MacRumors

HP today announced that it will acquire Palm in a deal valued at $1.2 billion. The deal brings Palm, struggling to reinvent itself as a smartphone company after being a major player in the PDA market, into the fold with HP, a traditional computer company that has yet to make a signficant foray into the smartphone market.

HP and Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which HP will purchase Palm, a provider of smartphones powered by the Palm webOS mobile operating system, at a price of $5.70 per share of Palm common stock in cash or an enterprise value of approximately $1.2 billion. The transaction has been approved by the HP and Palm boards of directors.

The press release notes that Palm's chairman and CEO Jon Rubinstein, who previously served as a key Apple executive and is credited as being one of the primary minds behind the iPod, is expected to remain with the company.

News that Palm was looking to place itself up for sale surfaced earlier this month as the company's stock dropped on poor earnings results and analyst price target cuts to as low as zero.

Palm recruited a number of Apple executives and engineers in an attempt to reinvent itself under its new webOS operating system. After the launch of the Palm Pre in January 2009, Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook directed veiled threats at Palm regarding Apple's multi-touch intellectual property. The two companies further engaged in a cat-and-mouse game over the Pre's ability to sync media directly with iTunes.

Mashable reports that Apple may be planning for the next-generation iPhone to go on sale immediately after an introduction at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) scheduled to begin on June 7th.

Over the last two years, Apple has revealed both the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS at WWDC. However, the release of the actual iPhone hardware has traditionally come a few weeks after the announcement. Our sources say that Apple may break that tradition this year by shortening the timetable.

An AT&T block on employee vacations for the month of June has suggested that we may see a launch sometime that month, but most observers expected that it would come later in the month.

Today's report notes that while Apple may be planning for an iPhone launch coinciding with WWDC, other factors may yet make the goal impossible. If the report's sources are correct, however, Apple will be moving the iPhone launch up as close as possible to that date.

Apple's WWDC scheduling for this year remains somewhat of a mystery. Early hints suggested that Apple might have been planning a late June timeframe for the conference, but Apple delayed announcement of the conference details well beyond its usual February or March window. Speculation has surfaced about whether Apple has been working behind the scenes to move up the conference and the next-generation iPhone launch after an Apple employee lost a testing version of the device in March. The device surfaced early last week in the hands of Gizmodo.

In 1987, Apple produced a concept video demonstrating a future computer called the Knowledge Navigator. The tablet-like device offered the user a natural language interface, video conferencing, multi-touch display and access to a global network of information.

While seemingly the product of an overactive imagination, Apple's recent acquisition of Siri brings Apple a lot closer to that vision than ever before. Siri reportedly was born from the CALO artificial intelligence project which sought to fulfill a call for a "a cognitive computer system should be able to learn from its experience, as well as by being advised."

Apple's value in acquiring Siri appears to be focused on this personal assistance technology. Siri describes their technology:

Virtual Personal Assistants (VPAs) represent the next generation interaction paradigm for the Internet. In today's paradigm, we follow links on search results. With a VPA, we interact by having a conversation. We tell the assistant what we want to do, and it applies multiple services and information sources to help accomplish our task. Like a real assistant, a VPA is personal; it uses information about an individual's preferences and interaction history to help solve specific tasks, and it gets better with experience.

In fact, Siri's Chief Technology Officer Tom Gruber uses Apple's Knowledge Navigator video in his keynote and describes it as a "brilliant piece of vision work":

Gruber demos Siri and how it can accomplish tasks using a conversational interface and apply context to provide useful and personalized interactions. He also walks through what's possible today and how close we are getting. Given Apple's acquisition of the company (and presumably Tom Gruber), the talk is of particular relevance to Apple's future plans.

In addition to details posted last month by Apple on how 3G data service will be managed on Wi-Fi + 3G iPad models due for launch this Friday, AT&T has now published a fact sheet (PDF) offering additional information on iPad data service.

