Not even a full two months after launching the TouchPad, HP announces that they are discontinuing both it’s webOS tablet and smartphone operations. I think that Microsoft killed the Kin a wee bit faster than the did HP webOS, but, something tells me that MS didn’t put $1.2 billion into developing the Kin.
[Source]
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DataViz, maker of Documents to Go, put out a press release letting Palm WebOs users know that they will not be releasing a version of Documents to Go for WebOS. DataViz makes it seem like the lack of support from Palm is a big reason as to why the suite of applications initially made popular on Palm OS won’t be coming to WebOS. I wonder, however, if Research in Motion’s rumored acquisition of DataViz is even a bigger reason…
[Via CrackBerry]
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According to the San Francisco Chronicle, a source close to the negotiations said that Apple, Google, and Research in Motion all tried to acquire Palm.
The source stated that RIM pretty much had the deal in its hands, however, “had to work incredibly hard to blow it”.
BerryReview.com puts it best when they say that, even though RIM failed at buying Palm, they could learn a thing or two… “Don’t hang onto a legacy OS so long that even a complete overhaul can’t save you…“
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This probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone but, maybe, CEO Jon Rubinstein, however, the inevitable Palm buyout is imminent. According to Bloomberg, Palm is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Qatalyst Partners to find a buyer, although the company has not officially said that they are doing so as of yet.
The big question for everyone is who will the buyer be? Both HTC and Lenovo have expressed interest. I’ve been saying for years that RIM should have picked the company up if for nothing more than the intellectual property. My guess is that there are a few big companies that might be interested.
Who do you think will buy Palm? Whomever it is will get on heck of a consumer oriented mobile operating system in webOS.
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If you’ve read more than 2 or 3 posts here on RIMarkable, you’ve probably gathered that I am a pretty big fan of the BlackBerry. Some would even call me a BlackBerry Fanboy… That being said, I recently bought a Palm Pre Plus from Verizon. I’d be willing to bet, however, that it was for reasons other than what you are thinking…
To make a long story short, if you are at all interested in a Verizon MiFi 2200, strongly consider the Palm Pre Plus or Palm Pixi Plus as an alternative…
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When it comes to U.S. based mobile web traffic there are really only two players in the game. The iPhone sits atop the hill with over 40% total share and Adroid is right on the iPhone’s heels just a few percentage points behind. The other dogs in the race, Palm and Microsoft, simply don’t hunt and what’s really telling is that the BlackBerry, even though it’s the number one smartphone in America, has seen a ridiculous decline since October, 2008 when it was just a few points behind the iPhone.
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As some of you long time RIMarkable readers may know, I am on the record several times stating that Research in Motion should buy Palm. The last time that I felt strongly about this was back in late 2008 before webOS came out and Palm’s stock price was down under $2.00.
Even though webOS is a strong mobile operating system, in my opinion, Palm just can’t seem to get right when it comes to running the company. Their stock price today (at the time of this posting) is down 19% or so to $4.60 and the downward spiral, according to some analysts, is going to continue downward to $0. (I’ve never heard of a $0 target before)
I will go on the record again…
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Palm reports today the COB and it is expected that they are going to have a pretty big miss on earnings… $0.43-$0.48 per share. Normally you would see companies stock price in this situate tank, however, Palm has been on an upward journey most of the day. The reason for this, I’m guessing, is that Palm is a prime takeover target about right now and the rumor mill is churning.
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This is the latest TV ad from Palm . It’s actually pretty good. Unfortunately for Palm, they didn’t launch the Pre with ads like this.
Instead of a little Mos Def and a hot young lady walking down the street showing you what webOS can do, the marketing geniuses at Palm decided to freak you out with this spot.
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