HP buys Palm

 

 

HP, one of the largest computer manufacturers in the world, has bought smartphone manufacturer Palm for $1.2 billion (around £800 million), paying £3.80 per share. The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors at HP and Palm and is expected to close by 31st July, pending shareholder and regulatory approval The deal will also see HP inherit Palm's estimated £270 million of debt, which will be paid off using Palm's cash assets.

Rumours surrounding the struggling smartphone maker were swirling long before HP formally announced the acquisition. In fact, ever since the Palm Pre smartphone received a lukewarm market reception, industry pundits have said it was a target for acquisition. Reports suggested the company was working with Goldman Sachs to find a buyer.

The firm's critically acclaimed WebOS mobile operating system was seen as Palm's prized asset and heavily influenced HP's decision to go ahead with the acquisition. HP said the combination of its "global scale and financial strength" with Palm's webOS platform "will enhance HP's ability to participate more aggressively" in the smartphone and connected mobile device markets. HP is no stranger to the smartphone market, having produced a variety of Windows Mobile-based iPaq smartphones for business users, which weren't particularly successful While the deal provides a lifeline for Palm, it remains to be seen whether HP can take two fairly unsuccessful smartphone business units and reinvigorate both companies' offerings, enabling them to compete on a global scale. The major competition for HP and Palm will come from Apple's hugely successful iPhone and the rise in popularity of handsets based on Google's Android operating system. Both are relative newcomers, so it will be interesting to see how Palm manages to compete with HP's backing. Brian Humphries, senior vice­president of strategy and corporate development at HP, said HP plans to "double down on webOS" and intend to "scale it across multiple connected devices". Palm chairman and CEO Jon Rubinstein said he was "thrilled by HP's vote of confidence in Palm's technological leadership" and said the computer manufacturer was "the perfect partner to rapidly accelerate the growth of web OS". During the conference call following the acquisition's announcement, Todd Bradley, executive vice-president of HP's Personal Systems Group and the man tasked with overseeing Palm's integration into HP, There have been suggestions that HP will drop Windows 7 from the HP Slate, a Tablet PC unveiled by Microsoft's Steve Ballmer earlier this year, in favour of webOS. A report on TechCrunch.com claimed that the decision had already been made because of disappointment with the performance and usability of Windows 7 in a touchscreen-only environment. These suggestions haven't been confirmed by HP, however, and it's not even clear if the HP Slate is still coming to market. However, it's unlikely that HP would release the Slate with webOS instead of Windows 7, as the two platforms have such widely different hardware requirements. HP chief executive Mark Hurd later announced that webOS would be making its way to both slate form factor devices and - somewhat bizarrely - web­connected printers soon after the deal has been closed, but didn't mention the Slate's fate. The move to webOS on the company's Tablet devices would, in many ways, make good sense: one of the major reasons Apple's rival iPad slate has proved so popular is because of its custom-built streamlined operating system. For every user who bemoans at its limitations there are 10 who are happy that it is fast, attractive and just works. In contrast, HP's original decision to use Windows 7 would result in a more flexible - but more complicated - device. Of course, if H P can afford to develop two different slate platforms, there's no harm in that. Windows-based tablet PCs haven't enjoyed much success in the past, though, and, even with Windows 7's specific touchscreen optimisations, it's still an operating system primarily designed for keyboard and mouse inputs. Palm was one of the earliest smartphone manufacturers and has one of the most complex corporate histories ever. Palm originally created the Palm Pilot PDA and was acquired by US Robotics in 1995. US Robotics was bought by 3Com in 1997 and spun Palm off as its own entity in 2000. Palm then split itself in two: PalmOne became the handset manufacturer, while Palm Source was responsible for maintaining the operating system. To further complicate matters, several key members of the Palm board of directors left in 1998 to set up Handspring, a Palm OS PDA manufacturer. Handspring was purchased by PalmOne in 2003 and then, in May 2005, PalmOne bought all the rights to the Palm name and once again became Palm. In recent times, the company has struggled against rivals such as Apple, HTC and BlackBerry manufacturer Research in Motion.