AT&T notes that its "monthly" domestic service plans actually consist of 30-day cycles that will automatically renew unless the customer elects to cancel his or her contract-free service.

Once you sign up for iPad 3G data service, you can add to or cancel your domestic plan at any time - no penalty. For domestic plans, if you do not cancel, your service will automatically renew every 30 days to provide a more seamless data experience on an ongoing basis. For example, if you activate service on May 9, your service will automatically renew 30 days later with the same plan. If you do make a change, a new 30-day window begins.

Users on the 250 MB plan will receive alerts when they reach 20%, 10% and 0% of their data limit remaining. Customers who reach their data limit for a billing cycle can either wait until the end of the 30-day cycle when it automatically renews or change to an unlimited plan, which will begin a new 30-day cycle at that time.

AT&T's iPad data plans are priced at $14.99 (250 MB) and $29.99 (unlimited) per 30-day cycle and also provide free access to the company's network of over 20,000 Wi-Fi hotspots.

Robert Scoble reports that Apple has purchased Siri, a company that has developed a free personal assistant application for the iPhone and iPod touch. Selected as the Most Innovative Web Technology in a contest at this year's SXSW festival, Siri offers automated personal assistant services by integrating a rapidly growing number of third-party services such as OpenTable, FlightStats, and Google Maps with voice-recognition technology from Nuance Communications.

Scoble discovered evidence (PDF) of the deal through a notification given by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announcing an early termination of the standard waiting period for corporate mergers to allow the transaction to proceed. Mashable and ReadWriteWeb are also confirming that they have heard about the acquisition from their sources.

Update: Silicon Alley Insider reports that a Siri representative has confirmed Apple's acquisition of the company.

Update 2: The Wall Street Journal quotes a Siri board member and investor as calling Apple's offer a "no-brainer".

"The offer from Apple was of a scope and tenor that it was a no-brainer to accept it," said Shawn Carolan, a managing director at Menlo Ventures and a board member at Sirti [sic] since it raised a Series A round of venture capital in 2008.

With U.S. pre-orders for Wi-Fi + 3G iPad models set for delivery on Friday, many customers have been anxiously waiting for information on the shipping status of their orders.

Since yesterday, dozens of MacRumors forum members have been noting that their order statuses have updated to "Prepared for Shipment", revealing that shipment is imminent. There have been a very small number of reports of customers receiving shipment tracking numbers, although few screenshots or other confirmatory evidence have been provided to support claims that significant numbers of the iPads are moving into shipment status yet.

Many customers were expecting movement on their orders to have occurred earlier in the week, given that pre-orders for the Wi-Fi iPad models began shipping over five days before their delivery date of Saturday, April 3rd. The reason for the later start on shipments for the 3G-capable models appears to be due to the shipments already being stocked at distribution points around the United States.

A reader of The Loop contacted Apple on Tuesday worried that he hadn't heard anything about his shipment. He was told that the Wi-Fi + 3G are already in warehouses across the country.

Unlike the iPad Wi-Fi that shipped directly from China to customers, the 3G model will ship from within the U.S.

Customers in a number of other countries are scheduled to see the iPad launch late next month, with Apple set to provide additional information and pre-ordering details on May 10th.

Apple today announced that this year's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) will take place from June 7th through 11th at San Francisco's Moscone West convention center.

The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is the premier technical conference for developers innovating with Apple technologies. Over 1,000 Apple engineers will be at Moscone West to present advanced coding and development techniques that will show you how to enhance the capabilities of your applications with the revolutionary technologies in iPhone OS and Mac OS X.

As always, the conference will include technical sessions and hands-on labs for attendees, as well as other special events. Registration for the conference is priced at $1599, with tickets for the conference having sold out increasingly quickly over the past couple of years. Given the short lead time on ticket sales this year, developers will likely have to move quickly to secure a spot in the conference.

