toopone: With Palm Deal Complete, HP Moves To Expand webOS

With its $1.2 billion acquisition of Palm complete, Hewlett-Packard is moving to expand Palm's webOS and app store to other mobile devices. HP will use its money and global scale to compete in the mobile market, especially in tablet computers. Nokia, Motorola and HTC are expected to feel the pressure from HP's aggressive moves.

Hewlett-Packard said Thursday it has completed its $1.2 billion acquisition of Palm, which is now a global business unit of HP. According to company executives, HP expects to extend the reach of Palm's webOS and app store beyond the smartphone market through the launch of other types of mobile devices such as web-connected printers and tablets.

"With webOS, HP will be able to give its customers a unique and compelling experience across smartphones and other mobility products," noted HP Executive Vice President Todd Bradley. "This allows us the opportunity to fully engage in growing our smartphone family offering and the footprint of webOS."