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Palm selling this week?
Alright, Palm, your days of making incrementally improved, merely evolutionary Treos may finally be numbered. Or not, depending on how your new owner wants to roll, but either way, rumors have now gone from a simmer to a full boil that a Palm sale is imminent. Like, seriously imminent -- Morgan Stanley, which Palm hired to court suitors, allegedly wants to get a deal sealed by March 22. The company -- which rose to stardom as a division of USRobotics and 3Com and made a huge splash in the then-budding smartphone market -- is now a shadow of its former self thanks largely to a split which saw its software division ultimately getting bought by Japan's ACCESS. Be that as it may, word has it the sale should command $20 a share -- a healthy premium over Palm's recent pricing -- and at least four companies are rumored to have interest: Nokia (could we finally see that Symbian-powered Treo?), Motorola, and a pair of private investment firms. We wish you the best of luck, Palm; there's definitely a certain sentimental value associated with your name these days, and we hope your new owners do what it takes to get you back on the straight and narrow. Keep pluggin' away at that WiMAX handset!
IZI Robotics' emotional Netoy shows the weather, stays put
While it's certainly not as intelligent (or mobile) as NEC's R100 companion bot, the Netoy "emotional robot" can probably hold its own when cheering up the master. IZI Robotics' latest creation sports an abnormally large head, shocking (ahem) looks, and a bevy of functionality traits. Aside from telling you the weather, brushing you up on the latest news, and reading back audiobooks, it can also provide "wake up calls" and alerts to keep you on track throughout the day. Beneath its dome is a mysterious S3CX2410 processor, 64MB of RAM, 64MB of flash memory, integrated 802.11b/g, an eight-point touch sensor, two-watt stereo speakers, and an internal motor powering the rotatable arms. It also sports a 1.5-inch LCD to provide MP3 information, news clips, and other simple forms of communication. Although this fellow can't exactly pick up after you or follow you around, at least the chances of a robotic takeover happening in your domicile are substantially lowered.
