Here’s a surprise just in time for New Year’s: Palm, the erstwhile mobile brand that flopped despite the big potential of its platform, may still have some life left in it yet.
For years, the HP-owned company sent Palm.com visitors to the HPWebOS.com website. Now Palm redirects to MyNewPalm.com, which features a Palm logo and the alternating messages “Coming Soon” and “Smart Move.”
According to Ars Technica, that move may reference new ownership by Alcatel One Touch, a division of Chinese technology giant TCL. In other words, Palm may not be as dead as once thought. In fact, its second life could be fueled by a major tech company with stakes in both mobile and television.
A Second Wind For Palm?
Ars cites WebOS Nation, which first noticed the website redirection, and brings up one other tidbit: A document in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office reveals a change in ownership of the Palm trademark from HP to a company with ties to Alcatel One Touch, a maker of budget and second-tier mobile devices.
It just so happens that Alcatel’s tagline is the same “Smart Move” message animated on the MyNewPalm site.
Its parent company, TCL Corporation, has more than enough in its vast coffers to resuscitate the Palm brand. Some folks may recall that the corporation made news this year for being one of the two manufacturers to produce Roku’s brand new 2014 smart TVs. Ars Technica notes that TCL is the 25th-largest consumer electronics manufacturer and the third-biggest maker of televisions (after Samsung and LG).
HP has owned Palm since 2010, and since then, has done little to advance the brand. The company didn’t turn out any new WebOS devices for years, instead selling the operating system to LG. WebOS now lives as open-source software and has been positioned as a platform for smart televisions.
Given its mobile roots—anyone remember the Treo, Pre or Pixi?—and that it developed an operating system that could help drive connected TV, Alcatel and TCL seem like natural fits for Palm. Other reasons to believe this is a good match: Palm was a beloved brand in its time. That sentiment should appeal to TCL, which badly wants to establish a presence in the U.S.
Of course, much depends on what the mobile company or its parent corporation will actually do with Palm. Some have proffered that new Palm devices could debut with Android on board. Given the “coming soon” message, we may not have long to find out.
Happy New Year, Palm fans!
Photo by Adriana Lee for ReadWrite
Correction: An earlier version of the article failed to reference LG’s ownership of WebOS, giving the impression the software still belonged to HP. The article has been updated to reflect that.
