[rollingrock1988]

the::unwired - REPORT: HP's webOS on "Fire-Sale"? Amazon, RIM, IBM, Oracle and Intel mentioned as potential buyers

REPORT: HP's webOS on "Fire-Sale"? Amazon, RIM, IBM, Oracle and Intel mentioned as potential buyers
Posted by Arne Hess - on Tuesday, 08.11.11 - 16:11:23 CET under 05 - webOS News - Viewed 325x
Tagged under: [HP] [Hewlett_Packard] [webOS] [Amazon] [RIM] [Research_In_Motion] [IBM] [Oracle] [Intel]




According to an exclusive Reuters report, Hewlett Packard is definitely and finally looking to sell its Palm webOS operating system for roughly hundreds of millions of dollars but less than the US$ 1.2 billion that HP paid last year. Most interesting are the five potential buyers, Reuters mentioned in its report. Advised by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, several technology companies have expressed an interest in buying HP's webOS division, which is seen as attractive for its patents, Reuters sources said. However it seems that only five candidates made it to the finale: Amazon, RIM (Research In Motion), IBM, Oracle and Intel. However, in my humble opinion Palm's webOS patents might make most sense for IBM and Oracle. On the other hand, the mobile OS itself might be also interesting for Amazon, RIM and even Intel.

It could make Amazon independent from Google, especially after the company jumped into the tablet market - using a highly customized version of Android, as well as webOS could be interesting for RIM and Intel which both failed launching a successful mobile/tablet platform recently.

So why RIM? Patents or what?

Weird.

[rollingrock1988]

Jesus. Never mind, this was from August. It came up in recent news.

Oracle is the new development.

Delete post if necessary.

[howarmat]

patents would be my first guess. I really enjoy webOS too so i am very interested to see who purchases it and if they can actually find some good hardware to put it on finally.

[avt123]

I would love to see Amazon get it. They already have so much content and are set in the "cloud game". Sounds like a good match.

[howarmat]

Exclusive: HP weighing sale of webOS unit | Reuters

its not from august...it broke today

[myrv]

I'll be honest, I thought Samsung or maybe HTC would have bought it if for no other reason than to use in the patent wars with Apple. Other than that maybe RIM would be the next smartest bet imo, because they certainly need to defend the patent infringement of the Playbook and WebOS.

I alternate between tablets and after a day or two of using the Playbook, I find that I miss the gestures on other operating systems. That and the true multitasking.

[trsbbs]

RIM needs to stop purchasing and leverage what they already own.

I am sure cash will be getting a little tight in Waterloo over the next 4 months.

Tim

[papped]

At least RIM can make hardware, unlike HP (not that I think they really plan on making webos devices at all)

[TBone4eva]

RIM needs to stop purchasing and leverage what they already own.

I am sure cash will be getting a little tight in Waterloo over the next 4 months.

Tim

That's true, but sometimes you have to jump on potentially valuable opportunities when they present themselves, especially if you can get them for cheap.

I think we should understand that if RIM did buy WebOS, I don't think we would see a product from RIM with WebOS. RIM is going with QNX. What we might see are some elements of WebOS that might get incorporated as features in QNX.

[rollingrock1988]

patents would be my first guess. I really enjoy webOS too so i am very interested to see who purchases it and if they can actually find some good hardware to put it on finally.

I do too. It really is amazing and so well done.

I would love to see Amazon get it. They already have so much content and are set in the "cloud game". Sounds like a good match.

I agree with this. I am already tied into Amazon so if they did, I would have to consider dropping BB for their phone- if they built one and it was quality.

Exclusive: HP weighing sale of webOS unit | Reuters

its not from august...it broke today

The article I posted was from August- the other articles I read were from today but they were all crazy about oracle.

[MisterMe11]

RIM should just be sending job offers to the best WebOS software engineers - not buying the OS. If they bought the OS, they'd be in the same situation - having to spend many months integrating webOS devices with their back-end infrastructure. Hopefully by February they'll be in good shape with QNX/BBX and the back-end.

[kbz1960]

If RIM did such a thing it better be for pattens only. If they start with WebOS is our future I think they would be viewed as even more schitzo then they are now and would be doomed if they aren't all ready.

[rollingrock1988]

That's true, but sometimes you have to jump on potentially valuable opportunities when they present themselves, especially if you can get them for cheap.

I think we should understand that if RIM did buy WebOS, I don't think we would see a product from RIM with WebOS. RIM is going with QNX. What we might see are some elements of WebOS that might get incorporated as features in QNX.

