Fresh Palm Buyout Rumors & Exclusive Motorola Interview - Live from CTIA 2007

Posted on March 28th, 2007 by Tadd Rosenfeld

Rumors were rampant that Motorola or Nokia would close a deal to buy Palm last week, in a deal bloggers anticipated would close around the time of Palm’s quarterly earnings announcement and prior to CTIA. Palm, Nokia and Motorola all saw their share prices roller coaster as a result.

This week Motorola canceled its keynote address at CTIA without explanation. Showroom floor scuttlebutt is that Motorola is occupied with buyout talks.

As you can see in this video recorded by mytreo.net, Motorola is adding two new smartphone devices to its portfolio through acquisition. The company has not announced any consumer oriented Treo-like devices developed internally since the Motorola Q was announced last year. In comparison, other manufacturers such as HTC and i-mate are releasing smartphones three at a time.

The new Motorola smartphones in this video were manufactured under the brand name “Symbol.” Now that Motorola has acquired them, they are known as “MC” devices. The specifications are impressive. However, they are not a threat to Palm, HTC, Samsung or i-mate in the consumer market because they are designed for outdoor use and for purchase by enterprises.