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gearlog

A Gamer's Keyboard
PC gamers, especially those who have trouble with multi-button key
presses, perk up your ears. Microsoft has unleashed the SideWinder
X4 keyboard ($59.95 list). With some keyboards, pressing multiple
keys simultaneously (to execute a special move, perhaps) causes a
problem where not all the key presses are recorded. The unreported
key presses are called "ghosts," since the computer doesn't see them.
The SideWinder is built differently, so that garners can press up to
26 keys at once and the computerwi!J recognize each key. Besides
anti-ghosting, this SideWinder lets players manually toggle from
standard mode into one of two gaming modes, automatically switch
profiles, program macro keys, and record macros during a game. It
also offers backlit keys and quick·access media keys.-TroyDreier

SECURITY WATCH

New Chrome Security Features
Google has announced a number of security enhancements that are
being implemented in Chrome. One such feature is Strict·Transport·
Security, an HTTPresponseheaderthatasitecansendtoabrowser
to tell it only to communicate with the site via HTTPS. This should
provide extra security against snooping, although it's not bullet·
proof. Another is the post Message API, a method of embedding gadgets
in Web pages with rich communications capabilities to other
page code, but retaining better security than previous methods
allowed. Al l the major browsers implement it.-Larry Seltzer

GOODCLEANTECH

Honda Unveils Solar
Hydrogen Station
Honda has announced a striking
solar hydrogen station
prototype that wifl let fue l·cell
electric-vehicle owners fill
up at home overnight. The
integrated unit is designed
to fit in a common household
garage, and can produce
enough hydrogen (O.5kg) via
an eight· hour overnight fill to
power daily commuting of up
to 10,000 miles per year for
the Honda FCX Clarity and
other fuel·cell vehicles. Honda
hopes the new Solar Hydro·
gen Station will combine with
upcoming "Smart Grid" energy
systems to let users fill up without
storing hydrogen and with
lower C02 emissions, thanks to
off·peak electrical power. No
word yet on a price or release
date.-Jamie Lendino

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The iPad: A Must-Have?

"magical" device. That's what I t ried to look at t he iPad in the context

Apple chief executive Steve of all t he questions I received on Twitter, as

Jobs ca lled t he new iPad. well as the general confusion I still see swirlAnd

Apple execs said it so ing around t his tablet. It's not a replacement

often that I began to imag- for the iPhone or iPod touch, nor wil l it supine

pixie-dust falling from the ceili ng of t he plant your go-to laptop. Steve Jobs wants it

Verba Buena Art Center, landing gently on to sit in the middle. I can see t hat. The device

our throbbing skulls, slowly but su rely lull - feels like middleware.

ing us into the belief that Jobs and company It's really not for phone calls, has no physi -

had introduced something otherworldly. cal keyboard (you can buy one as an acces-

Even hours later, I'm having trouble sort - sory) or a mouse. And once you handle t he

ing out my feel ings. I saw t he demos, heard iPad, you quickly realize t hat it's way too big

t he words and even had some hands-on for any pocket. The iPad's size alone ensures

time with the iPad. It is gorgeous. But I'd say t hat this won't enjoy iPhone-like ubiquity. At

it is more practical than "magical." about 9 inches and 1.5 pounds, you'll take

Smoke and Mirrors?

Steve Jobs' assertion that the existing 75

million iPh o ne and iPod touch customers

already know how to use this device

runs counter to the idea of magical. Magic

is something we don't understand and can

scarcely believe. Like Jobs said, we know

t his product.

When I t ried it out, I spent zero time figuring

out how to use it. The iPad works exactly

like an iPhone, for heaven's sake. Nothing

enchanted about that.

< 2 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION MARCH 2010

it out when you' re on the couch, riding the

t rain, and probably on the airplane.

This Reader Won't Save Publishing

I tried readi ng The New York Times on t he

iPad, complete with embedded video. It

was nice, but not revolutionary. This device

has zero c hance of saving the publishing

industry. Like any digital platform, it offers

an evolutionary possibility to beleaguered

pr int publications, but I saw nothing t hat

made me say, "This is it!"

As expected, the iPad is a readi ng device.

The iPad works exactly like an iPhone, for

heaven's sake. Nothing enchanted about that.

I have to say that the execution of the enti re

e-book experience, from t he f lipstand cover

to the iBook store,looks great. As I "flipped"

t hrough a book on the iPad, I kept comparing

it to my Kindle, which is not as easy

to do as you might think. In a nutshell, t he

iPad's gesture-based page-turning is simply

awesome.

Other Nice Features

The nearly- full -size vi rtual keyboard was a

pleasant su rprise, not only because Apple

included it, but because it seems to work

so well. Forget thumb -typing; t his device is

too big for that, but when I set it down on a

table, l was able to type quite nicely.

The biggest story here may not have been

what you can do on the iPad o r even the

excellent $499 entry-level price. For me it

was Apple's under-the-hood innovation. As

I predicted, Apple introduced its own chip,

probably using its internal PA Semi team

to build the do-it -all A4. ln my brief handson,

I typed, browsed the Web, checked out

photos, read books and watched full-screen

video. It never hiccuped.

