It's only been a couple short months since HP announced its
intentions to buy Palm, but apparently all the investors are happy and the lawyers are rich, because the two companies have just announced that the $1.2b transaction is official and the buyout is complete -- Palm is now part of HP. Yes, it's the end of an era -- Palm's been a part of the tech landscape in one confounding way or another since 1992 -- but it's also the start of what could potentially be a
webOS renaissance, as HP plans to use Palm's ideas and OS on everything from smartphones (
phew) to tablets to
even printers. We still don't know exactly how Palm's people and structure will be folded into HP, or what exact role CEO Jon Rubinstein will play, but Palm's already lost
some important people, and
managing that transition while still keeping the
product roadmaps on course will be the next great challenge for these two companies. Here's to the best -- now how about some of that
rumored new hardware?
P.S.- Now that things are official, we can't help but wonder about the fate of the
HP Slate -- there have been
rumors of its death since the buyout was announced, and HP's gone from crowing about it to
total radio silence. We honestly don't know one way or another, but we'd sure love to find out.
posted July 1st 2010 10:32AM
HPalm I will hold on to my EVO until u release ur new device cause I love WEBOS so please get us something bad ass
here's to good things (hopefully) to come.
Dear HPalm,
I am very much in lust with WebOS, please don't kill it by sticking it on another inferior smartphone. Honestly, no matter how in love with your OS, I will finally give up on you if I don't get a phone with hardware that can compete with HTC's wonderful Android lineup!!! And I want WeOS on a laptop too!
I was waiting for the Pre+ to arrive with at&t... but with the Droid Incredible on V, the Evo 4G on Spring, and the iPhone 4 on at&t... I don't want that model as much as I LOVE Palm (still a Treo 680 user, it does (almost) everything I need - and still works well)...
I want a WebOS phones with the Specs of the Evo 4G or Samsung Galaxy...
Yet, let's say I buy an i{hone 4 or Evo 4G - I will definitely get a WebOS tablet...
It's a slick OS...
PLEASE HP... don't make marketing errors like Palm did... PLEASE.
I'm itching to buy a new phone, I'll hold out IF you announce a SMARTPHONE (high-end preferred)...
The official word from an HP employee I met with for coffee the other day is this:
HP Slate - Android OS
HP iPaq/Phone - WebOS
Printers- To be determined
You can thank me later
@bit1
Why on earth would HP, having just bought webOS, want to start messing with around with Android on their slates? You don't buy a Mercedes so that you can start driving a Lexus.
@Cameron This is straight from the Horse's mouth. I would go with the fact that the Android Market is huge and the Android 3.0 OS on the horizon is built upon a solid, tested, and true Android base. 3.0 is designed to support tablets. WebOS will take some considerable work and testing before it will be ready for prime time on a tablet. If tablets happen I would look for them late 2011.
@Cameron Also they will be competing with MeeGo, other Android tablets and the iPad.
@bit1
They already stated that their printer line will have webOS...
@bit1
straight from the Horse's Mouth? more like the Horse's Ass.
@bit1 You need to go watch the interview with the HP guy on Pre Central. They are all in on Web OS. No Android here.
@andreb Case and point:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/05/hp-estation-zeen-tablet-seen-by-fcc-a-slate-in-retail-clothing/1#c29707937
@Cameron Case and point: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/05/hp-estation-zeen-tablet-seen-by-fcc-a-slate-in-retail-clothing/1#c29707937
Get ready for new HP drivers weighing in at 450mb.
I am SO hoping some money is injected into webOS development... also, I would be realy sad to see Palm as a brand go away.
HP to me is kind of a "too big, too old, too clunky" company and marketing the pre's successor under the HP name would be huge turn-off for me.
Dear HP,
Tell palm to make this...
-4" super amoled
-webOS
-super thin
-full 5 row keyboard
-WiMax
-Tilting screen(a la tp2)
-8 mp camera
-Super thin bezel
-Great built quality
-3 mp front-facing camera
-1.5 ghz dual core processor
-good battery life
...and I'm sold
I'd much rather see a webOS tablet/pad/slate than a printer. I can't even imagine why you'd need a webOS printer, other than for viewing and printing photos? Maybe view and print a webpage without booting a PC?
Hmm... maybe that's not so bad, but still don't think I'd do it often. My current Canon printer can view and print photos, but I've never used it that way.
@ackthbbft This is not a definite
So is this the end of the Windows based IPAQ? Who will make Windows based PDAs?
