HP Buys Palm: A New Smartphone Superpower?

Hp phones. This is gonna be interesting.

1.2 Billion. Damn..

Dell is making android/WP7 and Hp is going with webOS. Will be interesting indeed.

I dunno how I feel about this. HP has been making absolute rubbish lately (bloatware infested PCs and printers that require 400Mb drivers) but at least Palm isn't going to fold.

Yeah... i liked a Palm handheld that I had many years ago... but I never liked anything with HP logo...

Yeah for more WebOS devices...

Boo it's HP not HTC...

What PC you get from a major player isn't going to have bloatware on it? I'd rather have the bloatware and pay a lower price. I just wipe the HD and start from fresh anyway. I build my desktops but they can stick 100GBs of bloatware on the laptops I buy if it means lower prices.


I've used both... WebOS beats the iPhone's OS easily. Haven't used Android yet. Wouldn't be surpised to see HP start licensing WebOS at some point.

WebOS tablet version? That would be something to see.

Seeing as all Palm has left is their WebOS, HP is buying this software for 1.2 billion dollars to enter a very competitive market??

I love WebOS too, but I can't add it to my SERO plan. That, I am not too fond of the small Palm thumbboard, even though my Treo Pro has it. WebOS on an HTC Touch Pro 2 style phone would be ideal.

I hope HP comes out with a good variety of phones sporting this OS. I think its pretty evident that there are people who prefer no keyboard, the slide out side keyboard, and people who prefer the Palm style thumbboard. Its a good OS; mix it with good engineering and you can have a winner.

Zybch, I think you are missing the other things that HP provides at an enterprise level. They have a class leading blade and chassis design that does storage, proliant and integrity, they bought out the best SAN maker with LeftHand, and now they are looking to make an enterprise (hopefully) smartphone. I was trying to decide between iPhone and RIM for phones, I am so excited to see what HP/Palm is going to come out with.

hp phone coming soon ?!
or integrated in the hp slate ?! hehe

My dream of beautiful HTC/Palm babies has been crushed, but on the bright side this means WebOS will live on. Plus, a tablet with WebOS would run circles around the iPad.

Dell assembles pre-fabbed computer hardware. HP has a history of creating various products and technologies. Sure, they're now known mainly for their printers and desktops, but that's mostly the fault of their prior CEO (not sure if it was the same one busted for ordering the illegal spying of the board members or not). Anyway, the comparison is unfair.

That said, HP should have no problem continuing the Palm brand and infusing it with much needed technical and financial support.

I cringe every time I see an HP logo

Usually they try to make you pay for the bloatware. It is a "feature."

Even if it is just a Pre with a bigger screen it really would leave the iPad in the dust. I'm glad to see Palm survive. I had a Treo or two and they were rock solid devices. They could have a PC tablet and a WebOS tablet.

I wonder if HP has plans to integrate Palm's WebOS into their multi function printers, scanners, etc.

And or create a "light OS" for their laptops for minimal power drain on the go computing.

Wish i had Palm Stock today =\

In addition to smart phones, HP said it plans to "aggressively create a new platform" for Palm's WebOS operating system. HP said it plans to use the operating system in non-smart phone devices, like tablets and perhaps television sets.

HP also noted that the company is interested in Palm's patents. Palm had been making handheld devices for a decade before smart phones came to the market, and analysts say its patents could help a company that buys Palm to fight off any potential legal disputes with other smart phone makers

..from CNN.

I think it's all but assured you're going to see an "iPad killer" running WebOS from HP as soon as they can possibly get one out.

Watch out apple here come hp.

Remember when PDA war was between IPAQ and PALM decades ago? Who would have thought they are the same company now.

LOL HP is worth double what Apple is (114.7 Billion vs 47 Billion).

Ewww....HP....

All of our handhelds are going to suck now..Thanks HP.

HP didn't buy Palm just so it could dish out some WebOS phones. They wanted the IP, the technical talent, and the experience that comes with Palm.

HP will take what Palm has and create their own product from it, whether it's for phones, ultralight mobiles, or some other wireless / networking area.

Give it a few months, you skeptics might even be impressed.

Does HP have the vision to compete with Apple and Microsoft and RIM and Nokia?

Does HP have any idea what the customer wants? I actually like the concept of the Pre, I just don't have it available to me on Straight Talk... Otherwise I'd probably already have one.

I GUESS THAT IDIOT EIC AT ENGADGET WAS WRONG!!!HAHAHA

I wonder what they'll call it? The HP/Compaq iPalm Pre Paq?

Anyway, I think this is a good move. Especially since the HP Slate is
already a developed platform. If they can use the Snapdragon CPU in a less
expensive and smaller tablet with WiFi and 3G, I would get behind that in
a hurry.

You know what this transaction needs? More cowbell!

i sure hope hp doesn't start loading on the Palm devices all that crapware that it does on all its computers and man their printer drivers are blimps at 300-500mb!! be sure you don't plug in the usb cable before installing that printer bloatware... kaboom!

With a long history of abandoning consumer electronics products, it would be a cold day in h*** before I would buy a phone from HP

Man I loved my HP iPAQ hx4700 PDA, 4" (640x480) VGA screen, 64MB of Ram, 624mhz Intel processor, and so on. It was a Cadillac of a PDA, and always received awesome reviews from tech sites (including later versions of it). 640x480 was a pretty rare resolution to find a small LCD screen back then, most PDAs only sported 320x240.

If they can bring that type of design (though obviously updated with todays specs) with Palm's WebOS, they'd have an incredibly nice Smartphone.

People might want to bash HP's PCs, but their PDAs were always pretty high quality (though not including the Compaq PDAs, those always seemed dinky). Looking forward to see what they can come up with.

hp is going to enjoy this deal... my palm has been so useful... high fives, smacking people on the forehead, keeping me company on lonely nights...

THIS JUST IN: The multinational conglomerate Hewlett-Packard, commonly referred to as HP, has just changed it's name to 'Hairy-Palm'... more at 11...