PDA mobile phone manufacturer Palm Inc is reported to be selling itself and likely to seek bids from other corporations within a few days
. Currently holding the 6th position in the US smartphone market, it has gone through 11 sequential quarterly losses. During 1990, Palm used to be a leading PDA manufacturer but it was slow to realize the potential of the expanding mobile phones. Still the company looked certain to regain its fortunes with Palm Pre and Pixi device.
The mobile phones received critical acclaim as did the Linux-based WebOS operating system. This operating system is of particular interest to web developers as it allows native mobile applications to be developed using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Palm is well known for attractive features, which are appreciated a lot by the customers. These are-
a multi-tasking OS (thats coming to the iPhone, but the Pre had it from day 1)
a Flash player (coming soon)
a pull-down qwerty keyboard as well as the touch-screen
a free SDK and virtual phone available to Windows, Mac and Linux developers
a less restricted App Catalog which permits emulators such as one which allows users to run thousands of legacy Palm OS applications
If we consider the features, it is really great but sales wise it has faced disappointments. The Pre was launched in mid-2009. For two years, it was available and also well established in the market. The problem was compounded by early hardware niggles and slower release schedules throughout the world. Now the point is who is going to buy Palm. Microsoft and Apple are not likely be interested. HTC and Lenovo have reportedly made offers. It is for sure that someone will come to Palms rescue but lets hope they continue the development work on WebOS.