What was the name of that old smartphone company? Palm? They made webOS devices, right?

HP picked up Palm for chump change way back in the summer of 2009. Apparently, the Palm guys have been meticulous about filling out all that corporate paperwork, segmenting their HP 401Ks and learning the joys of the HP Way. Because 7 or so months later, about the same time it takes to generate 43 million Tribbles -- or Androids -- and they still haven't done shit. And the existing Palm smartphones, if you could find one, still suck.

However, later this week, at CES, HP and Palm will have several big announcements. Expect at least one, probably three, new handsets, a personal (not communal) tablet, and big talk about how Palm's webOS will go into printers, calculators and sundry other of those computing devices we file under: the Internet of things.

I for one...

I'm sorry? What? It's not January 9? Not CES, the big international computingi trade show that the entire press covers? No, it's a month later? In February? At an exclusive event? By exclusive you mean, they're not gonna let a lot of people in, sort of like how critics are banned from early screenings of every Nicholas Cage movie?

Oy.

Well, anyway. While I expect HP to bury Palm deep in the bowels of its caves, forcing them to mine for crystals that make them hostile and aggressive, I retain high hopes for Palm. The webOS did not suck. I absolutely believe webOS is portable across printers, smarthones, media players, etc. And I'm proud of HP, which really can't make consumer software, for finally accepting that remaining loyal to Microsoft's tablet project was like Prince Charles waiting to assume the throne. By the time he gets there, he'll be far too old to enjoy it.

Computing is changing. Old worlds and old ways are dying. New leaders are being made, established companies are being re-energized. This is a market for billions of people. Billions. HP has talent, brand, distribution; now patents, an app store, a decent smartphone operating system. No, missing CES, having nothing for 9 months, having a new CEO; none of that bodes well.  No matter. For now, HP lives to fight.