I agree with this.

Also- they could also have some UI enhancements stolen from WebOS.... I mean... It's beautiful so what would be stopping them.

[EchoTango]

I really can't see RIM going through with this.

Having said that, being in on the bidding allows you access to a significant amount of intellectual property and I always think it's a smart play if you want to know more about your competition. It costs virtually nothing and there's surprisingly usually few restrictions once you bow out.

WebOS just has so much duplication with RIM OSX, I can't see the value. Of course, if there's a fire sale...jump right in !

[boldman4]

If RIM buys WebOS, what happens to RIMM?

[sf49ers]

I really can't see RIM going through with this.

Having said that, being in on the bidding allows you access to a significant amount of intellectual property and I always think it's a smart play if you want to know more about your competition. It costs virtually nothing and there's surprisingly usually few restrictions once you bow out.

WebOS just has so much duplication with RIM OSX, I can't see the value. Of course, if there's a fire sale...jump right in !

patents, UI, ecosystem/developers (as webOS leverages heavily on web technologies and aligns with BBX vision of WebWorks), userbase and more importantly Silicon Valley presence

[howarmat]

RIM buys webOS they get some more great patents. They can stay a profitable company alone on the patents RIM owns.

They also add another OS to the stable which would also be a great asset IMO.

The question is how much risk is there. RIM spent half their $$$ last quarter and I am guessing they were spending some already this quarter. So picking up webOS would probably spend the rest of it. I am uber curious to see if this happens and what RIMs balance sheet looks like at the end of the quarter.

[rollingrock1988]

RIM buys webOS they get some more great patents. They can stay a profitable company alone on the patents RIM owns.

They also add another OS to the stable which would also be a great asset IMO.

The question is how much risk is there. RIM spent half their $$$ last quarter and I am guessing they were spending some already this quarter. So picking up webOS would probably spend the rest of it. I am uber curious to see if this happens and what RIMs balance sheet looks like at the end of the quarter.

your forgetting that they are selling their current line and making money so that's revenue right therre.

[sf49ers]

80% chances RIM is the one buying WebOS

[howarmat]

your forgetting that they are selling their current line and making money so that's revenue right therre.

yes OS7 is selling i agree but we dont know how well (chances are pretty damn good though) nor do we know how much money the PB is costing them at this point. Remember the lastest figure for the R&D expenses.

[avt123]

But would RIM kill off WebOS if they bought it? I would like to see WebOS used if anything, and I just can't see them doing that with all the effort they are putting into BBX. It only makes sense for patents.

If Amazon buys it, then there is more competition again. More choice as well as it adds another company to the smartphone world (which they already are in with apps but this would be a much larger presence).

But if RIM does want to patent troll now, this could be profitable for them.

[TBone4eva]

But would RIM kill off WebOS if they bought it? I would like to see WebOS used if anything, and I just can't see them doing that with all the effort they are putting into BBX. It only makes sense for patents.

If Amazon buys it, then there is more competition again. More choice as well as it adds another company to the smartphone world (which they already are in with apps but this would be a much larger presence).

But if RIM does want to patent troll now, this could be profitable for them.

I don't think Amazon wants to get into the smartphone market..at least not yet. I do think they would like to get away from Google, WebOS would allow them that opportunity. A future WebOS based Kindle tablet with gesture support might be a big hit.

As for RIM, it's possible they could license WebOS, but it's not likely to be used in a RIM product so it would be bascially dead.

[avt123]

I don't think Amazon wants to get into the smartphone market..at least not yet. I do think they would like to get away from Google, WebOS would allow them that opportunity. A future WebOS based Kindle tablet with gesture support might be a big hit.

As for RIM, it's possible they could license WebOS, but it's not likely to be used in a RIM product so it would be bascially dead.

Yea, either way I would like to see Amazon using WebOS. Amazon already has an ecosystem to make it great. Tablet or smartphone (whenever they decide).

[lnichols]

Maybe they want to make sure no one can sue them for the WebOS like card implementation by getting the patent, and then start suing others. Also I would imagine a WebOS Player would give them more apps than they have now. Or possibly they want an OS for a consumer oriented device that isn't QNX. I too would like to see them start delivering on what they have now and stop buying things.

[grahamf]

The interface of WebOS + the speed and stability of QNX + RIM's Push service/BBM might be a really good combination.

The trick would be to tie everything in together so that they work.

Besides, giving the current state of PlayBookOS, the logical evolution would include a lot of traits that are native to WebOS and patented.