What's Missing

Apple didn't deliver on every wish. There's

no camera, a surpr ising omission for somet

hing I sti ll think is aimed at people who like

to create. Something else Apple left out of

the iPad: Verizon! Apple has doggedly stuck

with AT&T, an announcement that produced

t he only audience groan of the whole event.

(For more on this, see Sascha Segan's col umn

on page 40.) But t he biggest disappointment

for me is the lack of a sty lus.

Apple did show off an updated "Brushes"

app, which lets you use your fingers to pai nt

and d raw professional-level art. That's nice,

but t he artist in me wants a d rawi ng implement.

Other t hings t he iPad is missing, such

as a camera, will eventually be added.

Reaching a Verdict

My perspective may change once we put

t he iPad t hrough the ringer. Gaming looked

good in the demo, but what kind of restr ic tions

will Apple be putting on these apps?

And the rated battery life is o nly under

optimal situations (and how wil l that rated

life hold up a year or two from now?). As

for durability, I'd say it's about as durable as

any other Apple product, but if you drop it

face down on concrete-well, that could be

a different story.

Bottom line: If you feel like there's a hole in

your life and you've identified it as t he space

between your smart phone and your laptop,

t he iPad is the product for you. For t he

rest of us, who have done t hings li ke invest

in an Amazon Ki ndle and more traditional

netbooks, t he decision may be much, much

tougher.

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Netflix Boxes To Bulge With More Content

We’ve been watching Netflix’s growth with interest

going back to January 2002’s CPU

and we’ve definitely had our eye on the new Wi

Fi-packing Netflix Player by Roku ($99.99) for

its ability to stream Netflix goods (10,000 movies and TV initially) to a TV. Now,

there’s even more reason for excitement. Tim Twerdahl, Roku vice president of consumer

products, reportedly told Forbes in early July that Roku is lining up content from

“big-name” providers besides Netflix, although he wouldn’t say who the providers are.

Twerdahl did add the first shipment of the device sold out in three weeks. Nice.

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Apple Places Massive Order With Samsung

In addition to recent rumors that

it will gift the iPhone 3G and iPod

touch with the ability to remotely

control a user’s iTunes library in

the home, Apple also recently leapt

to the top of Samsung’s pecking

order by reportedly ordering 50

million 8Gb NAND chips from

the company’s memory division in

early July. Reportedly, the chips

will find a home in new iPhone

3G models. According to Digitimes,

Samsung thus told its customers

residing lower down on the

company’s priority list that it plans

to reduce NAND chip supplies

starting in July

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The State of Windows 7 Satisfaction

WINDOWS 7   IS only a few months old. Most people who will eventually use the new as haven't tried it yet; those who have are still set¬tling in. And things will change rapidly as bugs are squashed, missing drivers arrive, and compatibility wrinkles are ironed out. Even so, it isn't too early to start gauging what people think of Vista's replacement.

To do a reality check on the mostly favorable initial reviews for the new operat¬ing syste

(nno.pcworto.corm 64223), we at Technologizer (technoLogizer.com) decided to ask for opinions from our community, a group of tech

enthusiasts with a high pro¬pensity to acquire new ass quickly and to push them
to their limits. Starting on November 16, 2009, we sur¬veyed the site's readers (and Twitter followers) about their Windows 7 experiences. Positive Response About 615 Technologizer readers responded. A sizable majority said that they are extremely satisfied with the as and rate it as a clear improvement on both the beloved Windows XP and the widely panned Windows Vista. Crippling installation problems-always a legiti¬mate reason to postpone switching aSs-were rare

Prior to using Windows 7

46 percent of respondents ran Windows Vista; 32 per¬cent ran XP. Just 17 percent used Vista and XP about equally, 5 percent ran an as other than Windows, and 0.7 percent used a different version of Windows

Among those surveyed, 73 percent upgraded an exist¬ing PC to the final version of Windows 7, while 8 percent use a PC that came with the as preinstalled; 14 percent are working with a prerelease version, and 6 percent run it on a Mac via Boot Camp or a virtualizaticn program.

As for Windows knowl-

edge, 64 percent of respon¬dents rated themselves as expert; 35 percent said they were intermediate. Less than 1 percent were beginners
For 61 percent, Windows 7 is entirely or mostly for home or personal use; 25 percent are using it about equally for home and business. Just 14 percent are using it entirely or mostly for business.
Also, 61 percent of respon¬dents use a 64-bit edition of Windows 7; only 31 percent are running a 32-bit version.
A whopping 82 percent did a "clean" install ofthe as from scratch; 19 percent

?How did Windows Ts installation go

installed it over Vista

Finally, 59 percent report¬ed they've used Windows 7 extensively, and 36 percent said they've done so a fair amount. A scant 5 percent said they've used it a little.

