The noblest of all dogs is the hot dog. It feeds the hand that bites it - Hot Dog Restaurant
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HP buys Palm
THE LEADING PC BRAND HP has written a $1.2 billion cheque to buy the troubled smartphone maker Palm.
While it had been expected that Palm was a ripe target for some one to buy, many pundits expected that it would be Lenovo signing on the dotted line. HP seems to have come out of nowhere to pick up the company.
HP executive vice president Todd Bradley indicated that HP wanted Palm's "innovative operating system", which it thinks will provide an ideal platform to expand HP's mobility strategy.
In a press release he said that the smartphone market is large, profitable and rapidly growing, and companies that can provide an integrated device and experience command a higher share.
Bradley added that advances in mobility are offering significant opportunities, and HP intends to be a leader in this market.
The companies said the acquisition has been approved by the boards of directors of both firms and is expected to close during HP's fiscal quarter ending July 31.
Palm looked like it was ready for a turnaround last year when it released a sleek new touchscreen smartphone called the Pre and fresh operating software that won good reviews and the "Best in Show" award at the annual gadget fair in Las Vegas in January 2009.
However the Pre and its smaller sidekick the Pixi did not do as well as many had hoped.
HP also had a crack at the smartphone market, but its Ipaq tanked too, selling only 100,000 units.
With HP's cash behind it Palm might catch up in the smartphone market. Palm's current chairman and chief executive, Jon Rubinstein is expected to remain with the company.
In fact the only person who is crying into his beer is the Celtic crooner and smug purveyor of Irish noise, Bono. Apparently he lost an estimated £92 million on the deal. µ
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...that professional self-satisfied tosser Bonio lost £92 million, though a little sad he probably didn't care and can write it off against his next tax bill anyway. Best stick to making petfood, you wrap-around-bespectacled twat.
Palm is now finished. In the last decade, history shows when HP buys anything they do nothing of value with it. I wish someone else who has more innovation at their heart like Google, Samsung, Virgin or someone I can't think of, bought them. Then at least they would have a fighting chance.
I know many people who considered a Palm Pre, but I know no one who actually bought one. I feel they were close, but they needed more time to develop the various aspects of their products. We'll never find out now.
Microsoft has lost the mobile game.
HP knows that Windows Phone 7 is a technical failure, hence its move to webOS.
webOS gives HP access to all the things that Microsoft failed to to. Multitasking. Copy and Paste. HP will push webOS into the enterprise mobile, exactly where Microsoft dropped the ball.
HP has a billion or so they'd like to burn. I hear Palm has a furnace at their corporate headquarters down the road here dedicated to this purpose.
Bono lost $92M? Cry me a river. He's a pretentious, self righteous ass with an ego inflated beyond this dimension. I honestly have no emotion for someone who pretends to care about the plight of the disadvantaged while doing little about it. He does all this with an arrogance that makes Steve Jobs look humble.
On topic: I didn't expect HP to buy Palm but then again I just didn't care what happened to them. Given HP's history I don't expect them to make much of this deal other than a new line of poorly made products with awful software and technical support. At least their laser printers are still good...