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After searching for a potential buyer for some time, it appears Palm has finally found someone to bring them out of their financial woes. Today HP has announced that they will be acquiring Palm for $1.2 Billion, or $5.70 per share. After confirming the buy out, the two companies hosted a conference call where they went over the details of the merger. They mentioned that they would be “doubling down on webOS” and expect the Palm developed OS to grow substantially thanks to the new resources. HP also said that between phones, tablets, and other devices, there is much potential for webOS to be used in those kinds of devices.

“Palm possesses significant IP assets and has a highly skilled team. The smartphone market is large, profitable and rapidly growing, and companies that can provide an integrated device and experience command a higher share. Advances in mobility are offering significant opportunities, and HP intends to be a leader in this market.”

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The annual Worldwide Developer Conference is officially scheduled to take place on June 7 through 11th this year. The conference is focused on Mac, iPhone, and iPad developers, offering training sessions and of course a keynote that will likely be from Steve Jobs. The real news here is that it is the date that a new iPhone will probably be announced. Apple announced the iPhone 3GS at last year’s event, and it would only make sense to make a similar announcement this year. With the next iPhone already leaked, I am sure Apple is eager to announce it and move on from the recent incident. Many people speculate that this year’s event will be heavily focused on the iPhone and iPad, and almost completely lacking attention on Mac development.

It seems Mac developers are upset about the focus on the iPhone, apparently the Apple Design Awards have no category for desktop developers this year. This means there will only be ADA’s for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad apps, setting a tone for the entire event. That is an odd change from previous years, and developers are worried about what this might mean. Apple is not likely to show off the next major update, Mac OS X 10.7, at the event at all. That would fall in line with the focus on iPhone OS this year, and probably means 10.7 won’t be talked about until a much later date.

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It appears that the continuing saga of the iPhone prototype that was “lost” in a bar and then found it’s way to tech blog Gizmodo is still continuing. The latest in what is rapidly becoming a very strange story is that the police have raided Gizmodo editor Jason Chen’s house. A warrant was issued and his computers and several other items were seized.

There is obviously a lot of missing information at this point but here are a few thoughts. First, in California it is illegal to buy goods from a seller when the seller does not have the authority to sell that item. Whether this prototype iPhone was stolen or found, the person who had it did not have the right to sell the phone to Gizmodo for $5,000. Second, you do not want to screw over Apple. They are notoriously protective of their R&D and I’m not surprised at all that they are going after anyone involved in this story. There are numerous stories of the crazy security that Apple employs in their headquarters and development area and you know Jobs is going to love going after Chen and Gizmodo.

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It wasn’t long ago that Google announced that their Nexus One smartphone was headed for Verizon. As of today, those plans are now dead in the water, the Nexus One is not coming to Verizon. The Nexus One is still available on T-Mobile with a two-year contract, and if you pay the full price you can get one that is compatible with AT&T’s network. Google is recommending the HTC Droid Incredible instead of the Nexus One for Verizon customers, calling it “a cousin of the Nexus One.”

We won’t be selling a Nexus One with Verizon, and this is a reflection of the amazing innovation happening across the open Android ecosystem. Verizon Wireless customers who want an Android phone with the power of the Nexus One can get the Droid Incredible by HTC.

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Yesterday there were rumors that Apple was planning to buy ARM, the company behind most mobile chip designs. Indeed, the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, all carry processors based on ARM’s architecture. Buying ARM could lead to cost savings for Apple and give them control over their competitors. Being able to stop competition in it’s tracks might sound tempting for a company like Apple, but of course it isn’t quite that simple due to regulation. Today ARM CEO Warren East spoke out against the need for Apple or any other company to purchase ARM.

“Exciting though it is to have the share price pushed up by these rumours, common sense tells us that our standard business model is an excellent way for technology companies to gain access to our technology. Nobody has to buy the company,” East told the Guardian.

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Sigh. The idea has been out there for a long time, but now it’s almost certain that Hulu is going to be going to a subscription service of some kind in the very near future (May 24th by some reports).

The new subscription service would still allow users to view the 5 most recent episodes of the many shows that you can watch on Hulu. However, if you want to watch anything older you would have to subscribe to what they call Hulu Plus. Theoretically this would allow you to access a wider, more comprehensive collection of television shows, which is a good thing. On the other hand Hulu isn’t really “free” right now. Every show I watch has commercials in it. Yeah, it’s not as much as on network television, but it’s still there. Why would I want to pay more on top of that for content I’m already getting through my satellite?

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Not a great day for Google Docs to fail, but it seems that it has gone down pretty hard. The real news is Facebook and Microsoft are teaming up to bring a social element to Office documents by introducing Docs.com This online version of Office will integrate with many of the social features of Facebook and it sounds like a pretty interesting idea. My brother and I are currently collaborating to write a book together and we use Google Docs, but it’s pretty basic, so I’m interested to see where this goes.

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What a mess, it turns out a particular virus definition update from McAfee has caused some major headaches today for systems running Windows XP. The 5958 virus definition update is breaking Windows XP by removing a critical system file, causing the McAfee anti-virus software to freak out and force restart the computer. The computer then becomes inoperable without networking functionality and a constant loop of restarts. To make matters worse, because of the huge influx of traffic their support forums are down.

McAfee has already pulled the update from their servers, but not before breaking Windows XP systems from all over the world. Nobody knows how many computers were affected, but according to Engadget the total may reach into the millions. The unfortunate thing is that there is no easy way to roll out a fix, the only way to correct the problem is by following McAfee’s workaround. This could be a devastating amount of work for IT admins who have to hand fix thousands of computers.

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The next-gen iPhone has been discovered and now there are photos and videos of it. The prototype was allegedly found on the ground of a San Jose bar in a stealthy looking case to hide its identity. The person who found it immediately contacted tech blogs and sent pictures as evidence. Early theories were that it was a Chinese knockoff, but those theories have been proven wrong and it looks like the prototype is legit. Apparently the iPhone was running a special version of iPhone OS 4, but was sent a remote wipe by Apple, which killed any chance of software inspection.

The hardware was intact however, and the next-gen prototype iPhone ended up in the hands of Gizmodo, who has closely examined it for details. The immediate features that stand out are the glass backing (an Apple patent pending) and a front-facing camera. While the design is clearly unfinished, there is a distinct departure from the curved backing that Apple is known for. The use of a glass back means it is more durable and possibly provides better wireless reception.

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It is no secret that Apple has historically released major iPhone OS updates at the same time as new iPhone hardware. This was true of both the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 3G. They were also released sometime in the June (or early July) in previous years. Now more evidence of an iPhone HD launch happening in June has surfaced. According to Boy Genius Report, their sources are claiming that AT&T is blocking employee vacations for the entire month of June.

Same story as last year and the year before, but we’ve confirmed with multiple AT&T sources that the carrier has now put a block on employees taking vacations in June. The only time AT&T does a straight block like this is for iPhone launches. What’s interesting is, if AT&T is blocking June, perhaps the iPhone will launch a little earlier than July this year.

Apple has apparently booked a date to use the Yerba Buena Center for Arts, which is a popular location for their new product announcements. The date they reserved is on June 22, which seems to fit perfectly in line with the earlier rumor from Engadget. Since Apple has already announced that iPhone OS 4 would be released this summer, an iPhone HD launch sometime in June seems to make sense. We won’t know for sure until then, but there will certainly be a lot more rumors circulating as summer approaches.