Hewlett-Packard has announced a $1.2 billion deal with Palm, Inc. that would allow HP, the highly successful technology mega-company to expand further into the smartphone market.

Nearly everyone on the street has known for some time that Palm has been shopping around their technology, looking for a buyer, and it seems that they may well have found their white knight in the coffers of Hewlett Packard. By offering a 23% premium, HP is paying a small price to show a commitment to the massive smartphone market. Once well known for their IPaq mobile product line, which includes a Windows Mobile based smartphone, HP has continually lost ground to the competition including Apple and Google.

As the words of this article are reaching the screen I, like many likely will, am wondering why HP, a company of such vast resources, would buy Palm, a company that has been floundering in recent years. Their last big success, the Treo, has been replaced many times over and their recent products were met with harsh criticism from even the staunchest Palm supporters. Hopefully they know better and we can all sit back and watch what they turn out of this acquisition.

~geek