HP files for “Palmpad” trademark

A short time ago, HP applied to the USPTO for a trademark. “Palmpad.” I can’t be the only one who just gets a good feeling from this.
We knew that HP was going to get their money’s worth from Palm when they nixed their Android plans and downplayed their Windows 7 tablet. While reports still have them making the latter in at least some form, statements from HP and Palm indicate that webOS is going to be the focus for HP’s portable computer business.
Like I said, I get a good feeling from this. The other “pad” devices, including the iPad, just don’t sound right — even with going on four million iPads in the wild, I still feel like that name is a compromise. “Palmpad,” though, that sounds right. Like something out of sci-fi in one way, but something you can get used to saying in another way. When you pair a great name with a great product that truly differs from the competition (here’s hoping), there really is a chance for success.
We know webOS is a solid foundation for a tablet, and we know there are smart software people at Palm and smart hardware people at HP. Their huge investment in this project suggests they understand its weight, and seeing the success of the iPad has allowed them to set their sights high. The timeline is pretty indistinct, but by shuttering Android and putting Windows 7 hardware on autopilot, I bet they can put something out in the first quarter of 2011. Of course, the next iPad will be looming then. Giddiyup, HP!
[via MyHPmini and PreCentral]

Apple Tried To Buy Palm Before HP Won The Bidding War -- And RIM Completely Blew The Deal

The race to buy Palm earlier this year was fast and hot, with the company's bankers contacting 16 companies about the deal, including five serious potential suitors.
HP won the bake-off, acquiring Palm for $1.2 billion in late April.
But other companies involved in the talks included Silicon Valley's increasingly competitive rivals, Apple and Google, as well as BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, we have learned from a source familiar with the negotiations.
According to our discussions with this person:

• Apple was mostly interested in Palm's huge library of intellectual property and patents (450+ patents on file, another 400+ applications on file). And unlike some other bidders, Apple even seemed committed to funding Palm's operations, perhaps to challenge RIM's dominance in the keyboarded segment of the smartphone industry, our source says. (There's a bunch of problems with this idea, such as the idea of Apple supporting two rival app platforms, but that's what this person says.) Ultimately, Apple didn't bid high enough, while HP offered an amount the board couldn't say no to. (Recall that Steve Jobs tried to buy Palm years ago in its first life, too, when it was owned by 3Com.)

• RIM basically had the deal in its hands and "had to work incredibly hard to blow it," our source recalls. RIM initially came in higher than HP, but HP upped its bid, our source says.

• Google, likely interested in Palm's intellectual property, supposedly only wanted it because Google thought Apple might want it. But Google supposedly didn't know Apple was actually bidding for Palm, so it didn't proceed.

• Nokia, bizarrely, wasn't anywhere near the deal. That may prove to be a stupid move, which we'll expand on later.