Palm

HP has started laying off workers associated with last year's billion-dollar acquisition of Palm, as it closes down the mobile device business it planned to base on Palm's webOS. The news comes almost exactly a month after HP announced a sweeping reorganization and refocusing of its business.

While the HP Veer is targeted at first-time smartphone users, the Pre 3 is for the person who wants to do everything on their phone. It has a nice mix of business and multimedia features with the horsepower to do it all. I was only allowed to use the keyboard and a limited number of apps on the Pre 3 in the hands-on area. I got slight deja vu for CES 2009 when Palm launched the first Pre--we couldn't even touch it.

Get ready for new Palm WebOS toys Wednesday. Hewlett-Packard is finally taking the wraps off its long-awaited WebOS reboot since acquiring the embattled PDA pioneer Palm in April.

HP downplayed its acquisition of Palm. But with a range of webOS tablets expected at CES, webOS 2.x, and a rash of new webOS related job postings, it seems clear that HP has some major post-purchase plans for Palm's technology.

Palm played off would-be buyers against each other to win HP's billion dollar bid.

If history can help predict the future, then Hewlett-Packard has a good shot at aptly digesting Palm, analysts say.

The fall of Palm from groundbreaking innovator of handheld PDA's, to ailing developer of capable-but-waning smartphones is complete with the announcement that HP will acquire Palm to the tune of $1.2 billion. The primary asset of Palm is the WebOS mobile platform--an asset that puts HP in a strong position to create a tablet device to compete with Apple's iPad.

HP and Palm are pioneers that spearheaded the current mobile computing revolution. How fitting that they combine forces!

Analysts say an HP acquisition of Palm would face significant hurdles in competing with more established products for business, developers.

With iPhones and BlackBerrys everywhere, and Google Android devices on the rise, it's easy to forget that Palm was the company that made it all happen.

The deal comes after rumors of a number of potential suitors for the handset maker.

What are the financial basics of this deal?