Is Palm Even Bothering Anymore?

Yeah, it's been a while since we've heard anything concrete about Palm or its WebOS. Rather, HP's WebOS now.

And you'd think that if Palm does try to follow Apple's example, Palm should by at Palm 2 by now. And yes, all we got was the Pixi. Seriously, I've been worried for a long time but the raging war between Apple's iPhone and Google's Android army has really sucked the air out of the room for a lot of people. Yes, Palm, RIM and Microsoft feels your pain (though Microsoft had the unfortunate distinction of making the news by killing off its two month old Kin line).

So where is Palm going from here and will HP allow the creative energy that created WebOS and Pre to flourish within the HP empire?  Palm Infocenter managed to get this clip of HP's Phil McKinney, VP of HP's Personal Systems Group, talk about HP's mobile device plans and affirm its interests in the mobile market.

Is it too late?




Here are some basic points from the video if you're not willing to spend the time watching it. Thought I recommend it if you're got 15 minutes or so of your life.  You really can learn a bit about what HP's plans are with the Palm buyout.

• HP wanted the talent.
• HP wanted an end-to-end solution and Palm has it.  Wants to own the entire ecosystem.  They believe in this strategy and those who possess it will win out in the end.  Interesting to hear HP talk this way.  It does validate Apple's and RIM's  strategy and go against what Microsoft and Google are doing with their mobile offerings.
• Believes more and more mobile warriors will spend time on their mobile device and HP has no play in this space.  HP believes it can offer WebOS a bigger foot print across different devices like mobile devices and slates.  This does explain why HP's Slate isn't on the market with Windows 7.  So, I'm guess we can look forward to a WebOS-powered Slate.
• Told story about what HP is doing within HP to help foster WebOS.  And it's a very interesting idea they've put forth.  
• HP is doing what Microsoft should be doing.  Turn on a dime and go a different route with their mobile strategy and where they want to take WebOS.
• HP will be using WebOS as the center piece of its technical strategy for years to come.  Possibly a decade or more when the HP guy talked about nano stuff that are not coming onto the market for another ten years or so.

So there you have it?  HP certainly has the deep pockets and Palm has a hard-core following.  It really depends on how HP can energize the base.  HP doesn't have a Steve Jobs or Google founders who can inspire developers and users a like but it does have a global network to make this work.  

Good luck, guys.  I'm looking forward to see what Palm can put out with HP's support.

More at PalmInfocenter.