@sniperboy3 Hopefully nobody
@sniperboy3 Asus still makes them
WebOS in printers??? For some reason I find that an insult to WebOS. Why would a printer need all those features?!
@msunardi why would a cheap mobile phone from the 90s that you only use to call your friends and text them would like to be like an iphone? is a comodity after all!.
@marcio submitted before I completed the post.
Printers or any other electonic device can take advantage a lot of new ways of interacting with them
Itanium powered WebOS!
Im sure you can update it, guys. But right now this post is really really poor.
You have access already to official words about lots of question you are asking (runbinsteins role?, cmon) and you still keep saying webOS for printers and put together facts from the past.
There is even a video with HP CTO and PALM directors of dev rel talking about all of that...
all this hype about how great Webos is but for some reason the company still tanked.
For those that don't follow palm too closely, the cot of hp just said the following in an interview with the dev relations team at palm: "Palm will become the seat of innovation for global mobile platforms. Our intent is to leave Palm as is. [...] Don't mangle up Palm kind of philsophy." Palm will be an "autonomous unit" within HP but able to take advantage of the resources at HP." This is great news to hear, it looks like palm will remain as is but will have the added benefit of hp's pocketbook. It will be very interesting to see what's to come from Sunnyvale!
webOS is awesome i would love to see it as a phone or a tablet or slate
what i want from my now palm
size matters so dont please dont make it bigger than 3.7" even thats a really good size for a phone
for a tablet 8" would be nice anything bigger is just a waste thats what i think
i would really like a high res phone like retina display on iphone 4(i'll give apple credit on the screen)
i really dont care for a qwerty because i dont text a lot i call every one.
and the usual bluetooth wifi and i would like to see internal storage like 8gb or 16gb.
please dont make touch sensitive button i really really hate them.
i would pay £500 pounds for a phone that has all of this and webOS and has a sexy design.something that can make iphone look like a yesterdays product.
get some new designers.
I can't wait for a webOS chair, that way I can gesture myself all around the house lol
My wishlist for new WebOS phone:
1GHz+ CPU
more storage (or even better, microSD slot)
large, high-res screen
better battery life
I'd like to see it get 4G, just so it will sell better. My city doesn't have 4G yet though so I wouldn't mind if it didn't.
Maybe I'm getting senile, but this isn't the first time Palm has been part of another company. I have a US Robotics branded palm pilot, and US Robotics was then bought by Cisco as I recall, then Palm went independent again, except the Palm OS wasn't theirs anymore and..... Let's not bring where Handspring fits into all of this. (I have a Handspring branded Treo 600 too...)
So I don't get the statement "Yes, it's the end of an era -- Palm's been a part of the tech landscape in one confounding way or another since 1992 " I'd say this is just another way to keep the Palm tech going in the land of corporate buyings and sellings, mergers and aquisitions. I'm very interested in seeing if all the rumors of the next Palm phone play out. (Esp the ones on treocentral, sounds like fun...)
@jazzdoc Actually, they started as Palm Computing in 1992, were bought up by US Robotics in 1995, were bought up by 3com in 1997, had the founders leave to form Handspring in 1998, were spun off as a private company in 2000, spun off the OS division as PalmSource in 2002, merged with Handspring in 2003 (bringing the founders back as well as buying the Treo line of smartphones) and renamed themselves to PalmOne, renamed themselves Palm in 2005 (after buying back their share of the naming rights from PalmSource), and finally were bought out by HP in 2010.
Total reporting fail Engadget.
Stop trying to be so funny once in a while and report on the facts.
I have owned Palm devices since the first Palm Pilot. It created the smartphone category thanks to founder Jeff Hawkins.
Sadly his successor Ed Colligan was a disastrous CEO who allowed the brand to drift unfocused and aimlessly during a critical period.
Jon Rubinstein, Palm's current CEO is to be heartily congratulated for all his hard work and leadership in the creation of WebOS, the Pre and the Pixi, without which Palm would have never even been considered to be acquired by a company like HP who has the market presence to give the brand the R+D and advertising support it needs.
Cheers Palm!
finally! now give me a bigger screen!!!
I bought my palm pre on launch day from sprint...and went through about 3 off them over a year... I gave up and bought an Evo...it's by far the best phone I've owned. I had great hopes for webos but its just too much to see these better phones out there while waiting and hoping for something better from palm. I still have my pre and like an ex girlfriend I visit it occasionally but really the evo is amazing!