HP buy Palm

Well it’s official – Hewlett-Packard have bought the ailing Palm. The acquisition cost $1.2 billion, mostly in cash, which works out around $5.70 per share. The deal will go through at the end of July.

What does it mean? Well, HP will own Palm’s webOS which they consider a “prized asset” and intend to make it available on a range of products – smartphones, tablet PCs and netbooks. Palm will still continue development of webOS, and Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein will remain with the company.

So with HP’s backing, we might end up seeing webOS on a range of phones and tablet PCs. It could be good news then.