced their primary intent is to begin pushing WebOS, Palm’s mobile operating system that powers the Pixie and Pre smartphones, hard. Brian Humphries, an executive in the Strategy and Corporate Development department, expressed he believed WebOS was the best mobile OS, and that HP’s intent is to ‘double down on WebOS’.

Hi Apple, Google, Friends

Photo: Palm

HP has made no qualms about its intention to build a mobile OS to compete with, Google’s Android and Apple’s iPhone platforms. Though HP is the number one computer manufacturer in the world, fortifying its market share year in and out, this move is a step into uncharted territory in a market that is quickly becoming very saturated.

Once HP’s WebOS is deployed for licensing, it will not only be competing with Google Android as a third party mobile OS, but also with Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 Series and Intel & Nokia’s MeeGo platform, too.

As if people needed anymore convincing, mobile operating systems have become a major battleground for technology companies.

Photo: HTC

Word has it HTC has dropped it’s bid to acquire Palm, passing on both the company’s hardware and webOS mobile operating system products.

Not enough synergy

Reportedly, the reason for dropping the bid is that, having looked at Palm’s financials, technology and doing general due diligence, HTC did not find enough synergy between the two companies.

Lenovo mobile a possibility?

This leaves fast-growing Chinese computing company Lenovo as the last known high profile buyer. Lenovo, who have in the last three years skyrocketed in terms of computer sales, have a huge market presence in Asia, Africa and Europe, but have struggled to crack the US market to date. The thinking on the part of Lenovo, according to those close to the deal, is that buying Palm would give them a good distribution channel as well as an established, although ailing, brand name in America.

£780 million

Photo: Palm

It is rumoured £780 million is Palm’s sale price. However, given how its brands are currently struggling, and additional due diligence may reveal the company’s product roadmap is less than exciting, nor is it’s brand name that big of a deal anymore, that valuation may drop still.

webOS the cherry on top

The big deal with Palm is, of course, its webOS mobile operating system. When HTC was still the forerunner in acquiring Palm, many analysts predicted this could mean HTC would begin adopting an iPhone-esque and BlackBerry-esque approach to mobile phones by having software and hardware developed in-house, as opposed to using WinMo and Google’s Android as its software framework.

Lenovo, in addition to its potential new-found phone business, could quite possibly adapt webOS as an alternative operating system for the company’s inevitable move into contemporary tablets, giving it both a new market with something different, as well as a platform for investing significant resources into Palm’s most promising asset.

Photo: Stock.Xchng

In the wake of a terrible year, where the once famous Palm PDA maker’s latest quarterly results exposed how weak the company had become and how poorly the Palm Pre performed, Palm’s long awaited sale is rumoured to be in motion.

Goldman leads the sale

Reuters reports that investment banking firm Goldman Sachs is handling the sale, with Qatalyst partners also on board to help find a buyer – possibly this week, already. Reuters sources say smartphone firm HTC Corp, as well as Chinese computing firm Lenovo are considering purchasing the ailing Palm.

Rollercoaster equity journey

Photo: Palm

At one point, Palm’s value plummeted by 60 per cent this year, with their quarterly earnings shining a spotlight on the company’s weakened financials. The company’s third quarter losses, which totaled £14.65 million, led some analysts to change the company’s share rating to $0.

Once rumours began swirling that Palm would be put up for sale last week, its share’s surged over 30 per cent.

Things fall apart

Palm, who built their reputation off of their famous Palm PDA, have been struggling to make a dent in the smartphone market, where Apple, RIM and HTC are dominating.

Photo: Palm

Their Palm Pre and Palm Pixie smartphones had disappointing sales, despite quite a bit of media coverage and a huge advertising campaign. The Palm Pre, at the time billed as another in the long line of iPhone killers, was everything but, even though it was a competent phone.

The value in acquisition

The company acquiring Palm would be getting engineering talent and the brand name behind the infamous Palm PDA, which still has value in the US but not much elsewhere. It would make perfect sense for Lenovo if they have intentions of entering the smartphone market, while it would offer HTC (who’ve had a great year) additional distribution channels in the US.

Photo: Palm

Palm, who came crashing onto the scene a little under two decades ago with their Palm PDA in high demand, is on the verge of collapse – in its current incarnation, at least. With product development stalling, lukewarm sales and widening losses, moderate analysts are calling for a rethink while others’ outlook is even less rosy.

What happened?

Palm, who tasted their first major success on the heels of their PDA the Palm Pilot, grew so fast during the dotcom bubbly that 3Com, their parent company, opted to spin them out as an independent company.

Photo: Palm

While Palm Pilot and Palm PDA sales were strong, the company thrived. But soon, as smartphones began introducing the same features as those found in the PDAs, Palm’s grip on the industry they defined began to slip. In response, Palm began building its Palm-branded range of smartphones, which had moderate market success initially, before beginning to wane rapidly.

Now, in a world where the idea of the stand-alone PDA is absurd, and smartphones developed by Apple and others powered by Google Android, Palm’s lineup has failed to impress, leading to a rapid decline in financial outlook. The 02-carried Palm Pre and the Palm Pixie alike have not had the financial success Palm was banking they would.

Palm, you are worth $0

As a result of this, Palm’s reported third quarter losses of $22 million (£14.65 million) led to the company’s shares nose-diving over 25%. Many analysts changed their Palm share rating to $0.

Is everybody just overanxious?

