The acquisition was also part of Palm's plan to strengthen its existing enterprise skill set, and Palm expected most of ThinAirApps' employees to continue with Palm, including the engineering team.

In fact, Jonathan R. Oakes, the former CEO of ThinAirApps, is now Palm's Director of Enterprise Strategy and Planning. At the time, Oakes said of the deal, "This move by Palm's Solutions Group will give ThinAirApps access to an installed base of potentially millions of handheld users going wireless in the next phase of the handheld revolution. With the addition of ThinAirApps technologies to Palm's own email client software, notification, and push technologies, Palm will rise to the top of the short list for enterprises going mobile."

The acquisition gives the Solutions Group a number of key advantages:

• An end-to-end solution that includes device, server and client software to meet the primary needs of Palm's corporate customers;

• Software assets that enhance Palm's opportunities for recurring revenue and application licensing;

• Greater control and influence over the timing and future direction of next-generation enterprise email and messaging applications;

• Key intellectual property and engineering expertise to help strengthen Palm's existing relationships with enterprise-focused resellers, and middleware and application vendors;

• Enterprise server-side software assets that make it easier for corporations to standardize on the Palm platform.

XcelleNet agreement
XcelleNet, Inc. (at http://www.XcelleNet.com) provides solutions designed to allow its customers to take control over the devices, applications, and data distributed across the enterprise. Companies can use XcelleNet solutions to manage laptops in the field, retail and branch office systems on the WAN, and PCs running on the LAN. XcelleNet's solution provides tools for managing devices, along with the applications and data that reside on them, over both wired and wireless networks.

The memorandum of understanding signed between XcelleNet, Inc. and Palm, Inc. outlined their intention to work together to deliver management solutions to enterprise customers deploying the Palm i705 Enterprise Wireless Messaging Solution. XcelleNet's management solution could be installed on each Palm i705 handheld when IT provisions the devices for deployment. Having the Palm i705 handheld in a "management-ready" state would give enterprises the ability to easily deploy and manage these mobile devices, which could increase user productivity and reduce the cost of supporting those workers.

According to Joan Herbig, chief executive officer of XcelleNet, "Palm handhelds are used by many mobile professionals in large enterprises to provide immediate access to vital business information. Pairing the new Palm i705 Wireless Messaging Solution with XcelleNet would make a powerful enterprise solution. Companies would have the tools to take control of these highly mobile devices and the data they contain while empowering end users with business information wherever they're working."