HP has plans to resurrect it.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: The Palm brand may be resurrecting itself from the ashes of corporate ignominy.
Once a flagship producer of PDAs (personal digital assistants) and later smartphones, Palm was unceremoniously dismantled and forgotten a year after HP acquired it for $1.2 billion in 2010.
However, Palm may soon be plotting a return to its former glory. According to official documents, HP appears to have allocated Palm’s trademarks to a company called Wide Progress Global Limited.
Wide Progress Global Limited has been revealed by WebOS Nation to be a “shelf company,” a corporate entity that is created with the express purpose of being hidden away until a business wishes to make discreet transactions without revealing its name directly.
It differs slightly from a shell company in that it is created with no immediate purpose and “shelved” until its use is necessitated. The only trademarks held by Wide Progress Limited are those garnered from Palm.
WebOS Nation dug further and revealed that Wide Progress Global Limited is affiliated with Nicholas Zibell, the president of U.S. operations for Alcatel Onetouch.
Alcatel Onetouch produces Android smartphones as a joint-venture between Alcatel-Lucent of France and TCL Communication of China.
There are no indications of Palm technology being transferred, just the brand name, so it is unlikely that the Palm-developed webOS will make its way to the smartphone market via new Palm devices. However, Alcatel has minimal brand recognition in the U.S. while the Palm brand-name still garners significant recognition and customer loyalty, which could make it an invaluable asset.
Palm’s old web domain now redirects to mynewpalm.com, which teases the Palm logo along with a banner that flashes, “coming soon,” followed by, “smart move.”