Apple is widely expected to introduce its new iPhone hardware during a keynote address at the event, although the device has already received considerable publicity since Gizmodo published details on one lost by an Apple employee in a California bar.

Update: A number of observers have noticed a heavy emphasis on iPhone OS in this year's conference, from the headline banner featuring App Store application icons to the elimination of Mac OS X as a category in the Apple Design Awards. As Daring Fireball's John Gruber notes, the iPhone OS emphasis strongly suggests that Mac OS X 10.7 will not be previewed at the conference.

Given the new confirmation that Apple has acquired chip design firm Intrinsity, it's interesting to hear that Apple seems to already be using their technology in the iPad under the veil of the "Apple A4" processor. It was previously believed that P.A. Semi might have had a hand in designing the Apple A4 processor that was introduced alongside the iPad, but an IEEE Spectrum article disputes that belief.

According to market analyst Will Strauss, there is no doubt "it's only the Intrinsity folks who could have taken [the iPad's ARM Cortex A8] up to a gigahertz. Period." Strauss is referring to an X-ray examination of the A4 processor which revealed it was a Samsung-manufactured single core ARM Cortex A8 processor. According to Strauss, only Intrinsity could have achieved this for Apple. Now with confirmation of an Apple acquisition of the company, it seems almost certain.

In 2009, Intrinsity had announced a 1GHz "Hummingbird" processor which likely shares the same technology. It is believed that P.A. Semi simply didn't have enough time since their original acquisition to produce the technology for Apple.

The use of Intrinsity's Hummingbird processor technology in the iPad was postulated by forum member retroneo back in March. He even pinpointed the Samsung S5PC110 as the likely design basis for the upcoming iPhone processor. The S5PC110 is a similar 1GHz Cortex A8 processor with POWERVR SGX hardware built in.

As predicted last week, Apple has seeded the first developer version of Mac OS X 10.6.4, termed Build 10F37, to developers today. iPhoneinCanada as usual is on top of the details, noting improvements to a handful of areas.

According to reports, the current build focuses on Graphics Drivers, SMB, Time Machine backups, USB, and VoiceOver. The build does not include any further updates or enhancements.

Documentation accompanying the seed reportedly notes one outstanding known issue involving iChat requesting password entry upon launch.

Mac OS X 10.6.3 was released to the public on March 29th, but Apple's variable development and seeding cycles offer little indication of when 10.6.4 might be ready for a final release.

The Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal reports that the criminal investigation of the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of a next-generation iPhone last month and subsequent purchase of the device by Gizmodo was spurred by requests from the Apple engineer who lost the iPhone and outside legal counsel for the company.

Wagstaffe said that an outside counsel for Apple, along with Apple engineer Powell, called the District Attorney's office on Wednesday or Thursday of last week to report a theft had occurred and they wanted it investigated. The District Attorney's office then referred them to the Rapid Enforcement and Allied Computer Team, or REACT, a multi-jurisdictional, high-tech crime task force that operates under the Santa Clara County District Attorney's office.

As news of the criminal investigation spread, speculation and disagreement regarding what role if any Apple played in initiating the investigation has arisen in a number of venues. While Apple would have to actively pursue any civil charges related to the incident, some observers wondered whether Apple was pressing the examination of possible criminal charges or if law enforcement was working on its own after having been notified of the loss or theft of the iPhone.

The police have identified and spoken to the person who took the iPhone from the Redwood City, California bar where it was left by the Apple engineer, although officials have refused to say whether that same unidentified person is the same individual who sold it to Gizmodo for $5000. No charges have yet been filed in the investigation, which remains on hold as questions regarding the legality of the search and seizure at Gizmodo editor Jason Chen's residence are being considered.

The New York Times confirms that Apple has acquired Intrinsity, an Austin, Texas company that has played an integral role in speeding up ARM-based chip designs such as those used in Apple's iPhone OS devices. Speculation that Apple had purchased Intrinsity arose early this month, and MacRumors discovered evidence on professional networking site LinkedIn that seemed to confirm that a number of Intrinsity employees had transitioned to Apple.

