As Palm bidding continues, HP wants a sweet deal to keep webOS in printers (exclusive)

For some strange reason, HP is still really hot on the idea of mating webOS with its printers — to the point where it has become a crucial part of its negotiations to sell off its Palm assets.

In addition to settling on a good price for the Palm goodies, HP is also demanding that potential buyers license webOS back to it on the cheap for use in printers, a source with knowledge of the … Continue Reading

HP kills Palm division, renames it webOS global business unit

Jon Rubinstein, the former CEO of Palm who orchestrated its $1.2 billion sale to Hewlett-Packard in 2010, is no longer heading Palm. And Palm itself is no more: HP has renamed the division the “webOS global business unit.”

“It’s basically a renaming and shuffling,” an HP spokeswoman said.

Stephen DeWitt, who was the senior vice president in charge of HP’s American PC business, will lead the new division, which is known as HP’s Personal Systems … Continue Reading

eBay gets hyperlocal with acquisition of Where

eBay has acquired location-based advertising company Where. The deal follows eBay’s previous purchase of Milo. The acquisitions are a part of eBay’s efforts to build a mobile marketplace for local businesses.

Where operates a hyper-local ad network and a mobile app. It recently started to offer Groupon-style local deals. The app allows you to search for restaurants, entertainment, news, and more based on your location.
According to eBay, Where has 120 000 business customers and … Continue Reading

HP warns consumer PC sales may slip in 2011

Leo Apotheker’s first quarter results as chief executive of Hewlett-Packard have a bit of a Mark Hurd feel to them.

HP’s revenue was up 3.7 percent to $32.2 billion in its first quarter of the 2011 fiscal year, up from $31.2 billion the same quarter in its 2010 fiscal year. But the company’s operating profit shot up 16 percent to $2.61 billion in the first quarter of its 2011 fiscal year, compared to $2.25 billion … Continue Reading

HP’s Phil McKinney previews printed displays and other mobile tech

Phil McKinney, chief technology officer of Hewlett Packard’s personal systems group, offered some broad hints today about HP’s mobile strategy while speaking at VentureBeat’s MobileBeat 2010 conference conference in San Francisco. He didn’t announce any new products, but he discussed HP’s acquisition of Palm and previewed some of the cool technology his team is working on.

McKinney started off by drawing a chart showing the traditional trade-off between reach/mobility and richness. On one end, you … Continue Reading