Palm for sale: Nokia, HTC, RIM to bid for it

The worried US Smart phones company Palm has come up for sale as it competes with the popularity of Apple's iPhone and the Blackberry. Palm has one of the best mobile operating systems with multi-tasking, great application switcher, hi-tech games, and a v

THE WORRIED US Smart phones company Palm has come up for sale as it competes with the popularity of Apple's iPhone and the Blackberry. Palm has one of the best mobile operating systems with multi-tasking, great application switcher, hi-tech games, and a very stable operating system.

The company’s new hope, the Palm Pre, after the heavy publicity last year and its new operating system, web’s, received favorable reviews. Besides Apple and Goggle, Palm is the only company to have tried a modern smart phone operating system. The company has a market capitalization of $1 billion. The company is looking for bids in the next few days. Shares in Palm, which makes the Pre and Pixy phones and has developed the innovative web’s phone software, increased by nearly seventeen per cent yesterday as reported.

Palm's Web’s operating system is considered the company's most valuable asset. Rumored buyers include hardware firms such as Taiwan's HTC and the China's Renovo. Interests could also come from Nokia or RIM, who could view Palm's easy-to-use software as an attractive deal in comparison to the iPhone and Android.

Sony's baked Apple: New gaming smart phone and iPad challenger said to be in the works

The hottest tech development of the year has been Apple's disclosure of its iPad, a tablet computer set to debut in just a few weeks.
But consumer electronics giant Sony is reportedly aiming to outdo Apple.
Sony has two competing devices in development that will be ready to go sometime this year, The Wall Street Journal reported.
One Sony device in the works is said to be a new smart phone that can play PlayStation games. Sony already produces smart phones under the Sony Ericsson name, but none that offer gaming capability.
The second device could go even futher to blur the lines between function. It will reportedly be a tablet that combines elements of an e-reader, netbook and Sony's existing portable gaming device.
Sony is believed to be working with Ericsson on the device. The companies have a long history of developing handsets together, and recently launched the Xperia X10 smart phone, which is built with the Android OS.
Sony did not comment on the leak about new products.
The two gadgets would work with a new Sony platform slated to launch this month designed to rival Apple's iTunes.
Sony, which also makes TVs, laptops, e-readers, cameras and its PlayStation gaming systems, may leverage its power in the video game space to help compete against the iPad.
Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch have already made inroads into the gaming market, where they compete for customers alongside Sony's PlayStation Portable.
Reports indicated that the upcoming Sony Online Service will offer a broad catalogue of games, including older issues originally designed for Sony's PlayStation, in addition to more standard music and television fare.

Nokia to lay off up to 330 R&D staffers

Nokia said Friday that a streamlining effort could result in the elimination of as many as 330 positions from its research and development staff, or about 2 percent of its global R&D workforce.

The changes will likely hit up to 230 workers in the company's Oulu site in Finland and roughly 100 at its Copenhagen site. Nokia said it plans to offer voluntary severance packages to the affected workers and to find alternative jobs for as many people as possible.
The company currently employs more than 17,000 workers in its R&D business. It has 2,000 employees at the Oulu facility and 1,000 in Copenhagen.
Though Nokia still holds the top spot in the smartphone arena, its dominance has been eroded by competition from the likes of Apple and Research In Motion. A recent In-Stat report found that Nokia's share of the smartphone market had dropped to 35 percent in this year's second quarter compared with 50 percent in the prior year's quarter.
Another report from Strategy Analytics revealed that Apple had surpassed Nokia in cell phone profits during the third quarter, the first time that Nokia had fallen to second place.
Nokia's third-quarter results showed a net loss of $832 million, while sales dropped around 20 percent. Nokia Siemens, the network equipment maker run by Nokia and Siemens, has also been a drag on its owners, recently announcing its own layoffs and cost cuts as a result of its weak performance.Read More....