It's important to note that our goal wasn't to survey a representative, projectable, normalized sampling of all Windows 7 users. The re¬sponses here are from mem¬bers of the Technologizer community who chose to take our survey. Their opin¬ions are their own-but we think the results make for interesting reading

Installing Windows 7 With ass, as with all things, first impressions count. And if you've purchased a new as as an upgrade, the first impressions it makes come during the course of the in¬stallation process.

Among survey takers who installed Windows 7, the number who ran into major hassles was very small, pre¬sumably in part because Windows 7 is so similar to Vista under the surface. The fact that the vast majority of respondents performed dean installations rather than installing on top of Vista surely helped, too.

In our survey, 84 percent said the process went off without significant hiccups; 13 percent said it went fairly well. Only 3 percent reported major problems, two-thirds of which were resolvable. Pretty impressive-when PCWorld surveyed Windows XP users shortly after that as shipped, half reported significant installation issues

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Windows Tips: Something OLd, Something New

STEVE FOX

Windows Tips: Something OLd, Something New

AH, THE VENERABLE Windows tips story! If you've been reading PCWorld for any length of time, you know that when a new version of Microsoft's operating system comes out (in this case, the well-received Windows 7), a fresh batch of shortcuts and timesavers for the OS can't be far behind.

These mega tip extravaganzas, though, always present a problem-namely, which items should we include? Be¬cause each new version of Windows builds on previous incarnations of

the as, loads of the most useful Win¬dows 7 tips are also the most useful tricks for Windows Vista, not to mention the still-popular Windows

XP. Ifwe were to include a sampling

of classic time-savers in a brand-new tips collection, we would risk alien¬ating readers who want just the lat-

est goodies. But excluding time-

tested tips would mean some of the best Windows advice would be

absent from the issue.

The solution we came up with this month? Along with a spanking-new collection oftips (see "Essential Windows Tricks," page 66) and timely advice on how to overcome Windows 7 upgrade gotchas (see "Fix Four Common Windows 7 Up¬grade Problems," page 101), we've pulled together a two-page clip-and¬save pullout of the 26 "Greatest Win¬dows TIps of All TIme" (see page 75).

If you're a longtime Windows user, you're probably familiar with most of these tidbits-though I'm betting you will find a few pointers that will be rediscoveries or that you somehow missed in the first place. For instance, I had completely forgotten the keystroke combination -L (a shortcut to lock your computer when you step away from the screen). Finding it here was like finding a long-lost friend.

TO assemble a collection of the "Greatest Windows Tips of All Time," we turned to the reaL experts: everyday users,

Admittedly, any "greatest hits" list

is somewhat arbitrary; it's based on in¬dividual tastes, and it's guaranteed to generate controversy. After all, who will make the decision? And what con¬stitutes greatness in a tip anyway?

To answer those questions, we sent staff editor Patrick Miller into the field to canvas users for tips that were not

STAFF EDITOR PATRICK MILLER: A hard-core Mac user receives a crash course in Windows shortcuts.

only broadly applicable, but worked on multiple versions of Windows and made everyday computing tasks substantially faster or easier. He reached out to read¬ers at PCWorld.com, scoured a broad range of online forums, sought nomina¬tions on our Facebook page (tmd.pcwortd. com/60983), and tweeted his requests

to our Twitter followers at @!pcworld.

With a hefty stack of potential win¬ners in hand, he then descended on the editorial staff, going cube to cube. He also tapped the techie whizzes in the PCWorid Labs, cross-platform experts

Find more magazines at www.magazinesdownload.com

at sister publication Macworld, and "just about anyone else I ran into over the course of several days."

"My basic approach was to ask, 'When you watch someone else using a Windows PC, what drives you crazy about the way they do it?'" Not surpris¬ingly, that approach yielded a massive list of candidates-and a tricky win-

nowing task that he attacked with relish, and with some assistance from other editorial staffers.

Making the FinaL Cut

Patrick brought a fresh perspective to the task. Until nine months ago, he had been primarily a Mac user¬and a power user at that-meaning he had few preconceived notions about the Windows platform.

"Though I use Windows every day," he says, "many ofthese tips were new to me, especially the shortcut keystrokes and anything that made use of the search box." In making his final cut, he first transferred tips with multiple nominations into the Yes pile. Then "I began by looking for common problem areas with common solutions." He also put his

Apple experience to use by looking for standard Mac shortcuts that Windows users often must live without.

After extensive hands-on testing, wheedling, and weeding out, he and a team of fellow editors came up with the magnificent 26 in this issue.

Did we miss a favorite tip of yours?

Send your suggestions to letters@! pcworld.com, and we'll print a selec¬tion in an upcoming PCW Forum.

Until then, happy tipping .•

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