Photo: Palm

During the earnings call Jon Rubinstein, Palm’s CEO, said the company is preparing for launches with a few carriers, which should hopefully stem the tide, narrow losses, and improve the organisation’s outlook.

What is clear is the day of the Palm PDA and the Palm Pilot are long over, and unless the company can adapt to the times, Palm will continue to be a shadow of its former self.

The Palm Treo Pro 850 is a mobile phone which features QWERTY and is also quite high on style. It has some very attractive features which has made it popular in many markets across the world. The operating system used in it is the Windows Mobile 6.1 professional edition which provides the users with a beautiful and engaging interface. The processor used in it is the 400 MHz Qualcomm MSM7201 dual core which provides an exceptional processing speed. The in-built memory is 256MB, sufficient for storing considerable data. The visual department is enlightened by the 2.5 inch TFT monitor that exudes trans-reflective colour and produces a resolution of 320 x 320 pixels. The radio facility in the Palm Treo Pro 850 is HSDPA and supports all types of modulation like GPRS, GSM and UMTS. The wireless internet facility installed is Wi Fi 802.11b/g.

Additional features include a Bluetooth connection of 2.0. The camera used in it is 2.0 Mega Pixels with 8x digital zoom. This helps in capturing images from close quarters. Video capturing is flawless with supreme clarity and processing. The Micro SDHC feature provides extra leverage for extendable memory which will help the user store multimedia files of his/her choice. The 3.5mm audio jack will help the user listen to all favourite songs in secrecy. The battery used in the Palm Treo Pro 850 is the 1500mAh lithium ion battery which is removable and runs the mobile for a long time. Buy the mobile phone for the variety of features in it and its user friendliness. You will get complete value for money.

The Palm Pre is the latest touch screen smartphone launched by Palm. It’s sleek, speedy and stylish enough to match your prestige and glamour. Basically, the Palm Pre is a Web-centric smartphone that offers stupendous features and capabilities. At first glance you will be impressed by its 3.1 inch curvy touchscreen that renders jaw dropping precision graphics at a resolution of 320×480 pixels. Moreover, this phone delivers an unprecedented user interaction and navigation.

The Palm Pre is targeted towards professionals and mobile computing enthusiasts. It beautifully sports all the necessary functions and applications. Ergonomically, the Palm Pre impeccably designed and feels good in the hand. Not only outer aesthetics are cool but the internal UI (user interface) too is mesmerising. It is entirely different and improved upon anything Palm did previously with models like the Palm Treo 680. With multi-touch capabilities incorporated the Palm Pre offers easy navigation and web browsing. It is also blessed with a unique touch operating system called webOS and a special gesture area that makes the user interaction more engaging and enjoyable by mapping simple finger gestures to phone’s operations. For instance, you can go back to a previous menu by simply sliding the finger to the left.

Palm Pre is purely a smartphone for the corporate users. It follows a holistic algorithm and automatically integrates all the necessary data residing at different locations (on the phone, at your work place and on the web) at one place. So it’s an ideal device to automate the data management. The processing core of Palm Pre is incited by via TI OMAP 3430 processor. It supports all the standard connectivity protocols including USB, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and is fully compatible with all popular media (audio/video) formats.

Confused about which smartphone to buy? You could forget about everything and just pick up the Palm Treo 750v, but don’t take our word for it; keep reading to find out why. This gadget belongs to the renowned Palm Treo series of smartphones.

The Palm Treo 750v embodies all those qualities for which smartphones are known, including an alluring appearance, brilliant attributes and indescribable style and elegance. Both 2G (GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900) and 3G (HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100) networks are supported. The smart Treo 750 also includes all the benefits of both a TFT touch screen with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels, and a full QWERTY keyboard. Together with the 5 way navigation button, control is made intuitive and simple, and the keyboard makes texting or emailing easier than ever.

The Palm Treo 750v is also an entertainer. It is compatible with downloaded polyphonic and MP3 ring tones, and also includes an integrated 1.3 megapixel camera, which can shoot images with a clarity of up to 1280 x 1024 pixels. Apart from these general characteristics it also incorporates some other smart features like its support for miniSD cards, up to 2GB of storage space, built-in 60 MB memorys, and 300 MHz Samsung processor. Data and file transferring has been made both hassle-free and wireless with the integrated v1.2 Bluetooth and infrared port. It also includes Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 PocketPC as its operating system, and all the applications that come with it.

The Palm Treo Pro is an interesting device featuring very modern design. This mobile product comes with a touch screen display of 320 x 320 pixels. With a network compatibility of 3G GSM and equipped with Windows Mobile 6.1, the Palm Treo Pro is one of the latest and most advanced mobile phones.

This interesting and fascinating handset comes with a lot of features which include WiFi, a Micro SD slot for the option of increasing the memory, a 3.5 mm headphone jack and a Micro USB connector. The Palm Treo Pro is sleek and elegant in its design. Its user-friendly QWERTY keyboard enables users to type text messages effortlessly. With a 400 MHz processor and a superb and efficient performance, this exciting mobile is sure to take the world of phone users to a new level. Integrated GPS, Quad-band GSM enabling usage all over the world and 3G Tri-band make the Palm Treo Pro very ergonomic. There is a micro USB port which can be used for recharging the phone or even connecting it to the computer. Other features include a two megapixel camera and a 32GB storage option. The Palm Treo Pro is functional for all types of users. This Smartphone comes in black color with a silver trim, giving it a professional look and making it a must-have device for everyone.