Apple has finalized a deal to acquire a small chip company called Intrinsity, Apple confirmed. Intrinsity, of Austin, Tex., made a name for itself by creating a fast chip for mobile devices in cooperation with Samsung, both a partner and competitor to Apple.

Many experts in the chip industry have speculated that Apple relied on Intrinsity's chip as the basis for the main engine behind its new iPad.

As usual, an Apple spokesperson declined to comment further on the acquisition, acknowledging only that it occasionally purchases smaller companies and as a policy does not comment on plans for them.

Update: A revised and expanded version of the article now cites claims that Apple paid $121 million for Intrinsity.

Valleywag reports that it is hearing that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has "tentatively agreed" to appear on stage at The Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital conference scheduled for June 1st through 3rd. The major business and technology conference, to be held in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, brings together many of the biggest names in technology for extensive discussions about the industry.

An appearance at D would not only speak to Jobs' continuing physical vitality but also his willingness to grapple with some of the thorny new controversies surrounding his company, including its newfound power over news media publishers and rival Adobe. At an Apple event, Jobs is in control; on a stage at D, he'd be fielding questions from the likes of the Journal's Walt Mossberg and All Things D's Kara Swisher.

Jobs last appeared at D in 2007, participating in a one-on-one Q&A with Mossberg and later sharing the stage with Microsoft founder Bill Gates for a discussion of the two companies' relationship and role in the industry.

Meanwhile, many observers are still anxiously waiting for news on Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Apple has yet to announce dates for the conference, which is usually held each June and where the company has taken to introducing its new iPhone models. Daring Fireball's John Gruber has hinted that an announcement is coming either today or tomorrow, depending on whether Gruber's tweet made at 12:20 AM Eastern Time this morning is interpreted to have been posted yesterday or today.

Update: All Things D's Kara Swisher confirms that Jobs will be the opening-night speaker for this year's conference.

Mobile advertising firm AdMob today released its March 2010 Mobile Metrics Report, offering a look at trends in the devices and operating systems accessing its extensive ad network. Among the interesting observations in this month's report is evidence of continued growth and diversification of the Android platform. In fact, Android's growth in the U.S. has sent the platform's share of ad request in the U.S. past that of the iPhone by a 46%-39% margin.

On a worldwide basis, the iPhone continues to outpace Android with a 46% share of the ad request market, compared to only 25% for Android. It is also important to note that this specific metric includes only smart phones, and thus does not include ads served to the iPod touch. When looking at all devices capable of accessing AdMob's ad network, the iPhone and iPod touch together grab 38% of the ad request market, more than double that of the nearest competitor on a manufacturing basis, Motorola.

Other interesting data coming out of AdMob's report includes a survey of the various generations of iPhone OS devices accessing its network. The report notes that the iPhone 3GS holds the largest share of iPhone OS devices at 39%, followed by the second-generation iPod touch at 25%. Apple's first-generation devices continue to hang around, however, with the original iPhone and iPod touch each accounting for 2% of the 6.1 billion iPhone OS ad requests received by AdMob in March.

The Daily Telegraph reports that ARM Holdings, the design firm behind the processors used in Apple's iPhone OS devices and the subject of recent rumors that Apple might be looking at an acquisition, has announced record sales, revenue, and profits for the first quarter of 2010. In particular, chief executive Warren East cited the iPhone and its stimulation of the entire smartphone industry as key drivers for ARM's growth, and pointed to the iPad as another opportunity for the company.

"The iPhone acted as a great stimulus to encourage competitors to develop products to beat the iPhone," he said. "The iPad looks like it has set the competitive bar again, and will stimulate people to do a lot of other creative things."

The report also notes that East "dismissed" the rumors of an Apple buyout, following up on comments he made last week arguing against the need for Apple or any other company to make an acquisition.

