Elearning! Magazine: Building Smarter Companies via Learning & Workplace Technologies.
Issue link: https://gelmezine.epubxp.com/i/48384
Government Elearning! HP Purchases Palm, OS Smartphone maker Palm has been purchased by Hewlett-Packard (HP) for $1.2 billion. The move apparently is part of HP's efforts to establish itself in the smartphone market, using Palm's well-regarded mobile oper- ating system (WebOS) as a springboard. In the future, WebOS could be deployed on PC tablets and other products, market ana- lysts say. Palm was one of the trailblazers in hand-held devices but has lost market share to Apple (iPhone) and Research in Motion (Blackberry). Last year, Palm unveiled a well-reviewed touch- screen phone, the Pre, but it did not hit its sales targets. It also faced stiff competition from Google, which is revamping its Android OS for cell phones. HP's backing of WebOS allows cell phone makers to be more comfortable about adopting it, analysts say, but HP could take at least a year to make the ini- tiative pay off. HP says Palm's chairman and chief executive, former Apple executive Jon Rubinstein, is expected to remain with the company. Before the HP-Palm deal, Dell — one of HP's rivals — may also have been interested in buying Palm. USDLA Cites Award-Winners The United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) has presented its 2010 Hall of Fame and Eagle awards. Hall of Fame awards went to Dr. Ellen Wagner and Dr. Farhad (Fred) Saba. Wagner is executive director of Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications (WCET) and partner /principal analyst for Sage Road Solutions. Over her 25-year career, she has built a strong reputation in learning-technology circles. A former Colorado educator, she served as a tenured professor and administrator at the University of Northern Colorado for 11 years. For the past 15 years, she has held executive positions with companies such as Macromedia and Adobe Systems, managing their worldwide higher education and e-learning busi- ness and developing learning strategies and business solutions. Saba is CEO of Distance-Educator.com and professor of edu- cational technology at San Diego State University. He has been involved in the field of distance education since 1971 as a man- ager, researcher and professor. He has managed large-scale distance education organizations and programs, conducted research for verifying key constructs in the theory of distance education, and contributed to building the theory of the field. The Eagle award — for public officials that demonstrate unique leadership and a long-standing record of educational support — went to Alabama Gov. Bob Riley for his commitment to providing greater educational opportunities within his state. For more information, visit the Website www.usdla.org. Annual 2010 11