PalmSource getting bought by….Access? UPDATE: Confirmed!
Haven't been able to confirm this, but we've just received a report that Access, a Japanese company that makes software for mobile phones, has successfully raised the financing needed and has made a bid to scoop up PalmSource for the princely sum of ¥30 billion (just over $270 million). Why? Well reportedly Access is looking for a way to expand the market for its cellphone browser (which is currently used by many of DoCoMo's FOMA 3G phones), and since both Symbian and Windows Mobile are largely closed off to them they've apparently decided that what they need is to have their own operating system. And that's where PalmSource comes in — the company has been struggling lately, and the idea here is that Access will market the OS, complete with Access software, to Asian OEM manufacturers (which is supposedly PalmSource's strategy too, but whatever). We don't know yet whether this is for real, but stranger things have happened, we'll say that.
[Thanks, Zubon]
UPDATE: Confirmed! Access just issued a press release minutes ago. The deal is for $311.3 million in cash. No clue yet how this deal will affect Palm, PalmSource's sibling which got the hardware part of business after the two companies split up in 2003. Reuters has the story here.
