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According to Asian sources, Palm has contracted Foxconn and Compal to produce six new devices for launch in 2011. The report claims that Foxconn has secured five of the contracts, including one for the rumored PalmPad, and Compal has picked up one contract for a single unknown device. The devices are expected to be produced and presumably launched in 2011.
While Palm recently announced webOS 2.0 and the Palm Pre 2, the handset was widely regarded as a minor update to current Palm Pre hardware. Presumably this is the plan Palm had in the works before it was scooped up by HP earlier this year. Palm was strapped for cash before this merger and it only makes sense that its second generation handset would be based upon its first generation hardware. At that point in company history, it lacked the cash to build anything radical and innovating.
With the muscle and money of HP now behind Palm, I would expect to see new and exciting offerings hit the market in the upcoming year. Hopefully, HP and Palm have taken a step forward and will produce high-end smartphones with larger displays, faster processors, and a solid design. The PalmPad is also promising as webOS would make an excellent OS for a mobile tablet. As always, this is a rumor and should be taken with a grain of salt. I am hoping that it is true and would like to see Palm put out some astounding hardware to match its excellent mobile OS.
[Via PreCentral]
About The Author
Kelly Hodgkins
Kelly spent the last four years covering mobile technology at places like BGR, Gizmodo and The Unofficial Apple Weblog. Before writing, she spent a few years working with and teaching others how to use Adobe Flash and Macromedia Director. Even earlier than that, she spent several years as a Ph.D student in Microbiology. When she's not writing, she can be found fishing the lakes and hiking the mountains of Western Maine with her husband and tribe of children. You can follow her on Twitter @kellyhodgkins.