Research firm iSuppli yesterday also released its own fact sheet on the Apple-ARM situation, outlining several reasons why an acquisition of ARM makes little strategic sense for Apple.

"Just because ARM's IP plays an important role in mobile devices, that doesn't necessarily mean ARM is of strategic value to Apple," said William Kidd, director and principal analyst, financial services for iSuppli. "iSuppli thinks ARM would represent a costly acquisition with little in the way of true strategic benefits. The acquisition would not give Apple's products a competitive edge/differentiating value. iSuppli also doesn't buy into prevailing speculation that there could be significant value in denying other competitors access to ARM's IP, since the majority of the impact would be felt by companies like Broadcom, Samsung and Texas Instruments, which are not exactly Apple's biggest rivals. In any case, there would be no visible end-market impact seen for two years at a minimum.

iSuppli also expects that other bidders would be likely to appear should Apple make a serious effort at acquiring ARM, as many chipmakers rely on ARM's technology, which would be difficult, time-consuming, and expensive to shift away from, and fear Apple's "inward-looking corporate style" could inhibit the freedom they currently have to work off of ARM's designs.

It should be obvious by now that Apple is planning on integrating a front-facing camera in its next-generation iPhone. The natural use for such a feature is video conferencing. Apple has had numerous references to the unannounced feature in its past iPhone firmware releases, and iPhone 4 SDK Beta 2 is no different.

Apple, however, is becoming less shy about the feature with a new set of status/error strings that have been found detailing various video conferencing states. Interesting to see is that it appears iPhones will have to be registered for video conferencing.

ACCOUNT_NOT_REGISTERED_MESSAGE = "This device has not been registered for video conferencing.";

The text files also contain the usual error messages involving lost calls or disconnected calls, as well as networking issues. What's interesting to note though is that at this time there are no error messages related to 3G or cellular connections, while there are several error messages related to Wi-Fi connectivity issues:

IMAVCHAT_COULD_NOT_CONNECT_NO_REMOTE_WIFI = "The video call could not connect because a remote Wi-Fi connection could not be established.";
IMAVCHAT_DISCONNECTED_NO_LOCAL_WIFI = "The video call disconnected because the local Wi-Fi connection was lost.";

We're not sure if that is significant or not, but many had hoped that video conferencing would be allowed over 3G networks.

Finally, it appears Apple will be integrating the Video Conferencing feature with its new Game Center. It appears players may be able to chat or coordinate calls with fellow Game Center participants. Several status messages relate to Apple's social gaming system:

IMAVCHAT_ERROR_NO_SUCH_PLAYER_ID = "No Such Player ID";
IMAVCHAT_ERROR_NO_SUCH_ACHIEVEMENT = "No Such Achievement";
IMAVCHAT_ERROR_UNRECOGNIZED_GAME_DESCRIPTION_HEADERS = "Unrecognised Game Descriptor Headers";
IMAVCHAT_ERROR_NO_SUCH_GAME = "No Such Game";

LaptopMag spoke with the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Civil Liberties Director Jennifer Granick who believes that the search and seizure of Jason Chen's computer equipment violated both state and federal laws. Chen's equipment was seized by law enforcement officials surrounding an investigation of the lost next generation iPhone that had been leaked.

"There are both federal and state laws here in California that protect reporters and journalists from search and seizure for their news gathering activities. The federal law is the Privacy Protection Act and the state law is a provision of the penal code and evidence code. It appears that both of those laws may be being violated by this search and seizure."

While some have suggested that this may not apply if they were investigating Gizmodo for criminal activity, the EFF says it doesn't matter and the shield laws apply anyway.

But even if they are saying it was unlawful, the statute appears to say it doesn't matter. The crime that you're investigating cannot be receipt of that information or materials.

Based on a report by TechCrunch, it appears the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office is acknowledging that the shield protection laws may still be valid. The investigation has reported to have come to a pause as they reevaluate whether or not those shield laws do apply in this situation.