Palm up for Grabs?

Rumours abounded yesterday that Palm is up for sale. Not the first time this particular tale has been told, but this time it's all a bit more specific. In addition to the obvious suspects - Motorola and Nokia - it appears that Texas and Silverlake, two private equity firms, are also in the frame. Price is supposed to be around $2 Bn.

I can obviously see the synergies with Nokia and Motorola but find it hard to see how private equity could reallly take Palm in a new direction that would help answer the many questions that still need answering about that business, not the least of which is, "can an independent maker of those kinds of devices really survive in such an incredibly competitive market that's becoming more crowded by the day?" (Apple iPhone anyone?)

Thursday is supposed to be the day this goes public.