Palm's 10-K filing reveals smaller acquisitions, reads like a mystery novel
By Darren Murph 
posted Jul 28th 2008 7:27AM
posted Jul 28th 2008 7:27AM
So Palm, what exactly have you been up to lately? Besides pumping out that tired, ho hum 800w, of course. The snoopers over at monoNews went and dug through your latest 10-K filing, and it seems as if that noteworthy Elevation Partners deal wasn't the only agreement you were wrapped up in during the past little while. As a matter of fact, we're seeing that during February of 2007, you "acquired the assets of two sole proprietorships [at a cost of $19.2 million] focused on mobile computing and media devices, one a developer of user interface environments and the other a developer of email software applications." Oh, and in October of last year, you "acquired substantially all of the assets [for $500,000] of a corporation focused on developing solutions to enhance the performance of web applications." Curiously, you nonchalantly failed to mention any names, but it's pretty clear that those new pick-ups weren't utilized in the last 16 months or so. [Via mocoNews, image courtesy of DayLife]
When is this company going to DIE!?
Why would you care?
As opposed to RIM [ http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/07/27/rim-finds-security-flaw-in-blackberry-enterprise-server/ ] who is compelled by high ethical standards to provide full disclosure, flaccid Palm's home-grown schizophrenic paranoia is malignant.
"...the other a developer of email software applications."
Obviously this was Marc Blank of ChatterEmail which was acquired by Palm.
ChatterEmail is considered by many to be one of the most powerful mobile email clients ever developed in terms of pure function and performance (busy UI though) and it's long been speculated that we'd see his work with "Nova".
Although even Versamail has become quite useable and even stable with the latest versions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Blank
^Skewed fanboy apologista/gross speculation by JackHandy/Malatesta.^
Everyone knows Palm bought out ChatterEmail, it's no secret. I'm shocked that the article didn't mention that it's obviously one of the buyouts mentioned.
And I'm no Palm apologist -- longtime sufferer, but left the platform about a year ago and couldn't be happier. But Chatter is/was a great app, and it's too bad for Palm users that it will no longer be developed until Palm decides to do something with it.
^ Trolltastic trollery by backbeat/mindless torch wielder^
Malatesta post actually did something to foster discussion, unlike *every post re: palm you've made*. good job.
The acquisitions correlate with that quote from the APC interview earlier this year, regarding the new OS being a "next-generation operating system with much more capabilities, driven around the internet and Web-based applications".
so I guess that quote wasn't just fluff, they're spending toward that end as well. There's also this claim of "game-changing hardware," to go along with it, but regarding that, I've got my doubts...
@PSM - That was the point of the article. Even where commonly known facts exist, Palm continues to lack any corporate integrity, and in fact, continues to display their utter disdain toward the value of communication to their shareholders and the market at-large. They may as well be the technology arm which marries FOX News and the Bush white house.
@riz - Go Cheney yourself ... again, junior. I'm flattered that you signed up today just to spew your knee-jerk bile. Nice company Mal keeps, indeed.